What is motivating the campaign against soon to be First Lady Dr. Jill Biden's professional credentials?
It began last weekend with a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Joseph Epstein objecting to Biden's use of the word Doctor. "Any chance you might drop the “Dr.” before your name? “Dr. Jill Biden ” sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic," wrote Epstein, "A wise man once said that no one should call himself “Dr.” unless he has delivered a child. Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc."
Fraudulent? How exactly has Dr. Biden misrepresented herself? Epstein does not explain other than to complain she attained her Ed.D at the age of 55.
As to Epstein's assertion about a wise man saying no one should call himself a doctor unless he has delivered a child, he might wish to reconsider that position if, heaven forbid, he might be in need of a cardiologist or an oncologist. By this standard, I'm surprised Epstein isn't asking Anthony Fauci to refrain from calling himself Dr.
Needless to say, Epstein's column sparked a furious backlash. Yet it has also encouraged some of his fellow conservatives to jump on Epstein's bandwagon. Earlier this week, FNC's Tucker Carlson quipped, "Jill Biden is not a doctor, no. Maybe in the same sense Dr Pepper is." Carlson further noted that Biden has the "same degree as Bill Cosby." Frankly, I'm surprised Carlson didn't accuse her of being a sexual predator. But Carlson has now seen fit to call her "illiterate" and "our national shame." I reserve my shame for the sitting President who wantonly downplayed and trivialized a virus which has now killed more than 300,000 Americans.
But Kyle Smith might very well have outdone both Epstein and Carlson. Smith has written a piece for National Review Online which begins, "You can tell someone is smarting from an inferiority complex when he insists on being addressed as “Dr.” on the basis of holding an academic doctorate rather than being a physician." More likely, it is the case that it is Mr. Smith who is smarting from an inferiority complex about woman being addressed as Doctor. Case in point:
Gene Simmons has a better claim to be a Doctor of Love than Jill Biden to be a Doctor of Education; after all, Simmons has spent a lifetime demonstrating mastery of his field. As for Biden, she has spent a lot of time teaching remedial English to slow learners in community colleges. Which is like being a rock musician who’s in a bar band. That plays covers. At mixers. Held in assisted-living facilities. Mrs. Biden’s dissertation emits so much noxious methane the EPA should regulate it, Greta Thunberg should denounce it, and Hollywood celebrities should hold a telethon to draw awareness to its dangers.
In Smith's eyes, teaching at a community college is an unworthy profession while those who attend community colleges are losers and suckers. Perhaps he would prefer they would enroll at Trump University.
Much of the backlash against Epstein and his cohorts has revolved around the question of sexism. Kara Alaimo, an associate professor of public relations at Hofstra University and herself a Ph.D, wrote in a guest column for CNN, "Epstein gives away his sexism immediately by opening his op-ed with the advice that "no one should call himself 'Dr.' unless he has delivered a child." In other words, part of his problem appears to be that Dr. Biden is not a man." Alaimo's sentiments were echoed by soon to be Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff who said such an article "would have never been written about a man."
There must remain a suspicion that sexism is a factor in the disparagement of Dr. Biden. Yet there is something else to ponder here. For the better part of the past six weeks, there has been a concerted effort not to recognize Joe Biden's impending presidency. This campaign has been led by none other than President Trump himself and it has made its way down to 18 GOP state attorney generals, a majority of the House Republican caucus, the two incumbent Georgia Republican Senators seeking to retain office, the conservative media establishment and the 77% of Republicans who believe the election was fraudulent despite the absence of credible evidence.
Despite their worst efforts, Joe Biden is going to be sworn as President of the United States on January 20, 2021 and there's not a damn thing they can do about it. But it won't stop them from continuing to try to delegitimize Biden's presidency. If Trump and conservatives are prepared to delegitimize Joe Biden's presidency then they are surely also prepared to delegitimize Jill Biden's professorship.
Of course, this campaign to delegitimize Dr. Biden's professional credentials is every bit as lacking in merit as the campaign to delegitimize President-elect Biden's presidential credentials. No one (including Messrs. Epstein, Carlson and Smith) ever thought Jill Biden was a medical doctor. They are gaslighting Dr. Biden.
Dr. Biden is not being gaslit so much because she is a doctor or because she is a woman, but because she is a Biden. The name Biden will forever be a reminder to conservatives that Donald Trump will go down in history as a one term President and a loser.
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