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December 13, 2020

I'll take some #TheResistance twatwaffles over Joseph Epstein

The Resistance is all bent out of shape to the point of calling Joseph Epstein a "twatwaffle" and worse on Twitter for stating reality about Jill Biden and "Dr."

First, AP Style says only use it with MD and DO, etc. NO PhDs.

Second, Epstein's right about comparative ease of many non-PhD doctorates, including Jill Biden's EdD. Public school superintendents here in Tex-ass have them like candy, and in many cases they're obtainable without a single in-person class at the granting institution.

The twatwaffles of #TheResistance, meanwhile, talk of Jill Biden as though she has a PhD, and she doesn't even do that.

Third, the actual twatwaffles of #TheResistance are likely the same people who supported Dem-leaning media in 2016 when it told actual medical doctor Jill Stein to drop the "Dr."

And, the blind rage of The Resistance is blind indeed! I've seen people on Twitter claim that Epstein, 14 years older than Biden, is engaging in ageism. I've seen others claiming he's comparing his honorary doctorates to Biden's academic degree, when A. He isn't and B. He only claims one honorary degree, not multiples.

And, it's not just individuals. Daily Beast has a bit of rage-blindness ...

And, it may have been one of those media outlets attacking Jill Stein 4 years ago. I know Charles Davis was there at the time and attacking Stein for other things.

The fact that Northwestern said he hadn't taught a course there since 2002 means nothing, as he would have been 65 then. 

Yes, he has a controversial past, and his 1970 article on homosexuality is beyond controversial, just wrong. He deals with that in a 2015 Washington Examiner piece which is very interesting, at least partially apologetic, and readable.

As for the claim that academic titles were first and MDs just followed? Err, wrong! Originally, you went to university for one of three things, as any actual historian knows: Law, medicine and theology.

In short, agree with Epstein or not, but do it honestly on the ground, and without being a 2016-based hypocrite.
 
That said, he went too far with the "almost fraudulent." It is an earned degree, first of all, and second, given how much of a winger Epstein is, could be interpreted as a larger dig. (You fill in the blanks.)

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