Political Irony

Doesn’t the right-wing media have anything better to complain about? I mean, seriously? We are having a 9/11-level catastrophe every single day with the coronavirus, Trump and the Republicans are doing everything in their power to destroy our democracy, Congress is teetering on the brink of having a shutdown, Russians have hacked into our government’s secret and sensitive computers (along with a majority of the computers of our largest companies).

Instead, the Wall Street Journal and Fox News (both owned by the Murdoch family) is bitterly complaining about our First-Lady-elect using the honorific “Dr.” in front of her name. Which she has every right to do.

What’s hilarious about this is that they are claiming that only medical doctors should use the “Dr.” in front of their names. Why is this hilarious? Because “Doctor” means “Teacher” (not “practitioner of medicine”).

Don’t get me wrong. I have a PhD, and I don’t use the honorific Dr. in front of my name, even though I worked hard for years to get it. And yes, I have taught classes in universities (including at the graduate level), so I definitely qualify as “teacher”. I have a bit of a thing against most honorifics (my readers have probably noticed that I typically don’t use them for politicians). Most people I know personally who have PhDs also don’t use their title. But I would definitely have the right to use it if I wanted.

However, I am very happy that Jill Biden uses that title. Why? Because I am sick and tired of right-wing attacks on science. We should be overjoyed that our new first lady has a PhD, and in education no less, something that we should surely celebrate and honor! On top of that, women have long been treated poorly in the sciences, and they richly deserve more recognition. Note that both of the people attacking Jill Biden for using this title are men, and neither of them have earned a doctorate. What gives them them the right to complain?