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Yes, You Should Call Her Doctor

Wall Street Journal Op-Ed Writer’s Attack on the Soon-to-Be First Lady Warrants Barely a Passing Grade

Hank Kalet

Dec 13

First Lady-elect Jill Biden has earned the right to be called Dr. Biden. She received a doctor of education degree from University of Delaware in 2007, based on a dissertation that “focused on maximizing student retention in community colleges.” It is an important topic, given the difficulties students at community colleges face, difficulties I have seen first hand teaching at two New Jersey schools.

Joseph Epstein, an essayist, disagrees — and he took to The Wall Street Journal Op-Ed page to make the case. His essay “Is There a Doctor in the White House? Not if You Need an M.D.” is one of those essays that comes off as a fresh take, when it really is nothing more than flashy nonsense. Epstein engages in gamesmanship, misdirection, bad faith, and bad logic, as he pens a screed that manages to be condescending, dismissive, and amazingly shallow given the platform.

What hit me when I read this was that I would not allow my students to engage in this kind of empty rhetoric. They are required to support their arguments with more than cherry-picked anecdotes and assumptions. So, I graded the essay based on one of the freshman composition rubrics used at one of my schools.

Here is the rubric and grade — a 72, which means the essay would pass, but not by much.

The rubric:

Here is my mark up of the text:

Am I being fair? I think so, but I’d invite readers to weigh in.

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Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet

Broken Cord: An Anthology of Writing on Alzheimer’s and Dementia

We are looking to raise seed money for an anthology of writing on Alzheimer’s and dementia. The anthology will be the first project from a new small press. All proceeds will go to research and care groups. Contributors who donate $20 or more will get copies of the anthology and a mention on the acknowledgements page. Writers, we are looking for poems, fiction, and essays on dementia and Alzheimer’s. They can be from any perspective — care-givers, family, the person with dementia.

Contribute here.

Yes, You Should Call Her Doctor

Wall Street Journal Op-Ed Writer’s Attack on the Soon-to-Be First Lady Warrants Barely a Passing Grade

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