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Jake Tapper Rises to Defense of Failed Novelist Turned Echo Chamber Maestro Ben Rhodes

I repeatedly asked Jake Tapper to cover the Ben Rhodes Echo Chamber story. The first time I asked, he claimed, without having read it, that he didn't trust the writer. He didn't say why.

I responded to his objections about this distrusted-for-unknown-reasons New York Times feature writer (with all those levels of painstaking editorial fact-checking we always hear about) that Rhodes had already by then confirmed that he'd said the things the distrusted reporter had said he'd said.

Tapper then offered some other lame reason for denying the story was real and suggested I pass it on to Brian Stelter, a straight-shooter non-partisan if there ever was one. He also sniffed "I don't do media stories" (except those that hurt Fox or his ideological opponents, of course).

I did in fact tweet (openly, not in a DM) to Stelter about the story. You'll never guess what didn't happen next:

Stelter did not cover the story.

As anyone could have predicted -- including even Jake Tapper.

A while passed, and some then-current contretemps bubbled up making the Rhodes echo chamber story relevant once again. Once again I DM'd him to cover it, as it was now freshly re-relevant in the context of whatever the new story was.

Once again, he told me "I don't trust that source" or words to that effect, completely forgetting he'd already used the same vague justification for non-coverage, and that I had already responded by informing him Rhodes had confirmed the quotes.

I believe he then re-directed me to pass it to Brian Stelter, but I have to confess my memory is shaky on that point.

I find Jake Tapper's reluctance to say anything remotely negative about Ben Rhodes interesting.

I was even more interested to find him praising Ben Rhodes:


Here's short video of the defense, though we don't see the context. We must assume that Gorka put down Ben Rhodes as not having any advanced training in any political field, or for being a would-be novelist (or a very good post-modern novelist who used American Foreign Policy as his medium) which are... true.

Let's compare their educations. Per Wikipedia, Seb Gorka is a Ph.D. (in political science, which frankly I don't think of as much of a discipline, but still, a Ph.D. in the field he's working in) who has been a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. And he's world leaders:

He attended St Benedict's School in west London, and received a lower second-class honours (2:2) Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and theology from Heythrop College, of the University of London.[7][6][8][9] While at university, he joined the British Territorial Army, serving for three years in the 22 Intelligence Company of the Intelligence and Security Group (Volunteers), an interrogation unit with a NATO role specializing in Russian and other languages supporting 1 (BR) Corps until the latter was disbanded in 1992, at the end of the Cold War.[10][6][11][12]

In 1992, he moved to Hungary, where he worked for the Hungarian Ministry of Defence[13] while studying for a master's degree in international relations and diplomacy at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration, now known as the Corvinus University, which he completed in 1997. In 1997, he was a Partnership for Peace International research fellow at the NATO Defense College in Rome.[14] Gorka was a Kokkalis Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University during the 1998–1999 academic year.[15][16]

After returning to Hungary, in 1998, Gorka served as an adviser to Viktor Orbán.[17] In 2002, he entered into the PhD in political science at Corvinus University, completing his dissertation in 2007.[2][18]

...

Gorka worked in the Hungarian Ministry of Defense during the prime ministership of József Antall.[20]

Here's Rhodes' education:

Rhodes then attended Rice University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 2000 with majors in English and political science. He then moved back to New York, attending New York University and graduating in 2002 with an MFA in creative writing.[5]

How did he go from being an MFA to Obama's foreign policy guru? From that article Jake Tapper won't report on because he "doesn't trust the writer" or whatever, it was all due to his short story "Goldfish."

His mother’s closest friend growing up ran the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which then published Foreign Policy. He sent her a letter and included what would wind up being his only piece of published fiction, a short story that appeared in The Beloit Fiction Journal. It was titled “The Goldfish Smiles, You Smile Back.” The story still haunts him, he says, because “it foreshadowed my entire life.”

Remember, his mom's best friend ran the Carnegie Endowment, which published Foreign Policy. Guess what journal Ben applied to work at?

So I wonder: How did he get from there to here?

The story that Rhodes published in The Beloit Fiction Journal is a good place to start....

The editor at Foreign Policy who read “Goldfish,” which Rhodes attached with his query letter, said that the young M.F.A. would be bored with fact-checking. Instead, he suggested that he apply for a job with Lee Hamilton, the onetime congressman from Indiana, who was looking for a speechwriter.

So the journal of the organization run by his mom's bestie declined to hire him, but set him up with another job.


“I was surprised,” Hamilton remembered. “What the hell does a guy who wanted to write fiction come to me for?”

I don't know, why would someone want to hire a Kennedy? Or Chelsea Clinton?

,,,

So he hired him on at the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan think tank. Though Rhodes never said a word in meetings, Hamilton says, he had a keen understanding of what was going on and a talent for putting the positions of distinguished participants down on paper.

He was a champion Guy Who Sits In the Back And Takes Notes.

“I immediately understood that it’s a very important quality for a staffer,” Hamilton explained,...

The notes go on and on. They have ideas with subsets of ideas and reactions to ideas indented beneath the original ideas. The handwriting is perfect.

No wonder he and Obama had a "mind-meld." With Obama's perfect trouser crease and Rhodes' perfect penmanship, it was a match made in Looking the Part heaven.

The representation of what happened in the meetings immaculate, like a mirror’s reflection after it has been scrubbed clean.

Like an ace stenographer, one could say.

From there, the connection machine kept moving him along:


Rhodes served as Hamilton’s staff member on the 9/11 Commission, where he met Denis McDonough, another Hamilton protégé, who had gone on to work for Tom Daschle in the Senate. Rhodes then became the chief note-taker for the Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan commission that excoriated George Bush’s war in Iraq.

By the way, Ben Rhodes brother is of course David Rhodes, president of CBS News.

Now I'm not a credentialist, and I can't argue against the notion that Rhodes must be a quick study and must have impressed some people along the way. I can't imagine he's stupid.

But Jake Tapper jumped to Ben Rhodes' defense saying "I'm sure he'd put his graduate degree up against yours" to a Ph.D. in the field of political science, a guy who's worked in Hungary's Ministry of Defense and was a fellow at the JFK School of Government at Harvard.

Ben Rhodes has a BA and then an MFA in a completely unrelated field-- creative writing. (Or... is it an unrelated field, mmmm?)

I'm sorry, there's no comparison: A Ph.D. is straight-up a bigger accomplishment than a Master's.

This is like claiming a field goal is every bit as good as 10 points.

Plus -- Good Lord, Ben Rhodes' "graduate degree" isn't even in anything having to do with foreign policy, government, history, or any related field.

Except, of course, for dashing out Narratives with Heroes and Villains.

I'm sorry, but S***ers of C*** who are big believers in credentialism can't suddenly balk and put on the populist mantle when someone they want to protect has been easily out-credentialed.

For disclosure -- to protect myself against a charge of insinuation -- I should point out that Tapper has claimed he's never gotten a story from Ben Rhodes.

But he sure does seem protective of him. Maybe they're just sympatico.

Maybe Tapper just really fell in love with that "Goldfish" story. Maybe he too is "haunted" by it.

Update: A masters of fine arts takes 2-3 years -- longer than a usual master's -- because it's considered a "terminal" degree in creative fields. (That is, no Ph.D. after.)

Still, not really on the level of a Ph.D., which takes an average of 8 years to get. Gorka did about two years for his Masters, then was some kind of a fellow at the JFK School of Government, then spent another 5 years getting his Ph.D.

Oh -- in a field actually relevant to working in the position he wound up holding.

I wonder if Tapper would rise so vigorously to refute a liberals' charge that, say, Stephen Miller's education is supbar. (I have no idea what his education is. I'm just spitballing for some example.)

Posted by: Ace at 05:00 PM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Hi there

Posted by: Aviator at July 14, 2017 04:52 PM (/Nite)

2 Firstest? I doubt it

Posted by: Skip at July 14, 2017 04:52 PM (9g/6M)

3 The handwriting is perfect.

Werewolves of Washington!

Aaaa-ooooooooo!

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at July 14, 2017 04:53 PM (oVJmc)

4 Do Jake Tapper's feet touch the ground?

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at July 14, 2017 04:53 PM (Mouru)

5 You know what would improve 'Goldfish'?

Posted by: Banana Splits Guy at July 14, 2017 04:54 PM (fMidn)

6 Took to long to get the buttons to work.
Anyway, Leftists stick together, and I have about had it with this Russian crap. Next will be there was no crime but you tried to cover up that no crime.

Posted by: Skip at July 14, 2017 04:55 PM (9g/6M)

7 Italicize!!

Posted by: Banana Splits Guy at July 14, 2017 04:55 PM (fMidn)

8 I cannot see Tapper as anything but a well- ensconed part of the problem.

Posted by: kraken at July 14, 2017 04:55 PM (zSVEm)

9 The night was moist.

Posted by: Ben Rhodes at July 14, 2017 04:56 PM (oVJmc)

10 a well- ensconed part of the problem.
He's a little doughy.

Posted by: Sporkatus at July 14, 2017 04:56 PM (eXSOZ)

11 >>How did he go from being an MFA to Obama's foreign policy guru?

Shor do have a purty mouth, don't he?

Posted by: Barry at July 14, 2017 04:56 PM (/Nite)

12 I'ma just suggest that maybe Rhodes and/or his patrons, the Clinton Crime Family, know what Jake really does on his summer vacation.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, they are gaslighting us 24/7 at July 14, 2017 04:56 PM (Mcvvl)

13 That was quick.

Posted by: Jeanne del Norte, ahora con covfefe at July 14, 2017 04:57 PM (B9dAp)

14 Tapper isn't actually a last name. It's an honorific title.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at July 14, 2017 04:57 PM (Mouru)

15 tapper is a mystery
not a good one
and it's short

Posted by: concrete girl at July 14, 2017 04:57 PM (EqvVS)

16 Why, it's almost as if Jake Tapper is a baldly dishonest shitwaffle.

Posted by: Sporkatus at July 14, 2017 04:57 PM (eXSOZ)

17 I made the mistake of clicking on the Twitter link.

Holy shit the people on that thread are actually seal clapping the "zinger" that Gorka's PhD pales to a MFA in creative writing.

Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 04:57 PM (jhqr1)

18 What does a PHD actually prove?

It proves you're good at "college" and have the money to finance it. Does it mean you're smart?

Um... sorry. I can't in good conscience say that.

IMHO, when you have to pull out your skrewl papers to prove that you're somebody... it means you have no credibility in the real world.

/"Your PHD in Gender Studies/ Diversity tells me that you spent at least three, no five years working at Starbucks and/or living in Mom and Dad's basement playing X-Box"



Posted by: shibumi at July 14, 2017 04:58 PM (aT+Bx)

19 Do we all just try to pretend that Tapper wasn't a knowing member of Rhodes propaganda team?

Clearly it's time for the Scorpion to chime in.

Posted by: Grump928(C) waxes Delphic at July 14, 2017 04:58 PM (QQ+il)

20 Ah, I bet if you dig a bit into the Podesta Emails, you'll find there was some sort of throughway to Jack Tapper getting stories vetted by Ben Rhodes. Either directly or some other incestuous connection.

Posted by: Rodney C. Johnson at July 14, 2017 04:58 PM (A5STV)

21 a well- ensconed part of the problem.
He's a little doughy.


Last, but certainly not yeast.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at July 14, 2017 04:58 PM (Mouru)

22 Jake Tapper is ghey for Ben Rhodes.

They're all ghey for Ben Rhodes.

It's all just a Big Ghey DC Bootie Love Fest up there.

Posted by: Mortimer - Finish Her! at July 14, 2017 04:58 PM (xmlAN)

23 So it's all about academic degrees now? What will "free" college for all do to that? How many degrees will you have to go on getting and getting and getting? I bet the people who make money off of academia have an answer to that.

Posted by: Barb the Evil Genius at July 14, 2017 04:58 PM (FQKBL)

24 Tapper's head is an echo chamber.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at July 14, 2017 04:58 PM (oVJmc)

25 Barak filled his entourage with lackeys with no experience.

Posted by: Skip at July 14, 2017 04:59 PM (9g/6M)

26 Barak filled his entourage with lackeys with no experience.

He leads by example.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at July 14, 2017 04:59 PM (oVJmc)

27 Jake Tapper is ghey for Ben Rhodes.

They're all ghey for Ben Rhodes.

It's all just a Big Ghey DC Bootie Love Fest up there.
Posted by: Mortimer - Finish Her! at July 14, 2017 04:58 PM (xmlAN)



See? This is what happens when you don't let them play outdoors unsupervised when they're kids.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at July 14, 2017 04:59 PM (Mouru)

28 Ace, you are on fire!!!

Tonight I fucking start fasting....well Friday is Tequila night. But tomorrow!!!

Posted by: Cannibal Bob 'Future fasting guy' at July 14, 2017 05:00 PM (qdeLs)

29
5 You know what would improve 'Goldfish'?

Posted by: Banana Splits Guy at July 14, 2017 04:54 PM (fMidn)





Winona Ryder shooting them out of her pooter?

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 14, 2017 05:00 PM (veoSD)

30 Lotta snuffing that Gorka's PhD is somehow "not credible." Because it was too easy or something.

Frankly, the standard is whatever the university wants to be. And Most universities set them pretty low.

There actually is a set of accrediting bodies for schools, they mostly suck, but them's the rules. And by those Rules Gorka has a PhD.

Perhaps Tapper would like to compare to mine degree from a Tier 1 research institution...

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:00 PM (dzmBR)

31 WTH happened to Tapper... For a brief time he was somewhat rational . Now, it's all Trump hate all the time...

Posted by: .It's me donna at July 14, 2017 05:00 PM (O2RFr)

32 They protect hims because he's their source for juicy anti-Trump stories.


You don't burn a source, not when he's helping you sell news *and* take out the orange gorilla pussy-grabber in the WH.

Posted by: Lizzy at July 14, 2017 05:00 PM (NOIQH)

33 It's probably because Tapper's resume looks a lot like Ben Rhodes resume. Insult Rhodes and you're insulting Tapper.

Posted by: Tami at July 14, 2017 05:01 PM (Enq6K)

34 Ace went through three keyboards and two bottles of Valu-Rite this morning alone.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at July 14, 2017 05:01 PM (Mouru)

35 I don't think Tapper is going to admit that he sucked Rhodes off in the men's room at that bar in DC anytime soon. After all Rhodes did keep his promise to invite him to that secret dinner with the Lightbringer.

Posted by: Hopped Up On Something at July 14, 2017 05:01 PM (B9t7n)

36 >>Tapper isn't actually a last name. It's an honorific title.

It use to be my nickname.

Posted by: Larry Craig at July 14, 2017 05:01 PM (/Nite)

37 Ben Rhodes vs. Sebastian Gorka - seriously???!?!?!?!?


Posted by: Lizzy at July 14, 2017 05:01 PM (NOIQH)

38 "Though Rhodes never said a word in meetings, Hamilton says, he had a keen understanding of what was going on and a talent for putting the positions of distinguished participants down on paper."

This is GREAT! he was Chauncy!

Posted by: Cannibal Bob 'Future fasting guy' at July 14, 2017 05:02 PM (qdeLs)

39 Tapper is a tool, but less self-aware about it than his competitors.

Settling debates by comparing academic credentials is the last refuge for shithead tools. On that basis, Chelsea would be beat most of us.

Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 05:02 PM (+7/1f)

40 Getting very tired of all this contriving a controversy.
There is no there there.
Tapper is just more Fake News Generator. And a day old scone.

Posted by: kraken at July 14, 2017 05:02 PM (zSVEm)

41 Or Tapper has the curiosity of a goldfish when it comes to things that don't align with his world view.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at July 14, 2017 05:02 PM (+BG/J)

42 Posted by: shibumi at July 14, 2017 04:58 PM (aT+Bx)

Thanks to the firehose of Uncle Sam it doesn't even mean you had money to finance it...

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:02 PM (dzmBR)

43 >>> Lotta snuffing that Gorka's PhD is somehow "not credible." Because it was too easy or something.

Frankly, the standard is whatever the university wants to be. And Most universities set them pretty low.

There actually is a set of accrediting bodies for schools, they mostly suck, but them's the rules. And by those Rules Gorka has a PhD.

...

how does it compare to an MFA?

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2017 05:03 PM (8rNrN)

44 Sooooo....he said that she said that he said that he said that she said that he said that mumblesomething? Am I getting this right?

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:03 PM (DQ4Fv)

45 I bet the people who make money off of academia have an answer to that.
--

We favor a lifetime of learning approach where you work during the day and attend classes daily until you retire. There is no such thing as too many degrees.

Remember: student loans are really an investment in your future, and you don't have to worry if someone else co-signs. How about your elderly grandma? She's got dementia and cash she doesn't need.

/the more letters you have after your name, the better you are!!!!

Posted by: Academia, We Are Your Betters at July 14, 2017 05:04 PM (aT+Bx)

46 how does it compare to an MFA?

In creative writing

Posted by: .It's me donna at July 14, 2017 05:04 PM (O2RFr)

47 I never thought I would watch in real time as history gets repeated.

As in Roosevelt knew the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor and let it happen.

That is what the whole witch hunt over Trump and Russia has devolved to.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at July 14, 2017 05:04 PM (+BG/J)

48 Someday Jake Tapper's head is going to be mounted on one of Ace's remaining cabinet shelves.

Posted by: ShainS at July 14, 2017 05:04 PM (rkUuC)

49 Tapper is a cuntrag and his wife is baby murdering monster.

Posted by: Kreplach at July 14, 2017 05:04 PM (2JcMg)

50 A few wiretaps of Tapper talking to his whore, and whaddayaknow, he's right back on the reservation.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at July 14, 2017 05:05 PM (oVJmc)

51 if I write a children's book will PDT hire me? Cause I got a title...

The Fish That Ate Your Fucking Goldfish"

Posted by: Cannibal Bob 'Future fasting guy' at July 14, 2017 05:05 PM (qdeLs)

52 In fairness, I would put Tapper's BA in History fro Dartmouth ahead of Rhodes MFA in scat poetry.

Posted by: Grump928(C) waxes Delphic at July 14, 2017 05:05 PM (QQ+il)

53 Maybe Rhodes doesn't feed Tapper story info directly - he supplies others at CNN, or there's an intermediary.

Rhodes was way to candid about how he manipulated the press to get the Iran Deal for me to now believe Rhodes is out of the news spin game.
Further, Tapper and Stelter covering for him speaks volumes.

Posted by: Lizzy at July 14, 2017 05:05 PM (NOIQH)

54 Tapper. He actually had me fooled a few years back. Typical hack.

Posted by: BuckIV at July 14, 2017 05:05 PM (CLfqv)

55 All "Science" degrees > all "Arts" degrees

/and yes, I have a BS! Somehow that seems appropriate.

Posted by: shibumi at July 14, 2017 05:06 PM (aT+Bx)

56 49 Tapper is a cuntrag and his wife is baby murdering monster.

Posted by: Kreplach at July 14, 2017 05:04 PM (2JcMg)


Stop candy coating it K.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob 'Future fasting guy' at July 14, 2017 05:06 PM (qdeLs)

57 >>>Winona Ryder shooting them out of her pooter?

DUH!!

Posted by: Banana Splits Guy at July 14, 2017 05:06 PM (fMidn)

58 Funny pictures to caption

https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/270077/

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2017 05:06 PM (rmVvL)

59 I thought Rhodes' MFA was in Civet Scat Sniffing?

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at July 14, 2017 05:06 PM (+BG/J)

60 ace, you are very prolific in your writing today.


Or as my senior year English teacher would put it, "Mistahhhh aaaacccceeeee...you seeeeem to beeee suffering from a seveahhhhh caaaaaase of verbaaaaahhhllllll diarrrheaaaaaaaa."

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at July 14, 2017 05:07 PM (/o9Qk)

61 But you gotta take Tapper seriously... Have you seen his furrowed brow when he does the news?

Posted by: .It's me donna at July 14, 2017 05:07 PM (O2RFr)

62 how does it compare to an MFA?

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2017 05:03 PM (8rNrN)

Who knows? Judging this guys degree will be in the eye of the beholder, and frankly conditioned by axes to grind, narratives to further, and so on and so forth.
While we are on the subject, Mr. outraged scone Tapper.... what are HIS bonafides?

Posted by: kraken at July 14, 2017 05:07 PM (zSVEm)

63 you know, ace, you shouldn't say that political science isn't a coherent field


even though that's mostly true. Mostly.................

Posted by: Godwin, Darwin & Marx, LLC at July 14, 2017 05:07 PM (ihtYN)

64 tapper is a mystery
not a good one
and it's short

Posted by: concrete girl at July 14, 2017 04:57 PM (EqvVS)



---

As short as George Stephanopolous?

Posted by: Darth Randall at July 14, 2017 05:07 PM (6n332)

65 how does it compare to an MFA?

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2017 05:03 PM (8rNrN)


As I said, I think most of the standards are pretty much "What can we do to get you out of here w/o embarrassing ourselves."

That's not a knock on Gorka by any stretch, it's a knock on those trying to judge Gorka's degree by picking it apart. He went to a credentialed university he has a PhD, full stop.

Most of the 3 letter Master's degrees are even dumber. MFA, MBA, MHA (Master's in Health Administration.) They're just make work to put some letters after your name.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:08 PM (dzmBR)

66 I'm curious, Jake. George Bush had multiple degrees from Yale and Harvard Business School. Did you tell everyone how impressed you were by those degrees?

Posted by: pep at July 14, 2017 05:08 PM (LAe3v)

67 every day the "bat-shit crazy" needle ticks up

Posted by: Rick in SK at July 14, 2017 05:08 PM (FZYNt)

68 As short as George Stephanopolous?

Nobody else is that short...

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at July 14, 2017 05:08 PM (+BG/J)

69 I'm confused.

Posted by: Soona at July 14, 2017 05:08 PM (Fmupd)

70 #ILovePoliticalScienceSexually

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at July 14, 2017 05:08 PM (oVJmc)

71 Rhodes has ridiculed reporters as 27-year olds who know nothing. You play ball with Rhodes and he hands you a story you can print. That you want to print because it fits your biases. That your boss wants to print because it fits his. Your boss may even be colluding with Rhodes. FFS, your boss may be Rhodes' brother, literally.

A big reason for the success of the Echo Chamber is that MSM is actually shrinking and can't afford even shitty reporters. Rhodes gives you a shrink-wrapped scoop. Play along and you're in the game. If you don't, your this week's NYT layoff

Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 05:09 PM (+7/1f)

72 Posted by: ace at July 14, 2017 05:03 PM (8rNrN)

But yeah, my point was Ace that Tapper is latching on to the current lefty spin re: Gorka.

Honestly it's the dumbest critique they've pulled out yet, and that's saying something for the dumb.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:09 PM (dzmBR)

73 I'll bet Tappers all butt hurt after your post Ace...well more butt hurt.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob 'Future fasting guy' at July 14, 2017 05:09 PM (qdeLs)

74 69 I'm confused.
Posted by: Soona


Well, that puts you several steps ahead of me. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be confused about.

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:09 PM (DQ4Fv)

75 >17

They hate Gorka. He"s an unflappable, laser-focused, dogged debater. Read Politico's mean-girl article on Gorka for some seriously high octane ivy league backbiting / fingernail scratching hysterics.

Posted by: 13times at July 14, 2017 05:10 PM (WHVu+)

76 68 As short as George Stephanopolous?

Nobody else is that short...
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR

We are the Lollipop Guild

Posted by: Robert B. Reich at July 14, 2017 05:10 PM (FZYNt)

77 >>Most of the 3 letter Master's degrees are even dumber. MFA, MBA, MHA
(Master's in Health Administration.) They're just make work to put some
letters after your name.


"I resemble that accusation!"
--- Doctor Jill Biden

Posted by: Lizzy at July 14, 2017 05:10 PM (NOIQH)

78 As short as George Stephanopolous?

Nobody else is that short...




*shifty eyes*

Posted by: Bob "Spunkeye" Costas at July 14, 2017 05:10 PM (QQ+il)

79 En fuego!

Posted by: That Guy who shouts "En Fuego!" at July 14, 2017 05:11 PM (DMUuz)

80 " Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"

My first reaction: sounds like a Communist front, frankly. It was named long enough ago that the name might not be significant; if it were given that name today, it DEFINITELY would be a Commie front.

Then again, one of its presidents was Alger Hiss. Hmmm.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:11 PM (SRKgf)

81 How to clear up the confusion.

Gorka is the latest messenger that the Mean Girl Media, Tapper et all, are trying to destroy.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at July 14, 2017 05:11 PM (+BG/J)

82 Well, that puts you several steps ahead of me. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be confused about.
Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:09 PM (DQ4Fv)


The Left is trying to take down Gorka by suddenly declaring his degree is invalid. Not that it's from a diploma mill or something, just that the school sucks.

It's really quite dumb.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:11 PM (dzmBR)

83 Ok I am soooo happy i did not miss this thread. seriously.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob 'Future fasting guy' at July 14, 2017 05:11 PM (qdeLs)

84 As short as George Stephanopolous?

Nobody else is that short...



*shifty eyes*
Posted by: Bob "Spunkeye" Costas at July 14, 2017 05:10 PM (QQ+il)

Well don't look at me!

Posted by: Mike Lupica at July 14, 2017 05:11 PM (7uYFy)

85 Most of the 3 letter Master's degrees are even
dumber. MFA, MBA, MHA (Master's in Health Administration.) They're just
make work to put some letters after your name.



Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:08 PM (dzmBR)

A MBA is a dumb degree?

Posted by: Tami at July 14, 2017 05:11 PM (Enq6K)

86 55
All "Science" degrees > all "Arts" degrees


Nope. I've known plenty of brilliant not-STEM degree holders, and a good number of dimwitted STEM degree holders.

However, in the absence of other information, your assertion is reasonable.

Posted by: pep at July 14, 2017 05:12 PM (LAe3v)

87 Can there be any doubt that the bacon flavored Ritz represents the pinnacle of cracker development?

Posted by: Weasel at July 14, 2017 05:12 PM (Sfs6o)

88 I think Jake Trapper and Ben Rhodes both have big, walk in closets full of CFM pumps.

Posted by: Strobe at July 14, 2017 05:12 PM (gbWkA)

89 Ben Rhodes has a graduate degree?!

Son. Of. A. Bitch. I'm hard now.

Posted by: Furious George at July 14, 2017 05:12 PM (j+dfT)

90 a Ph.D. takes a significant investment of time -- I think like 5 years or more. (Many take longer.) You have to submit a paper that advances scholarship in your field (your dissertation) of publishable quality.

I don't know what an MFA in creative writing requires. I imagine it requires completing a few short stories.

I don't know.

An MFA in creative writing might take 2 years, or 3.

A phd requires, on average, 8 years. And some people take longer.

A lot of people are "ABD's" -- all but dissertation. They've finished up all the studying but still have to crank out and write that 200 or 300 page piece of original (publishable) research.)


Point is, a

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2017 05:12 PM (8rNrN)

91 "9 The night was moist."
and a fetid wind blew in from the south...

Posted by: DanMan at July 14, 2017 05:13 PM (XTiHL)

92 You can't convince narcissists that they are being narcissistic.
No matter what proof you submit to them that their opinion is wrong, they will never concede. They will go silent in order to stop the debate but they will continue to think to themselves that everyone else is a fool and they continue to be right.

Posted by: Jack Sock at July 14, 2017 05:13 PM (bwBxJ)

93 87 Can there be any doubt that the bacon flavored Ritz represents the pinnacle of cracker development?

Posted by: Weasel at July 14, 2017 05:12 PM (Sfs6o)

they're great with a slice of bacon on them..double bacon!

Posted by: Cannibal Bob 'Future fasting guy' at July 14, 2017 05:13 PM (qdeLs)

94 "It was a dark and stormy night."

Posted by: .It's me donna at July 14, 2017 05:13 PM (O2RFr)

95 I don't know what an MFA in creative writing requires. I imagine it requires completing a few short stories.




"Dear Penthouse Forum,"

Posted by: rickb223 at July 14, 2017 05:13 PM (YxyYj)

96 Whether his PHD was difficult or not, he at least actually has overseas experience in different countries and overall work experience that certainly gives him more foreign policy cred than writing some short story and getting your parent's friend to hook you up with a speechwriting job.

Posted by: brak at July 14, 2017 05:13 PM (5iU/N)

97 [i"I resemble that accusation!"
--- Doctor Jill Biden
Posted by: Lizzy at July 14, 2017 05:10 PM (NOIQH)

True story: Your program has to be accredited (per US rules) to give out PhD's. Not just the university, but the programs themselves. Same for any of the "standard" degree names.

Bioethics, being a popular thing to siphon money off various people, is rife with programs at nominally prestigious universities that were too lazy to accredit themselves.

So you've got MBE and I shit you not, one "DHCE" (Doctorate in Health Care Ethics). Honestly that program is so dumb it makes Rhode's degree look good by comparison.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:14 PM (dzmBR)

98 Also, since we're now judging political worth on comparisons of academic credentials, I assume Jake Tapper is rooting for the real Indian for Senator from Mass., because clearly Lieawatha's law degree from Rutgers doesn't compare to his MIT creds.

Posted by: pep at July 14, 2017 05:14 PM (LAe3v)

99 The Left is trying to take down Gorka by suddenly declaring his degree is invalid. Not that it's from a diploma mill or something, just that the school sucks.

It's really quite dumb.
Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:11 PM (dzmBR)

This is the tack they decided to try out after allegations that he is/was a Nazi wen't nowhere.
That they keep going after him speaks volumes about his effectiveness as a spokesman....

Posted by: JoeF. at July 14, 2017 05:14 PM (7uYFy)

100 I stand corrected on the 'short' thing, but I still can't see those who have such standing. At least without them having a booster seat.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at July 14, 2017 05:14 PM (+BG/J)

101 88 I think Jake Trapper and Ben Rhodes both have big, walk in closets full of CFM pumps.
Posted by: Strobe at July 14, 2017 05:12 PM (gbWkA)

oh thats good.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob 'Future fasting guy' at July 14, 2017 05:14 PM (qdeLs)

102 Why even get an MFA? You can either write or you can't. Like majoring in Theatre. Yeah I get practice helps but you don't need to pay for a degree to practice.

Posted by: brak at July 14, 2017 05:14 PM (5iU/N)

103 I guess I'd better go read the post now. It's only fair.


*trudges off*

Posted by: @DangerGirl (gab.ai) and her 1.21 Gigawatt SanityProd (tm) at July 14, 2017 05:15 PM (/o9Qk)

104 All my goldfish ever did was look pathetic as his downturned mouth went "glomm, glomm."

Posted by: bergerbilder at July 14, 2017 05:15 PM (lIZQs)

105 That they keep going after him speaks volumes about his effectiveness as a spokesman....
Posted by: JoeF.

We want PDT to stop tweeting to make him a better President

Posted by: MSM at July 14, 2017 05:15 PM (FZYNt)

106 80 Then again, one of its presidents was Alger Hiss. Hmmm.


Q.E.D., as they say.

Posted by: Fox2! at July 14, 2017 05:15 PM (brIR5)

107 A MBA is a dumb degree?
Posted by: Tami at July 14, 2017 05:11 PM (Enq6K)


:Shrug: I lump it in with the others. Of them it's probably the most practical degree.

I've taught MHA students and they drive me nuts. They're usually people who couldn't hack it in business school so they get MHAs which is basically a degree in bureaucracy.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:15 PM (dzmBR)

108 The takeaway is that the Left is all about the credentials....until they aren't.

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2017 05:15 PM (rmVvL)

109 My father had a GED he got while in the Marines. One of the smartest guys I've known. He would have made a good moron.

Posted by: Jack Sock at July 14, 2017 05:16 PM (bwBxJ)

110 81 How to clear up the confusion.

Gorka is the latest messenger that the Mean Girl Media, Tapper et all, are trying to destroy.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at July 14, 2017 05:11 PM (+BG/J)

82 Well, that puts you several steps ahead of me. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be confused about.
Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:09 PM (DQ4Fv)

The Left is trying to take down Gorka by suddenly declaring his degree is invalid. Not that it's from a diploma mill or something, just that the school sucks.

It's really quite dumb.
Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c)


And Gorka is...a person of significance?

Is the point of this post is "The Left is incestuous, dishonest, mean-spirited, back-stabbing, inconsistent, disingenuous, cronyistic, nepotistic and slimy," then I'm in full agreement. But watching it happen in real time is like watching the dental surgery scene in Marathon Man. I think I'll hit the popcorn counter until the scene is over.

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:16 PM (DQ4Fv)

111 I guess I'd better go read the post now. It's only fair.


*trudges off*





*Points and makes Invasion of the Body Snatchers shriek*

Posted by: Grump928(C) at July 14, 2017 05:16 PM (QQ+il)

112 Can there be any doubt that the bacon flavored Ritz represents the pinnacle of cracker development?
Posted by: Weasel at July 14, 2017 05:12 PM (Sfs6o)



WARNING: Cracker technology falls outside the general scope of this post. Your comment is OFF TOPIC. Further infractions may result in loss of premium membership privileges!

Posted by: The AoSHQ Ministry of Comment Compliance and Review at July 14, 2017 05:16 PM (Mouru)

113 Posted by: JoeF. at July 14, 2017 05:14 PM (7uYFy)

Yeah, I mean if you're gonna disagree with Gorka on substance grounds, then have out your argument.

But this line of attack is perhaps the dumbest line of attack I've seen in a long time. Especially when (as ace notes) Obama's advisors largely had degrees with no substance or value.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (dzmBR)

114 One of the smartest guys I've known. He would have made a good moron.
Posted by: Jack Sock

He did, with help from your mother

Posted by: Rick in SK at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (FZYNt)

115 So if the left want to start playing the credentialism game, the first order of business is going to be for them to have to explain away Wendy Sherman.

Sherman, whose academic background was in sociology, "urban studies", and social work, and whose prior professional work experience was in running welfare offices and EMILY's List, ended up being sent by Bill Clinton to Pyongyang to negotiate a nuclear weapons disarmament deal with the Norks.

Despite Sherman having had absolutely zero academic qualifications relating to, or prior experience in, the military or the intelligence community. And knowing nothing at all about nuclear weapons technology, probably down to the level of being hazily unclear on the difference between a neutron and a proton.

Needless to say, the nuclear deal which Sherman cut, and which Bill Clinton praised to the skies, was a preposterous failure. And then, entirely despite this, later on... Barack Obama re-appointed the unqualified former social worker as the chief negotiator for his nuclear arms deal with the mullahs in Tehran!

Posted by: torquewrench at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (ujwCG)

116 Is the point = If the point

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (DQ4Fv)

117 The takeaway is that the Left is all about the credentials....until they aren't.
Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2017 05:15 PM (rmVvL)

I wonder where Maxine Waters got her Doctorate from?

Posted by: kraken at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (zSVEm)

118 >>>Why even get an MFA? You can either write or you can't. Like majoring in Theatre.

I don't know. I imagine you make connections as they have writers and editors as guest lecturers (and sometimes as visiting lecturers).

I also think that maybe the structure of having to write, with a teacher assigning you due dates, helps people who might need some prodding.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (8rNrN)

119 Dorothy: How can you talk, if you haven't got a brain?

Scarecrow: I don't know. But, some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they?

Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (+7/1f)

120 I wonder where Maxine Waters got her Doctorate from?
Posted by: kraken

Same place she got that hair?

Posted by: Rick in SK at July 14, 2017 05:18 PM (FZYNt)

121 Scott Walker has more brains than Rhodes.

Posted by: Jack Sock at July 14, 2017 05:18 PM (bwBxJ)

122 Werewolves of Washington!

Aaaa-ooooooooo!
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at July 14, 2017 04:53 PM (oVJmc)


There wolves of Washington!

Posted by: Igor (pronounced Eye-gor) at July 14, 2017 05:18 PM (XkVg/)

123 Though Rhodes never said a word in meetings, Hamilton says, he had a keen understanding of what was going on and a talent for putting the positions of distinguished participants down on paper.

-----

Any entry-level administrative assistant better fucking be able to do that.

Posted by: Bicentennialguy at July 14, 2017 05:18 PM (nILVB)

124 Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:16 PM (DQ4Fv)

Gorka is significant because he disagrees with the left.

That's pretty much it.
But as I noted "you're PhD isn't rigorous enough" only plays well amongst the HAAAAAARRRRVVVAARRD and Yale crowd that cares about this shitty shit.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:18 PM (dzmBR)

125 I wonder where Maxine Waters got her Doctorate from?


I think the University of What's Happenin' Now closed down in the '70s.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at July 14, 2017 05:18 PM (Mouru)

126 Since the Disciples of the Left can not festoon their names with such things as Countess or Knight for fear of the Proletariat wising up to the fact that the Disciples want to be Lords and Masters, they festoon their names with other fancy letters like MBA or PhD.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at July 14, 2017 05:19 PM (+BG/J)

127 "Though Rhodes never said a word in meetings, Hamilton says, he had a keen understanding of what was going on and a talent for putting the positions of distinguished participants down on paper."

He could write down the words of important people. This is a real praise not faintly damning?

Posted by: no good deed at July 14, 2017 05:19 PM (hsb2w)

128 123 Though Rhodes never said a word in meetings, Hamilton says, he had a keen understanding of what was going on and a talent for putting the positions of distinguished participants down on paper.

-----

Any entry-level administrative assistant better fucking be able to do that.
Posted by: Bicentennialguy at July 14, 2017 05:18 PM (nILVB)



"Ben, come in here and bring your steno pad. Take a letter ..."

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:19 PM (SRKgf)

129 >>Gorka is the latest messenger that the Mean Girl Media, Tapper et all, are trying to destroy.


THIS



Gorka is effective, was so back before the election. Particularly on national security related to Islamic terror. Undeterred by typical method of calling people like him Islamaphobes, he now must be shut up by other means.

Posted by: Lizzy at July 14, 2017 05:20 PM (NOIQH)

130 I don't know. I imagine you make connections as they have writers and editors as guest lecturers (and sometimes as visiting lecturers).

I also think that maybe the structure of having to write, with a teacher assigning you due dates, helps people who might need some prodding.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (8rNrN)

THIS. It's all about networking and backscratching. A MFA in fiction all but guarantees you that your short stories and novels will be read by someone in a position to help get them published---instead of ending up in the slush pile.

Posted by: JoeF. at July 14, 2017 05:20 PM (7uYFy)

131 I would put Ben Rhodes' transcript up against Obama's.

Oh wait. That won't work.

Posted by: Furious George at July 14, 2017 05:20 PM (j+dfT)

132 He could write down the words of important people. This is a real praise not faintly damning?
Posted by: no good deed at July 14, 2017 05:19 PM (hsb2w)



He was always prompt and has very neat handwriting.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:20 PM (SRKgf)

133 Maxine Waters and Debbie WashesHerSchlitz both got the treatment at PHD - Professional Hair Design.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at July 14, 2017 05:20 PM (+BG/J)

134 A MBA is a dumb degree?

An MPH [Master of Public Health] is no gut degree either (at least in the US). It requires passing courses in biostatistics and epidemiology as well as the behavioral sciences-- and a lot of medical students enroll in joint MD/MPH programs.

Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 05:20 PM (3C9q2)

135 Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at July 14, 2017 05:19 PM (+BG/J)

I look forward to going from "PhD(c)" to "PhD" so I can end every argument with my leftist friends by saying "and who's the only person with a PhD in this room?"

(It's a one shot kill on health policy issues since that's my area of study!)

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:21 PM (dzmBR)

136 O/T:

I've got to say: Trump gets results.

From TheHill:

"Nearly 3,500 voters in Colorado as of Friday have canceled their voter registrations over the state's decision to turn over public information to President Trump's voter fraud commission."

The benevolent explanation is that they're worried about privacy.

The more cynical explanation is that these people were illegally registered.

I vote for the later.

Posted by: WisRich at July 14, 2017 05:21 PM (G0vdT)

137 WARNING: Cracker technology falls outside the general scope of this post. Your comment is OFF TOPIC. Further infractions may result in loss of premium membership privileges!

"Cracker technology"? I gotta put up with racist shit here, too?

Posted by: Blanco Basura at July 14, 2017 05:21 PM (Hk/NM)

138 "Though Rhodes never said a word in meetings, Hamilton says, he had a keen understanding of what was going on and a talent for putting the positions of distinguished participants down on paper."

He minored in Stenography.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at July 14, 2017 05:21 PM (oVJmc)

139 The pinnacle of Cracker technology has to be the punkin cannon.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at July 14, 2017 05:21 PM (oVJmc)

140 >>>He was always prompt and has very neat handwriting.

He successfully converts oxygen to carbon dioxide and maintains a body temperature of around 98 degrees!

Posted by: Banana Splits Guy at July 14, 2017 05:22 PM (fMidn)

141 He minored in Stenography.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at July 14, 2017 05:21 PM (oVJmc)



Emphasis in Break Room Management

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at July 14, 2017 05:22 PM (Mouru)

142 Hark!
The quintessential Goldfish!
We shall fatten him up
for the homecoming party
and choke him down with salt
and shooters of gin
like Hemingway
on a weekend bender.
Alas,
the gimlet
weeps not
for thee.

Posted by: Rhodesy the Poet at July 14, 2017 05:22 PM (eLttb)

143 Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 05:20 PM (3C9q2)

Yeah I got respect for the MPH people if only on the stats angle.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:22 PM (dzmBR)

144 118 >>>Why even get an MFA? You can either write or you can't. Like majoring in Theatre.

I don't know. I imagine you make connections as they have writers and editors as guest lecturers (and sometimes as visiting lecturers).

I also think that maybe the structure of having to write, with a teacher assigning you due dates, helps people who might need some prodding.

Posted by: ace


BINGO!

It's all about connections.

I know people that have gotten Masters in Journalism from UC Berkeley and from Stanford. In both cases, the professors just came right out and said this to all new students, "You won't really learn anything in this degree; you're here to make connections, and for us to assess whether or not we deem you worthy to join the inner circle of journalism elitists. If we anoint you as worthy, we (the instructors) will hook you up with all our connections and get you a job at a prestigious publication upon graduation; if not, you're shit out of luck."

"Writing degrees" are basically a like a football draft, and the teachers are the scouts.

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:22 PM (DQ4Fv)

145 An MPH [Master of Public Health] is no gut degree
either (at least in the US). It requires passing courses in
biostatistics and epidemiology as well as the behavioral sciences-- and a
lot of medical students enroll in joint MD/MPH programs.

Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 05:20 PM (3C9q2)

It's gotten to the point around here with some that there are 2 maybe 3 degrees that are "worth anything at all".

Posted by: Tami at July 14, 2017 05:23 PM (Enq6K)

146 Though Rhodes never said a word in meetings


Obviously an adherent of Lincoln's dictum that it was better to remain silent and be suspected of being a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

OTOH, I have time for someone who quack in meetings, and just warms a chair. If you don't have anything to contribute, then ... don't.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:23 PM (SRKgf)

147 Dr. Sebastian Gorka is no DOCTOR Jill Biden.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at July 14, 2017 05:24 PM (PY9jH)

148 >>>87 Can there be any doubt that the bacon flavored Ritz represents the pinnacle of cracker development?


dagnabbit
i've already been to town for the week

Posted by: concrete girl at July 14, 2017 05:24 PM (EqvVS)

149 Posted by: Rick in SK at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (FZYNt)

If you mean the aos moron, thanks. If not , I always like good snark , so win win.

Posted by: Jack Sock at July 14, 2017 05:24 PM (bwBxJ)

150 Being Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Law Review is one of the best credentials you can have in the legal profession. Just sayin'

Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 05:24 PM (+7/1f)

151 Posted by: Tami at July 14, 2017 05:23 PM

If my degree had any value I probably wouldn't be a stay at home dad

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:25 PM (dzmBR)

152
It's gotten to the point around here with some that there are 2 maybe 3 degrees that are "worth anything at all".
Posted by: Tami at July 14, 2017 05:23 PM (

My degree was in hard living, primarily, and a couple of college things, vaguely remembered.

Posted by: kraken at July 14, 2017 05:25 PM (zSVEm)

153 147 Dr. Sebastian Gorka is no DOCTOR Jill Biden.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at July 14, 2017 05:24 PM (PY9jH)



Gotta keep up standards, yo!

Posted by: DOCTOR Amy Bishop at July 14, 2017 05:25 PM (SRKgf)

154
Mmmmm. Good cracker.

Posted by: Andy Griffith at July 14, 2017 05:25 PM (8O3HH)

155 130 I don't know. I imagine you make connections as they have writers and editors as guest lecturers (and sometimes as visiting lecturers).

I also think that maybe the structure of having to write, with a teacher assigning you due dates, helps people who might need some prodding.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (8rNrN)

THIS. It's all about networking and backscratching. A MFA in fiction all but guarantees you that your short stories and novels will be read by someone in a position to help get them published---instead of ending up in the slush pile.
Posted by: JoeF.


EXACTLY!

That's the only reason to get any of these degrees -- the connections. And, to be honest, it "works," because without these connections, you will struggle your whole career, because you are not of The Tribe.

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:25 PM (DQ4Fv)

156 WTF? An MFA, and he's a secretary? No slight to secretaries. But we know what he got the master of echo chamber job. Because he knows how to write fiction, which is the story of obama.

Posted by: flounder, rebel, vulgarian, deplorable, winner at July 14, 2017 05:25 PM (tbOMB)

157 Insist they address you as "Herr Doktor Tsrlbke" also.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at July 14, 2017 05:26 PM (+BG/J)

158 "Nearly 3,500 voters in Colorado as of Friday have canceled their voter registrations over the state's decision to turn over public information to President Trump's voter fraud commission."

Fraudulent votes really have determined national elections, haven't they?

How many elections turned on a few key states and by only a few thousand votes?

Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 05:26 PM (jhqr1)

159 someone who DOESN'T quack in meetings,

Posted by: DOCTOR Amy Bishop at July 14, 2017 05:26 PM (SRKgf)

160
My impression is that getting rid of anyone from Hungary who could expose Soros is a priority. As far as I know, Soros is still considered a war criminal and Hungary has a long-time hold on him for that. Geez, Orban and Hungary are with the Poles (and others) who will not take Mutti Merkel's animals.

Posted by: mustbequantum at July 14, 2017 05:26 PM (MIKMs)

161 Susan Rice, Rhodes Scholar >> Ignoramus

Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 05:26 PM (+7/1f)

162 149 Posted by: Rick in SK at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (FZYNt)

If you mean the aos moron, thanks. If not , I always like good snark , so win win.
Posted by: Jack Sock

I mean he made you.
sperm donation and all
also I imagine he had a hand in making you what you are today, as most parents do
AOS all the way

Posted by: Rick in SK at July 14, 2017 05:26 PM (FZYNt)

163 Personally I think that degrees are a lot like "awards," in that they ceased to have any meaning a long time ago.

It's like Obama's transcripts. He was a black guy with an African name. No way any professor is going to give him less than an A, no matter what he does.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at July 14, 2017 05:26 PM (MZcWR)

164 sock off

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:27 PM (SRKgf)

165 We know he sucks at writing, but how was he at beer pong?

Posted by: Jane D'oh at July 14, 2017 05:27 PM (PY9jH)

166
Quack? How about squeal. Like a pig.

Posted by: Deliverance Hillybilly at July 14, 2017 05:27 PM (8O3HH)

167 144 So,if you are a proper left winger you get hooked up...

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2017 05:27 PM (rmVvL)

168 My MBA classes were full of engineers that were being groomed for management.

Posted by: Jack Sock at July 14, 2017 05:27 PM (bwBxJ)

169 Ben 'Lonesome' Rhodes

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at July 14, 2017 05:27 PM (oVJmc)

170 >>>WARNING: Cracker technology falls outside the general scope of this post.


LMAO!!! You guys today!

Posted by: Max Power at July 14, 2017 05:27 PM (q177U)

171 Though Rhodes never said a word in meetings


Obviously an adherent of Lincoln's dictum that it was better to remain silent and be suspected of being a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.


or he was failing at solitaire on his laptop all day

Posted by: brak at July 14, 2017 05:28 PM (5iU/N)

172
The more cynical explanation is that these people were illegally registered.

Duplicate registrations, is my guess. Frauds.

Or family members canceling their dead relatives registration because they've been casting voting for them.

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 05:28 PM (Wli2K)

173 It's like Obama's transcripts. He was a black guy with an African name. No way any professor is going to give him less than an A, no matter what he does.


Being him in the Ivy League is like getting a threadwinner on every comment.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at July 14, 2017 05:28 PM (Mouru)

174 Just imagine when they have sexbots as librarians, it could be used as a supplier of Soylent Green.

Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at July 14, 2017 05:28 PM (6Ll1u)

175 If I had a master's in creative writing, I would kill myself rather than allow that information to become public.

Was Clown College too hard for this guy?

Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 05:28 PM (yL25O)

176 Susan Rice, Rhodes Scholar


In Oxford Rhodes Scholars are viewed as dim-witted rah-rah backslapping jocks and student body presidents from the colonies. No one there takes them seriously intellectually.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:28 PM (SRKgf)

177

I'm eating ZITI.

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 05:29 PM (Wli2K)

178 >>>I think I'll hit the popcorn counter until the scene is over.


please get me some bon bons

Posted by: concrete girl at July 14, 2017 05:29 PM (EqvVS)

179 OT

Here's an amazing shot of Jupiter's red spot, taken via the Juno probe.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/y6wlo5gn

Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 05:29 PM (jhqr1)

180
Zitis and Meatballs and Chicken Parm

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 05:29 PM (Wli2K)

181 Fraudulent votes really have determined national elections, haven't they?

How many elections turned on a few key states and by only a few thousand votes?
Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 05:26 PM (jhqr1)

Crazy isn't. Imagine what they'll find once they actually start digging into the voter rolls.

Posted by: WisRich at July 14, 2017 05:29 PM (G0vdT)

182 Oh well I guess I best get to writing to see where Tanya ends up next.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at July 14, 2017 05:29 PM (+BG/J)

183 Posted by: Jack Sock at July 14, 2017 05:27 PM (bwBxJ)

I'm sure it varies. When I had to interact with MBA students they were almost universally people who had just graduated undergrad and didn't know what they wanted next so...more school!

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:29 PM (dzmBR)

184 Meh, I wouldn't write the story either. I don't do local crime stories, and Rhodes masquerading as an educated foreign policy expert to get a WH job is sort of a local DC story.

Posted by: Sarah Kliff at July 14, 2017 05:29 PM (ylUqT)

185 I have three degrees. Big fucking deal. I'll go with the guy who actually accomplishes actual shit in the real world any day.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at July 14, 2017 05:29 PM (4ErVI)

186 yeah it's all a real mystery

Posted by: The Original REAL Galactic Lord Sir Covfefe at July 14, 2017 05:30 PM (nFwvY)

187
That's the only reason to get any of these degrees -- the connections. And, to be honest, it "works," because without these connections, you will struggle your whole career, because you are not of The Tribe.
Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:25 PM (DQ4Fv)

And it doesn't stop when/if you are actually able to make a living out of writing as they all (positively) review and provide "blurbs" for each other's books. And hire each other to teach in writing programs--lucrative centers that could be rewarding financially--and if you are a straight male--with pussy.

Posted by: JoeF. at July 14, 2017 05:30 PM (7uYFy)

188 Chelsea Clinton, PhD Oxford >> Ignoramus

Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 05:30 PM (+7/1f)

189 Getting a PhD in political science requires some ability at reading, regurgitating, writing. In a good program at least, you could certainly call it an academic discipline.

MFA in creative writing? Um, no. You may (or may not) learn quite a bit about expressing yourself in words, but it's not really an academic subject. Not in the traditional sense.

Of the top two hundred or so writers in the English language, how many do you suppose had an MFA?

BTW, I have a close friend who teaches MFA candidates. He doesn't think the classes (or all the summer workshops he runs) are worthless. But he concedes that the only good reasons for pursuing the degree are (1) making useful contacts or (2) a desire to teach creative writing at the HS or undergraduate level.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at July 14, 2017 05:30 PM (0jtPF)

190

I was in Medford today so I stopped at Bob's Italian Food Store.

Best italian food in the world.

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 05:30 PM (Wli2K)

191 Suckers of cock gotta suck - I guess.

Btw - comparing Rhodes to Gorka from a polo sci phd vs an mfa? It is not like comparing a field goal to a touchdown- it's like comparing a full time NFL player to a guy who once played organized kickball. Just sayin.

In a fairer world Rhodes would be swinging from a lamp post, but again- not gonna say any more so I avoid the ban hammer.

Posted by: Publius Redux at July 14, 2017 05:30 PM (BH6vD)

192 WARNING: Cracker technology falls outside the general scope of this post.
Posted by: The AoSHQ Ministry of Comment Compliance and Review at July 14, 2017 05:16 PM (Mouru)


The post refers to a story about goldfish, goldfish are a type of cracker, the ruling on the field stands, crackers are a relevant topic, quod erat demonstrandum etc. etc.

Posted by: hogmartin at July 14, 2017 05:30 PM (y87Qq)

193 I'm eating ZITI.


Hmm. There's an acronym I haven't run across before.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at July 14, 2017 05:30 PM (Mouru)

194 Quack? How about squeal. Like a pig.
Posted by: Deliverance Hillybilly at July 14, 2017 05:27 PM (8O3HH)



I always think of quacking because as a kid we raised ducks, and periodically for no reason one of them would start quacking loudly as if to say "Look at me!"

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:30 PM (SRKgf)

195 Here's an amazing shot of Jupiter's red spot, taken via the Juno probe.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/y6wlo5gn
Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 05:29 PM (jhqr1)
---

Hmmm, looks like a Van Gogh.

Posted by: WisRich at July 14, 2017 05:31 PM (G0vdT)

196 An MFA and no gag-reflex will take you far in DC.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at July 14, 2017 05:31 PM (QQ+il)

197 192 WARNING: Cracker technology falls outside the general scope of this post.
Posted by: The AoSHQ Ministry of Comment Compliance and Review at July 14, 2017 05:16 PM (Mouru)

Never underestimate redneck ingenuity.

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:31 PM (0mRoj)

198
Here's an amazing shot of Jupiter's red spot, taken via the Juno probe.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/y6wlo5gn
Posted by: bonhomme


What -- it really IS a picture of the Red Spot??!?!? I just assumed it would be porn, or some kind of pun.

OK, maybe that counts as Astronomy Porn.

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:31 PM (DQ4Fv)

199 Remember, the scarecrow had a doctorate in thinkology.

Posted by: Strobe at July 14, 2017 05:32 PM (gbWkA)

200 New title for my children's book.

Get Off Your Ass And Get A Job.


Can never start too early making that point.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at July 14, 2017 05:32 PM (qdeLs)

201 Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:23 PM (SRKgf)

There you go again quoting from that misogynist , elitist book of the Bible .

Posted by: Jack Sock at July 14, 2017 05:32 PM (bwBxJ)

202 The post refers to a story about goldfish, goldfish are a type of cracker, the ruling on the field stands, crackers are a relevant topic, quod erat demonstrandum etc. etc.

The commenter will not be assessed a time-out.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at July 14, 2017 05:32 PM (QQ+il)

203 If I had a master's in creative writing, I would kill myself rather than allow that information to become public.

Was Clown College too hard for this guy?
Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 05:28 PM (yL25O)

If someone is REALLY good at writing--and willing to put the work in-- I would advise them to get a writing degree only for the connections that will be made....

Posted by: JoeF. at July 14, 2017 05:32 PM (7uYFy)

204 Obama Mugabe's education was sub-par.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at July 14, 2017 05:32 PM (5VlCp)

205 In Oxford Rhodes Scholars are viewed as dim-witted rah-rah backslapping jocks and student body presidents from the colonies. No one there takes them seriously intellectually.

They sure had Bill Clinton pegged, didn't they?

Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 05:33 PM (3C9q2)

206 The benevolent explanation is that they're worried about privacy.

-----

I can see dumbass Democrats canceling their registrations because "OMG! That Trump is not gonna get my personal info!!!!11!!"

Ever heard of the IRS, bitches?

Posted by: Bicentennialguy at July 14, 2017 05:33 PM (nILVB)

207 195 Here's an amazing shot of Jupiter's red spot, taken via the Juno probe.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/y6wlo5gn
Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 05:29 PM (jhqr1)

Is that called its 'J Spot'?

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at July 14, 2017 05:33 PM (qdeLs)

208 200 New title for my children's book.

Get Off Your Ass And Get A Job.


Can never start too early making that point.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob

The follow up can be

Nothing Is Free In This World

Posted by: Rick in SK at July 14, 2017 05:33 PM (FZYNt)

209 "Though Rhodes never said a word in meetings, Hamilton says, he had a keen understanding of what was going on and a talent for putting the positions of distinguished participants down on paper."

And a unique talent for licking his eyebrows.

Posted by: bergerbilder at July 14, 2017 05:33 PM (lIZQs)

210 208 200 New title for my children's book.

Get Off Your Ass And Get A Job.


Can never start too early making that point.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob

The follow up can be

Nothing Is Free In This World
Posted by: Rick in SK at July 14, 2017 05:33 PM (FZYNt)

The World is a Horrible Place
One Day You're Going to Die

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:34 PM (0mRoj)

211 I see the thread title has changed.

The Jake Also Rises.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at July 14, 2017 05:34 PM (QQ+il)

212 Well to be fair Gorka did spend time at Harvard. So I'll give Tapper that.

Posted by: Hopped Up On Something Yale Legacy at July 14, 2017 05:34 PM (B9t7n)

213 208 200 New title for my children's book.

Get Off Your Ass And Get A Job.


Can never start too early making that point.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob

The follow up can be

Nothing Is Free In This World
Posted by: Rick in SK at July 14, 2017 05:33 PM (FZYNt)

Nice. Can I add 'Bitches?' Cause...well.. you know.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at July 14, 2017 05:35 PM (qdeLs)

214
The term "quack" actually comes from that notion. There was some old word roughly spelled as "quacksalver" that meant someone who would hawk salves and such, and then "quacking" came to mean someone in the streets shouting loudly, such as selling snake oil.

Posted by: Deliverance Hillybilly at July 14, 2017 05:35 PM (8O3HH)

215 205 In Oxford Rhodes Scholars are viewed as dim-witted rah-rah backslapping jocks and student body presidents from the colonies. No one there takes them seriously intellectually.

They sure had Bill Clinton pegged, didn't they?
Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 05:33 PM (3C9q2)


Yep. The reason is that assessment for the Rhodes Scholarships have a social (shall we say) component. Withdrawn Aspie physicists need not apply. I think the rubric specifies having some potential for future leadership, hence the rah-rah backslapping shit, e.g., "Eric Stratton. Damned glad to meet ya."

Eric Stratton would be a shoo-in for a Rhodes Scholarship.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:35 PM (SRKgf)

216 190

I was in Medford today so I stopped at Bob's Italian Food Store.

Best italian food in the world.
Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 05:30 PM (Wli2K)

--------------

I'd shop there but I don't know what all those Italian words mean. I guess I'll stick with Wal Mart.

Posted by: Soona at July 14, 2017 05:35 PM (Fmupd)

217 Then there's my romance and marriage series

Love is a Lie
Nobody Will Ever Love You
Your Ex-wife Will Pick Your Carcass Clean

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (0mRoj)

218 197 192 WARNING: Cracker technology falls outside the general scope of this post.
Posted by: The AoSHQ Ministry of Comment Compliance and Review at July 14, 2017 05:16 PM (Mouru)

Never underestimate redneck ingenuity.
Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:31 PM (0mRoj)

Ever had a mock apple pie?

Posted by: Jack Sock at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (bwBxJ)

219 Does everyone in the English department teach some of the creative writing courses, or is that like a specialty within the department?

As in, if you get an MFA in Creative Writing, could you actually get tenure as the Creative Writing chair, and literally spend the rest of your life doing nothing but grading prose and poetry of coeds looking for an easy way to pad their GPA?

Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (yL25O)

220 DistHillary: Juris Doctor from Yale. Flunked bar exam.

Happy-Go-Lucky Michelle: Juris Doctor from Harvard. Flunked bar exam.

Posted by: Furious George at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (j+dfT)

221 We used to have a Mock Apple Tree at the old house.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (QQ+il)

222 Soona. Funny.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (qdeLs)

223 Nice. Can I add 'Bitches?' Cause...well.. you know.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob

safer to keep it gender neutral

Posted by: Rick in SK at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (FZYNt)

224 211 I see the thread title has changed.

The Jake Also Rises.
Posted by: Grump928(C) at July 14, 2017 05:34 PM (QQ+il)



Shoulda been "The Gorge Also Rises."

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (SRKgf)

225 What -- it really IS a picture of the Red Spot??!?!? I just assumed it would be porn, or some kind of pun.

And you clicked on it?!? : )

I'm a big sweetheart, I won't lead you Morons astray.

Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 05:37 PM (jhqr1)

226 >>As short as George Stephanopolous?

Posted by: Darth Randall

Shorter
Like AtC.

Posted by: Aviator at July 14, 2017 05:37 PM (/Nite)

227 Ever had a mock apple pie?
Posted by: Jack Sock at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (bwBxJ)

I have not but am aware of its existence. I think the recipe used to be on the back of Ritz crackers boxes.

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:37 PM (0mRoj)

228 >>I think Jake Trapper and Ben Rhodes both have big, walk in closets full of CFM pumps.



Considering how small and incestuous DC is, it may be that Tapper and Rhodes are neighbors, they both are on the same parents committee at Sidewell friends (where both have kids enrolled), their wives are co-workers or college friends and they do backyard bbq's at each other's houses. Did Tapper ever work for Ben's brother?


When I lived in the DC area I saw more info about the DC VIP network/connections of people in the WashPost Lifestyle section, where they often had bits about who was celebrating someone's b-day at this chi-chi restaurant, or who got together threw a fundraiser for whatever. Would see how Congressman A's wife works at non-profit, and is friends with this reporter and her WH staffer spouse, etc. Incestuous.

Posted by: Lizzy at July 14, 2017 05:37 PM (NOIQH)

229 Full disclosure: I took Creative Writing as an undergrad.

Because I am Not Dumb, and I will take 3 credit hours at 4.0 if you just leave it laying on the ground right there.

Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 05:37 PM (yL25O)

230 Bill Clinton's Oxford GPA was 0.0. Fact.

Posted by: Jack Sock at July 14, 2017 05:37 PM (bwBxJ)

231 217 Then there's my romance and marriage series

Love is a Lie
Nobody Will Ever Love You
Your Ex-wife Will Pick Your Carcass Clean

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (0mRoj)

OK, lets all collaborate on children's books.

Bluebell?

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at July 14, 2017 05:38 PM (qdeLs)

232 Why would you make a apple pie without God's gift apples? and nothing is better than a Ritz as it sits.

Posted by: Skip at July 14, 2017 05:38 PM (9g/6M)

233 230 Bill Clinton's Oxford GPA was 0.0. Fact.
Posted by: Jack Sock

yes but it was stylised as

(o)(o)

Posted by: Rick in SK at July 14, 2017 05:38 PM (FZYNt)

234 I have to travel 25 miles to get an Italian hot beef sammich

Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at July 14, 2017 05:38 PM (6Ll1u)

235 71 Rhodes has ridiculed reporters as 27-year olds who know nothing. You play ball with Rhodes and he hands you a story you can print. That you want to print because it fits your biases. That your boss wants to print because it fits his. Your boss may even be colluding with Rhodes. FFS, your boss may be Rhodes' brother, literally.

A big reason for the success of the Echo Chamber is that MSM is actually shrinking and can't afford even shitty reporters. Rhodes gives you a shrink-wrapped scoop. Play along and you're in the game. If you don't, your this week's NYT layoff
Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 05:09 PM (+7/1f)


That's what I find amazing in all this. You'd think if there was one guy the media would be loathe to defend it would be the one who described them in those terms. Sure, he had some clout while Obama was still president, but now? The knives should be out.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:39 PM (Xuv2G)

236 opolous?

Posted by: Darth Randall

Shorter
Like AtC.
Posted by: Aviator at July 14, 2017 05:37 PM (/Nite)


*backs away from Aviator*

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at July 14, 2017 05:39 PM (qdeLs)

237 Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (yL25O)

My guess is the upper ranks of the professorships are filled with English PhDs.

The old saw is you should be one degree level above those you teach. (The explosion of adjuncts has lowered that standard though, I teach a lot of MA/MSN students with only my transitional Masters.)

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:39 PM (dzmBR)

238 234 I have to travel 25 miles to get an Italian hot beef sammich
Posted by: Tinfoilbaby

Barack doesn't have that problem

Posted by: Reggie Love at July 14, 2017 05:39 PM (FZYNt)

239 It is really difficult to actually assess the quality of the candidate from where they got their graduate degrees unless it is in your specialty. Reading their published research often gives you a quick read on how competent they are as a researcher. In the absence of that, it is difficult.

Much of the academic world still rests on the old guild type organization--apprentice, journeyman, master. In reality, it takes roughly ten years of continuously studying a field before you really feel competent. Since Gorka has apparently spent the sufficient time working and studying on the job and through his terminal degree to become a competent at national security policy, that is what matters--not the college name on the diploma.

Posted by: whig at July 14, 2017 05:39 PM (W9rTq)

240 230
Bill Clinton's Oxford GPA was 0.0. Fact.

Posted by: Jack Sock


It's the lowest in Faber history!!!

Posted by: Dean Wormer at July 14, 2017 05:39 PM (LAe3v)

241 Please correct me if I am wrong here, but to the best of my recollection DJT has an MBA from Wharton. Like, back in the day when degrees meant something.

Posted by: mustbequantum at July 14, 2017 05:40 PM (MIKMs)

242 Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (0mRoj)

When you do get a full time job. Insomniac I hope that you will look into the books I suggested at the end of an earlier thread because these constant negative messages are not good for you., nor are they particularly good for anyone else reading them who is concerned about you and cares about your well being.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 14, 2017 05:40 PM (iVOAv)

243 >>They sure had Bill Clinton pegged, didn't they?

I say old man, we all pegged that colonial.

Posted by: Rhodes Scholar Pegger at July 14, 2017 05:40 PM (/Nite)

244 And my book for kids having rough childhoods

Mommy Hits You Because You're Bad

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:40 PM (0mRoj)

245 210 208 200 New title for my children's book.

Get Off Your Ass And Get A Job.


Can never start too early making that point.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob

The follow up can be

Nothing Is Free In This World
Posted by: Rick in SK at July 14, 2017 05:33 PM (FZYNt)

The World is a Horrible Place
One Day You're Going to Die
Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:34 PM (0mRoj)

...

Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford

Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 05:40 PM (yL25O)

246 230 Bill Clinton's Oxford GPA was 0.0. Fact.
Posted by: Jack Sock at July 14, 2017 05:37 PM (bwBxJ)



Oxford doesn't give grades. For undergraduates it awards first class honors, second class honors (upper and lower seconds, 2.1 and 2.2, as Gorka received from Univ. of London), and third class honors.

For graduate students, it awards M.A.s and D.Phil.s.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:40 PM (SRKgf)

247 244 And my book for kids having rough childhoods

Mommy Hits You Because You're Bad
Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:40 PM (0mRoj)

...and becuse I'm the mommy thats why.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at July 14, 2017 05:40 PM (qdeLs)

248 "It's like Obama's transcripts. He was a black guy with an African name. No way any professor is going to give him less than an A, no
matter what he does."

Obama's former professor Laurence Tribe came right out and said that he had excused Obama from having to perform the normal law school courseload at Harvard, "because of his obvious brilliance" or some other such exculpatory argle-bargle.

Um, if someone's so amazingly smart that they don't even need to do the coursework, isn't it unjust for them to be taking up a class slot, one which could have been filled by someone who genuinely could and would benefit from the full measure of Harvard legal education?

Posted by: torquewrench at July 14, 2017 05:41 PM (ujwCG)

249 Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 14, 2017 05:40 PM (iVOAv)

Gotta be good at something...

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:41 PM (0mRoj)

250 The term "quack" actually comes from that notion. There was some old word roughly spelled as "quacksalver" that meant someone who would hawk salves and such, and then "quacking" came to mean someone in the streets shouting loudly, such as selling snake oil.

Posted by: Deliverance Hillybilly


I never heard a Hawk quack before. Odd. The things you learn here.

Posted by: Hopped Up On Something at July 14, 2017 05:41 PM (B9t7n)

251 New title for my children's book.

Get Off Your Ass And Get A Job.


Can never start too early making that point.
Posted by: Cannibal Bob




Kids! Want $300 - $700 a week?

GET. A. JOB.

Posted by: rickb223 at July 14, 2017 05:41 PM (YxyYj)

252 239
It is really difficult to actually assess the quality of the candidate
from where they got their graduate degrees unless it is in your
specialty. Reading their published research often gives you a quick
read on how competent they are as a researcher. In the absence of that,
it is difficult.


Excellent point. I know lots of scientists who are well along in their careers who still try to impress me with their pedigrees. You know what, dude, if you're still telling my which group you came from, instead of what you've done, I have no professional use for you.

Posted by: Dean Wormer at July 14, 2017 05:42 PM (LAe3v)

253 BTW, Clinton got the Rhodes scholarship because he worked for Sen. William Fullbright, Chair Senate Foreign Relations Cmte at the time, not particularly his scholarship.

Posted by: whig at July 14, 2017 05:42 PM (W9rTq)

254 229 Full disclosure: I took Creative Writing as an undergrad.

Because I am Not Dumb, and I will take 3 credit hours at 4.0 if you just leave it laying on the ground right there.
Posted by: TexasDan


I took creative writing too!

Teacher gave me a "B," not because I was untalented or a bad writer, but because he didn't like my style and themes -- i.e. humor, and mockery of foibles. He wanted to mold everyone in the class to write they kind of stuff her wrote -- boring go-nowhere short stories that generally involved sad old men sitting on benches in Central Park, contemplating suicide, remembering their failed miserable lives. I'd turn in crazy science fiction satires and/or Thurberesue radio scripts. He hated them, but couldn't fail me, so -- "B."

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:42 PM (DQ4Fv)

255 I never heard a Hawk quack before. Odd. The things you learn here.
Posted by: Hopped Up On Something at July 14, 2017 05:41 PM (B9t7n)

I identify as a duck, you bigoted ornithophobe!

Posted by: A hawk at July 14, 2017 05:42 PM (0mRoj)

256 What -- it really IS a picture of the Red Spot??!?!? I just assumed it would be porn, or some kind of pun.

OK, maybe that counts as Astronomy Porn.
Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:31 PM (DQ4Fv)

-------------

I thought the red spot was on Uranus.

Posted by: Soona at July 14, 2017 05:42 PM (Fmupd)

257 @219, "As in, if you get an MFA in Creative Writing, could you actually get tenure as the Creative Writing chair, and literally spend the rest of your life doing nothing but grading prose and poetry of coeds looking for an easy way to pad their GPA?"

It's been awhile since I was applying to doctoral programs (I dropped out), but no. An MFA is the dumb kid's masters -- you can't teach high school because you're not credentialed and you can't teach college because it's not academically rigorous. It's something you use to pad a resume and get writing experience.

If you're interested in actual academic study in humanities areas (I was going for either criticism or linguistics), then you get an MA on a PhD track, MA, or PhD (the thesis and class schedules are slightly different). But the point is -- MA is the one with actual academics behind it, such as they are. MFA is a joke.

Posted by: sunny-dee at July 14, 2017 05:42 PM (QAOZh)

258 Juris Doctor from Yale

The J.D. used to be a bachelor's degree (the LL.B.)-- Yale's law school degree was an LL.B. until 1971, and then the lawyers decided they needed an upgrade. Gerald Ford kept his Yale LL.B. (did not apply for an updated diploma although he could have).

Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 05:43 PM (3C9q2)

259 they kind of stuff her wrote
=
the kind of stuff he wrote

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:43 PM (DQ4Fv)

260 Errrrm, Dean Wormer = pep

Posted by: pep at July 14, 2017 05:43 PM (LAe3v)

261 On early morning news there was a story the worst degree to get for future benefits was a English degree.

Posted by: Skip at July 14, 2017 05:43 PM (9g/6M)

262 Um, if someone's so amazingly smart that they don't even need to do the coursework, isn't it unjust for them to be taking up a class slot, one which could have been filled by someone who genuinely could and would benefit from the full measure of Harvard legal education?




If they're that smart, can't they "test out"?

Posted by: rickb223 at July 14, 2017 05:43 PM (YxyYj)

263 I don't normally consume cheese wiz but on a bacon ritz cracker, that's something tasty indeed.

Posted by: Max Power at July 14, 2017 05:43 PM (q177U)

264 Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:41 PM (0mRoj)

Pick something else You would not have made it out of law school, you would not have been employed for so many years and you would not have people who love and like you if you were bad at everything. Telll mom and dad metaphorically to take a hike-out of your brain, I mean

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 14, 2017 05:43 PM (iVOAv)

265 I think I'm gone to shave off my beard. i need a change. Either that or I'm going to have to put that nail polish on that changes with the temperature.

I mean all rules are broken amirita?

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at July 14, 2017 05:43 PM (qdeLs)

266 I follow Rhodes on Twitter, he's a dick. He's like a privileged frat boy with retarded tendencies.
About as bad as the Washington Post.

Posted by: Dr Spank at July 14, 2017 05:44 PM (4e+hS)

267 259 they kind of stuff her wrote
=
the kind of stuff he wrote
Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:43 PM (DQ4Fv)

Did you just assume your professor's gender?

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:44 PM (0mRoj)

268 Anyone who goes to work for CNN or MSNBC has forfeited any pretense of objectivity or impartiality. I don't pay attention to anything I might accidentally hear them say.

Posted by: Javems at July 14, 2017 05:44 PM (yOqwj)

269 "Creative Writing" is one of those total-bullshit waste three years spending daddy's money kind of degrees.

If you have the talent and drive to truly write creatively, you'll have learned all you need to know by your sophomore year of high school - and the rest you can pick up just be reading current, good, authors on your own time. Classes teach NOTHING about creativity, since they are taught by those people of the previous generations who desperately wanted to be creative writers, but who failed at it utterly, so they decided to become professors of it instead.

It is one of those Academic "disciplines" (what a fraudulent word in this context!) which consists completely of failures teaching failures to be failures, backwards and forwards in time as far as you want to imagine.

Posted by: Tom Servo at July 14, 2017 05:44 PM (OmOvC)

270 He's like a privileged frat boy with retarded tendencies


Lot of redundancy there.

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:44 PM (0mRoj)

271 Also as a proof of concept recipe I once made an ice box cake with ritz crackers and whip cream.

Posted by: Max Power at July 14, 2017 05:44 PM (q177U)

272 184 Meh, I wouldn't write the story either. I don't do local crime stories, and Rhodes masquerading as an educated foreign policy expert to get a WH job is sort of a local DC story.
Posted by: Sarah Kliff at July 14, 2017 05:29 PM (ylUqT)

...

This local story is about the guy who masterminded and created the Iran Treaty echo chamber and led the media to do Obama's bidding in their coverage.

Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (yL25O)

273 253 BTW, Clinton got the Rhodes scholarship because he worked for Sen. William Fullbright, Chair Senate Foreign Relations Cmte at the time, not particularly his scholarship.
Posted by: whig
__________

Can we have a ruling from the AOSHQ Stylebook Committee?

Shouldn't it be "Sen. William Fulbright, Avowed Segregationist"?

Posted by: Furious George at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (j+dfT)

274 I thought the red spot was on Uranus.
Posted by: Soona




Taint "on it".

Posted by: rickb223 at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (YxyYj)

275 241 Please correct me if I am wrong here, but to the best of my recollection DJT has an MBA from Wharton. Like, back in the day when degrees meant something.
Posted by: mustbequantum at July 14, 2017 05:40 PM (MIKMs)


He does, but you always have to wonder with super rich guys how much pressure the family exerted to get them in. It's difficult to get into a top-tier school, but once you're in they make every effort to keep you in.

If you're an STEM major in a state school, though, they believe in academic darwinism - only the fit should survive.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (Xuv2G)

276 Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 05:43 PM (3C9q2

Oddly the LL.M. still exists and is often gotten after a JD.

Lawyers do everything out of order.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (dzmBR)

277
Today a guy mentions to me how odd it is that the job site is filled with Guatemalans and Whatevers. And how Americans don't realize "how good these jobs are."

Guess who's doing nearly ALL the hazardous demo work on UNION jobs now.

They barely speak any English. I think their rate is $36, plus French Benefits.

The fringe package is worth about $25/hr.


Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (Wli2K)

278 news there was a story the worst degree to get for future benefits was a English degree.
Posted by: Skip at July



likely depends more upon the student than the degree, or maybe the type of student that is drawn to the type of degree.

Posted by: yankeefifth at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (0wem/)

279 >>I thought the red spot was on Uranus.

Posted by: Soona

Pay no attention to that. It's just a cold sore.

Posted by: Bill Clinton at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (/Nite)

280 Jake Tapper Rises to Defense of Failed Novelist Turned Echo Chamber Maestro Ben Rhodes
===

Tapper's so ghey he surfs PornHub for the captions.

Posted by: Mortimer - Finish Her! at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (xmlAN)

281 Obama's former professor Laurence Tribe came right out and said that he had excused Obama from having to perform the normal law school courseload at Harvard, "because of his obvious brilliance" or some other such exculpatory argle-bargle.



Christ, what crap. If he were that brilliant, they'd have loaded him up with MORE to do. Furthermore, they'd have tried to hire him (perhaps after he bounced off another position).

The night before the 2008 election Tribe said Obongo was the most brilliant student he'd ever had. However, there is no evidence he said that at the time. If he were really that brilliant, don't you suppose Tribe could've swung a prestigious clerkship - e.g., with a Federal appellate court or even the Supreme Court - with just a phone call to that effect?

Instead, Obongo goes off to Chicago to be sent out for danishes for the office and to fix the odd traffic ticket.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:46 PM (SRKgf)

282 274 I thought the red spot was on Uranus.
Posted by: Soona

Taint "on it".
Posted by: rickb223 at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (YxyYj)

I love a good astronomy lesson!

Posted by: Tapper at July 14, 2017 05:46 PM (qdeLs)

283 276 Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 05:43 PM (3C9q2

Oddly the LL.M. still exists and is often gotten after a JD.

Lawyers do everything out of order.
Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (dzmBR)

The LL.M. is a specialized degree in a specific subject like tax or health care. Though I admit the name is not in keeping with typical academic convention.

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:46 PM (0mRoj)

284 I'm a big sweetheart, I won't lead you Morons astray.
Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 05:37 PM (jhqr1)



You didn't? We have standards and metrics here and protocols. Solid, time-tested protocols.

To absolve yourself of your heresy give me two Hail Mary's and a rick-roll link.

Posted by: Slippery Slope Salesman at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (EgwCt)

285 If you're an STEM major in a state school, though, they believe in academic darwinism - only the fit should survive.
Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (Xuv2G)


Gotta kill 'em off quick though. Lots of schools live and die by "Percent completion" metrics. If you wait to long to shuffle them out you're pretty much stuck with them until the end. (I've seen in it during my time in lab work.)

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (dzmBR)

286 I like to read the credits at the end of movies. Those guys all lard up their names with opaque 3 letter acronyms like ASC and ACE. You know what ASC means? American Society of Cinematography, that's what. Way to go, man, you joined a professional society. I hear that's really exclusive.

These people are really desperate for prestige.

Posted by: pep at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (LAe3v)

287 219 Does everyone in the English department teach some of the creative writing courses, or is that like a specialty within the department?

As in, if you get an MFA in Creative Writing, could you actually get tenure as the Creative Writing chair, and literally spend the rest of your life doing nothing but grading prose and poetry of coeds looking for an easy way to pad their GPA?
Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 05:36 PM (yL25O)
------------------------------------
It's a specialty within the department.

Many who teach creative writing, especially at the graduate level, do not themselves have a MFA. They are often just published authors, the kind that get rave reviews in the NYT or academic rags.

As for grading the creative effluvia of coeds, bear in mind that the criteria are almost purely subjective here. And if she wants to pad her GPA, well, .....
Or if she is desperate to be a published and applauded poetess, well, .......

Let's just say that creative writing departments are like a telenovela.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (0jtPF)

288 He hated them, but couldn't fail me, so -- "B."
Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:42 PM (DQ4Fv)

....

Did you write a story then about burying him alive in a brick wall?

Better to not give the police any ideas.

Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (yL25O)

289 I could test out of any creative writing class Harvard has going, and I would guarantee a solid A, maybe A+.

The Theme of my Composition would be - "My Poop Talked to me this morning, and It Says Donald Trump Sucks."

Posted by: Tom Servo at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (OmOvC)

290 Trump has an undergraduate degree from Wharton. He transferred from Fordham.

Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (+7/1f)

291 Oxford doesn't give grades. For undergraduates it awards first class honors, second class honors (upper and lower seconds, 2.1 and 2.2, as Gorka received from Univ. of London), and third class honors.

For graduate students, it awards M.A.s and D.Phil.s.


Is Oxford the one that doesn't have you do any guided coursework? They give you reading lists, do lectures, and then the test at the end is how you're evaluated?

Clinton didn't finish his program at Oxford. The excuse was he thought he would get drafted to Vietnam, but reports are the guy loved pot and loved chatting up everyone around him more than academics.

Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (jhqr1)

292 Posted by: TexasDan

There are a couple of required English classes in Texas. I think creative writing is one. My instructor was teaching his first class in CW and had previously taught ESL. I remember I wrote a story that included the phrase, "...her feet scrambled for purchase on the slick floor." He didn't understand what that meant and I had to explain it to him. The whole freaking class went like that. Every freaking assignment. Nice guy though. Gave me a 100.

Posted by: Hopped Up On Something at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (B9t7n)

293 French benefits? Is this more like Sophie Marceau, or Roman Polanski?

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (Mouru)

294

I've got just the cure for red spots on Uranus right here.

Posted by: Quack, hawking butt balm at July 14, 2017 05:48 PM (8O3HH)

295 Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:46 PM (0mRoj)

Yeah I know. Just weird that they only changed half their naming convention.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:48 PM (dzmBR)

296 261 On early morning news there was a story the worst degree to get for future benefits was a English degree.
Posted by: Skip at July 14, 2017 05:43 PM (9g/6M)


That doesn't surprise me. A high school buddy of mine got a PhD from Oxford and couldn't get a full time teaching gig above the high school level.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:48 PM (Xuv2G)

297 Well, I got a ph.d. in materials science, and they can all scientifically suck my material as far as "credentialsm" is concerned.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at July 14, 2017 05:49 PM (puX0s)

298 "Would see how Congressman A's wife works at non-profit, and is friends with this reporter and her WH staffer spouse, etc. Incestuous."

That's how you bribe people in DC, by hiring the people they're connected to.

Biden's boys are a case study.

Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 05:49 PM (+7/1f)

299 It's difficult to get into a top-tier school, but once you're in they make every effort to keep you in.

If you're an STEM major in a state school, though, they believe in academic darwinism - only the fit should survive.
Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (Xuv2G)



Yep. The critical difference is between professional schools and STEM graduate schools. In the former, YOU pay them. In the latter, they pay YOU.

Professional schools don't want to blow out a student, because they lose revenue.

STEM graduate schools pay their graduate students (not much, but some), so if you ain't makin' it, you're gone.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:49 PM (SRKgf)

300 Basement Cat,
In my field, we often have J.D.'s think that their degree qualified them as researchers and teachers in that field.

The problem is that most of them consider constructing a good argument as equivalent to rigorously testing their theory and hypothesis using non-cherry picked data.

Posted by: whig at July 14, 2017 05:49 PM (W9rTq)

301 Yeah I know. Just weird that they only changed half their naming convention.
Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:48 PM (dzmBR)

It is odd. I have no idea how the names of the degrees came about.

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:49 PM (0mRoj)

302 I'm still gobsmacked that anyone would even think Rhodes is anywhere close to Gorka, in terms of intellectual capacity.

Posted by: IC at July 14, 2017 05:49 PM (a0IVu)

303 On early morning news there was a story the worst degree to get for future benefits was a English degree.


Really? I find that my ability to rattle off quotes from Chaucer and Milton has been invaluable in getting me kicked out of bars.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at July 14, 2017 05:49 PM (Mouru)

304 Going to Rice means you are odd, an idiot savant or a legacy. My guess Rhodes is one and three. And his old oil trader (and a shady one at that) father made a big fat contribution to get his little weirdo in.

Posted by: Lester at July 14, 2017 05:49 PM (LfJIn)

305 >>On early morning news there was a story the worst degree to get for future benefits was a English degree.

Don't Starbucks employees get free biscotti?

Posted by: Aviator at July 14, 2017 05:51 PM (/Nite)

306 294

I've got just the cure for red spots on Uranus right here.

Posted by: Quack, hawking butt balm at July 14, 2017 05:48 PM (8O3HH)

I'll take a case!

Posted by: Tapper at July 14, 2017 05:51 PM (qdeLs)

307 285 If you're an STEM major in a state school, though, they believe in academic darwinism - only the fit should survive.
Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:45 PM (Xuv2G)

Gotta kill 'em off quick though. Lots of schools live and die by "Percent completion" metrics. If you wait to long to shuffle them out you're pretty much stuck with them until the end. (I've seen in it during my time in lab work.)
Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (dzmBR)


Times have changed since I graduated, then. Of the original 150 or so EE majors in my class only about a dozen managed to make it to graduation four years later, and another dozen or so the next year. The rest either left the school or transferred to another major.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:51 PM (Xuv2G)

308 Is Oxford the one that doesn't have you do any guided coursework? They give you reading lists, do lectures, and then the test at the end is how you're evaluated?

Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (jhqr1)


Yep. For undergraduates in particular most of the teaching occurs in tutorials, two on one sessions with tutors. (In addition to lectures.)

There's one exam at the end of three years - do or die.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:51 PM (SRKgf)

309 Most of the people I know who got an LLM did it because they were terrified of having to actually look for a job after they got their J.D.


Posted by: Tom Servo at July 14, 2017 05:51 PM (OmOvC)

310 Ben... Rhodes? Never heard of him.

Posted by: Charles Gibson at July 14, 2017 05:52 PM (Xuv2G)

311 Red spot on Uranus? There's a balm for that. Or is it a salve?

Posted by: Weasel at July 14, 2017 05:52 PM (Sfs6o)

312 Most of the people I know who got an LLM did it because they were terrified of having to actually look for a job after they got their J.D.


Funny, that's exactly why I got a J.D.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at July 14, 2017 05:52 PM (Mouru)

313 There's one exam at the end of three years - do or die.
Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:51 PM (SRKgf)


Ouch. No pressure...

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:52 PM (Xuv2G)

314 Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:51 PM (Xuv2G)


Undergrad is different. Nobody looks at completion rates for individual undergrad programs because people switch too much.

YMMV, but I've seen people in MA's (and the rare PhD) pushed through to save a number.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:52 PM (dzmBR)

315 309 Most of the people I know who got an LLM did it because they were terrified of having to actually look for a job after they got their J.D.


Posted by: Tom Servo at July 14, 2017 05:51 PM (OmOvC)

There's a glut of law school graduates and a dearth of jobs, even if you have additional degrees or certification. I'm getting close to two decades in with board certification in my specialty and I haven't been able to get another full time job to save my life.

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 05:53 PM (0mRoj)

316
How did we get to a time and a place in this country when an American doesn't want a $36/hr job plus a big fringe package to handle a little Asbestos?

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 05:53 PM (Wli2K)

317 The problem is that most of them consider constructing a good argument as equivalent to rigorously testing their theory and hypothesis using non-cherry picked data.
Posted by: whig at July 14, 2017 05:49 PM (W9rTq)



Of course, that's the essence of litigation: to present the very best argument for one side of an issue, to the exclusion of any evidence for the other side.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:53 PM (SRKgf)

318 If you're an STEM major in a state school, though, they believe in academic darwinism - only the fit should survive.
Posted by: Ace's liver


Been there done that and survived. Absolutely true. First day in Organic the Prof announced that he was only going to give out 10 "A"s. Maybe 11 as he had not decided. There were over 250 students in the class. Still remember that all these years later.
Flagship University.

Posted by: Hopped Up On Something at July 14, 2017 05:53 PM (B9t7n)

319 thismorning with gordondeal The most regrettable college major in America/-228906495403817196

Posted by: Skip at July 14, 2017 05:54 PM (9g/6M)

320 On early morning news there was a story the worst degree to get for future benefits was a English degree.


Really? I find that my ability to rattle off quotes from Chaucer and Milton has been invaluable in getting me kicked out of bars.
Posted by: Cicero



Kicked out of bars? Damn 1%'ers.
Bars I went to, it'd have got your ass kicked IN the bar.

Posted by: rickb223 at July 14, 2017 05:54 PM (YxyYj)

321 they were terrified of having to actually look for a job after they got their J.D.

I thought that explained the number of swamp dwellers in D.C.

Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 05:54 PM (3C9q2)

322 There's one exam at the end of three years - do or die.

I think if I'd had the option to go to Oxford, this would have scared me off.

Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 05:54 PM (jhqr1)

323 The worst sin in graduate school is to not be thought of as a serious student. Most professors look at graduate students as a means of extending their influence to future academics. Those that the professors do not think will reflect well of those professors in the future are cast into the outer darkness of little encouragement and academic support.

Posted by: whig at July 14, 2017 05:54 PM (W9rTq)

324 I doubt Sebastian Gorka is intimidated by people like Tapper and the other "elite" creative writer/journalists giving him c***. Everytime I've heard him he seems very well informed and not at all a shrinking violet.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 14, 2017 05:54 PM (iVOAv)

325 314 Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:51 PM (Xuv2G)


Undergrad is different. Nobody looks at completion rates for individual undergrad programs because people switch too much.

YMMV, but I've seen people in MA's (and the rare PhD) pushed through to save a number.
Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:52 PM (dzmBR)


Oh, I wouldn't have known, even then. Didn't have the inclination (or the grades) for grad school.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:54 PM (Xuv2G)

326 Gotta kill 'em off quick though. Lots of schools live and die by "Percent completion" metrics. If you wait to long to shuffle them out you're pretty much stuck with them until the end. (I've seen in it during my time in lab work.)
Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:47 PM (dzmBR)

...

Nothing worse than a flailing PHD candidate, I have heard. If they don't fail out soon enough but really can't pass, everyone is stuck.

I must add, I'm about to bounce a PhD out of my office. She had to be one they just pushed along and out the door even though someone had to know she was not actually capable.

It's going to a long time before I hire another PhD from U of Houston.

Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 05:55 PM (yL25O)

327 Posted by: whig at July 14, 2017 05:54 PM (W9rTq)

That's bad, but I can one up it: Imagine being thought of as someone who could do well, but was so cynically burned out that they won't.

You're constantly getting pressure to make bad life decisions (like make your wife leave her job to take a tenure track spot across the country.)

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:55 PM (dzmBR)

328 Jay,
Yep, it is. However, it really is problematic if you are actually trying to do objective research. The habit is hard to break for those folks. In essence, they are an argument searching for a theory and hypothesis to support their argument.

Posted by: whig at July 14, 2017 05:56 PM (W9rTq)

329 Kicked out of bars? Damn 1%'ers.
Bars I went to, it'd have got your ass kicked IN the bar.
Posted by: rickb223 at July 14, 2017 05:54 PM (YxyYj)


Hahaha. I've been to those places. You tell the other guy "let's take this outside" so you can hit him when he turns around to walk out.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:56 PM (Xuv2G)

330 Speaking of college courses in writing, Michael Crichton, had a great talent for popularizing science-based themes in novels and movies like Jurassic Park.

While an undergrad English major at Harvard, he got frustrated with the grading of his papers by one professor, and turned in a George Orwell essay as his own.

He got a B minus.

He switched majors.

Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 05:56 PM (+7/1f)

331 When I wanted to pad my GPA, I took math classes.
I would never in a million years taken something like creative writing to do it.
An easy course doesn't necessarily means an easy A.

Because the prof can give you a C if he wants to.
There's no standard.

In math the prof can hate your guts but still have to give you an A if you ace the tests.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at July 14, 2017 05:56 PM (0jtPF)

332

if the Star Chamber and the Echo Chamber fought, who'd win?

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 05:56 PM (Wli2K)

333 Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 05:55 PM (yL25O)

Depending on the field some people are good at the work, but I won't touch them with a 10 foot pole.

I got lapped by several students that were better at dissertating that I am, but in the toe to toe arena they usually either resort to ad hominem's against me or literally run away.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:57 PM (dzmBR)

334

The Star Chamber, the Echo Chamber, and the Chamber of Commerce walked into a bar...

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 05:57 PM (Wli2K)

335 Ouch. No pressure...
Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 05:52 PM (Xuv2G)


The pressure is tremendous. Their whole lives literally depend on about a week or so in June. Get a first class degree, you're looking good.

Upper second, still OK. Lower second, scraping a bit.

A third? Drive-up window time.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 05:58 PM (SRKgf)

336 "286 I like to read the credits at the end of movies. Those guys all lard up their names with opaque 3 letter acronyms like ASC and ACE. You know what ASC means? American Society of Cinematography, that's what. Way to go, man, you joined a professional society. I hear that's really exclusive.

These people are really desperate for prestige."

I think it's more like, "You will join the union or you will not work in movies."

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at July 14, 2017 05:58 PM (MZcWR)

337 Planet IX will always be Pluto, Planet X is a mystery though.

Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at July 14, 2017 05:58 PM (6Ll1u)

338 Depending on the field some people are good at the work, but I won't touch them with a 10 foot pole.

I got lapped by several students that were better at dissertating that I am, but in the toe to toe arena they usually either resort to ad hominem's against me or literally run away.
Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July




well, in their defense, have you looked at your feet?

Posted by: yankeefifth at July 14, 2017 05:58 PM (0wem/)

339 288 He hated them, but couldn't fail me, so -- "B."
Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:42 PM (DQ4Fv)

....

Did you write a story then about burying him alive in a brick wall?

Better to not give the police any ideas.
Posted by: TexasDan


The FAVORITE short story I wrote for that class had the following backstory:

At some point, as a writing exercise, the teacher made students pair up in class and then each team would write a "sequential" short story, in which the first person write the first paragraph, then hand the paper to their partner who would write the second paragraph and then hand it back to the first person for the third paragraph, etc. So we did it, but all the stories came out like shit, frankly.

So for the next open-ended do-what-you-want assignment, I wrote a simulated story purportedly written by two students in his class as team-mates in the sequential-story assignment -- but they HATED each other: One was a dim-witted Space Opera Sci-fi fanboi, and the other a bitter lesbian feminist. My story was a simulation of what a story written by this team would look like in the final version. In my opinion, it was HILARIOUS, as the two writers struggled for control of the plot.

The teacher just graded it with a giant red question mark on the front, and made no comment whatsoever.

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:59 PM (DQ4Fv)

340 Saw that one too, tsrbke.

Students, who gasp, had no desire to work for the greater good of advancing their major professor's prestige in the student's job placement often were also sent into the darkness.

I saw students pushed to schools that they would have trouble getting tenure just so their major professor and the school could brag about placement.

Posted by: whig at July 14, 2017 05:59 PM (W9rTq)

341 Tapper's so ghey he thinks "Getting Pussy" is a veterinary taxi service.

Posted by: Mortimer - Finish Her! at July 14, 2017 05:59 PM (xmlAN)

342 Credentialism - outside the hard sciences, and even within them, any more ...... almost worthless. That's the essence of standards being eroded, fields of study being politicized (only, and spectacularly, in one direction, important to note).

Foreign policy, even worse. I recall thinking (and I was correct) that most people going for grad work in that field were trying to catch up with the people who'd had an interest, study, and involvement since forever.

Of the two or three most unfit lightweights who rose to dizzying heights in national security (you'd know all their names), they all had ..... international relations masters degrees. And none of them exhibited much understanding of history or the world.

I can't imagine Rhodes could hold an intelligent discussion with me or anyone I know. And that's after serving in a senior position (vastly, vastly over his level of competence). He's a lightweight nothing - like those he worked with, and for.

But it's just a variation on the theme. Obama wouldn't have been hired for the mail room if it weren't for his skin color, and the civic culture's collapse into idiocy. The effective intelligence inside the Beltway seems to have declined about 75%, almost overnight, since the 90s and before.

Posted by: rhomboid at July 14, 2017 06:00 PM (QDnY+)

343
"Going to Rice means you are odd, an idiot savant or a legacy."

I have a friend (although I don't see her much anymore) who fit that perfectly - she had a photographic memory, very funny, and went on to law school with great success. Worked for a while, got married, and then the last 10 years she's just kind of retreated into her house - and I mean she only leaves it like 1 or 2 times a week, for very short trips. She has a couple rooms that her current husband (who I also know well) says that sometimes a week goes by without her leaving them. No one tries to explain it. Yeah, Rice.

Posted by: Tom Servo at July 14, 2017 06:00 PM (OmOvC)

344 Been there done that and survived. Absolutely true. First day in Organic the Prof announced that he was only going to give out 10 "A"s. Maybe 11 as he had not decided. There were over 250 students in the class. Still remember that all these years later.
Flagship University.
Posted by: Hopped Up On Something at July 14, 2017 05:53 PM (B9t7n)

-------------

Organic Chemistry? I was one happy mo'fo' when I got a C.

Posted by: Soona at July 14, 2017 06:00 PM (Fmupd)

345 Graduate school was rough. I powered through it in 4.5 years and till today, have no idea how I did it. Probably because I was much younger, no relationships, no nothing but 60 hour weeks.

Posted by: IC at July 14, 2017 06:00 PM (a0IVu)

346 I must be missing something. Tapper is the worst sort of tool for the Democrats, he's the one who broke the "Russian (Golden Shower) Dossier" story.

What were you trying to accomplish (other than what happened)?

Posted by: mhj at July 14, 2017 06:01 PM (oqESW)

347 "Going to Rice means you are odd, an idiot savant or a legacy."

I have a friend (although I don't see her much anymore) who fit that perfectly - she had a photographic memory, very funny, and went on to law school with great success. Worked for a while, got married, and then the last 10 years she's just kind of retreated into her house - and I mean she only leaves it like 1 or 2 times a week, for very short trips. She has a couple rooms that her current husband (who I also know well) says that sometimes a week goes by without her leaving them. No one tries to explain it. Yeah, Rice.



Sounds more like she went to Ann Rice University.

Posted by: rickb223 at July 14, 2017 06:01 PM (YxyYj)

348 >>>Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:59 PM (DQ4Fv)

Was that published anywhere? Because I swear I've read it.

Posted by: Banana Splits Guy at July 14, 2017 06:01 PM (fMidn)

349 Posted by: whig at July 14, 2017 05:59 PM (W9rTq)

i'm being told I need to go look at a school on the coast for a job.

Mind you my wife just got promoted (again) and makes 6 figures now. Sure let's just uproot that for no good reason.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 06:01 PM (dzmBR)

350 333 Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 05:55 PM (yL25O)

Depending on the field some people are good at the work, but I won't touch them with a 10 foot pole.

I got lapped by several students that were better at dissertating that I am, but in the toe to toe arena they usually either resort to ad hominem's against me or literally run away.
Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at July 14, 2017 05:57 PM (dzmBR)

...

There is a stigma among practicing structural engineers against PhD's. It's the book smart but not able to put it into practice caricature. Masters are seen as the professional-track higher degree.

9 months in I'm not sure I can even say she has the book smart part down.

Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (yL25O)

351 The worst sin in graduate school is to not be thought of as a serious student.

Tell me about it. Anna Puma is going to have to call me Frau Doktorin Kellerkatze from now on (because Katze is a feminine noun in German, and all professions and academic titles add -in to the noun if the holder is female).

Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (3C9q2)

352 Obama wouldn't have been hired for the mail room if it weren't for his skin color, and the civic culture's collapse into idiocy.

He couldn't have passed the drug test to get hired in the mail room.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (LTHVh)

353 Heh, I was recruited to play volleyball for Rice. They would have had to lower their admission standard if I had accepted the scholarship. LOL

Posted by: no good deed at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (hsb2w)

354
who wants some CANNED HEAT?

check out the hippy girls dancing

it's awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hom0fYd5uX4

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (Wli2K)

355
Can you in all good conscience say that a single story about a "Goldfish" -

is in any way better than a poem about apes eating crunch figs?

No.

No, you cannot.


I'm a better writer than my writers.

Posted by: Barack Obama at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (NyJwR)

356 Watching Star Trek:TOS on BBC America is fine except every commercial break is Orphan Black,Broadchurch or BBC homo stuff sigh...

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (rmVvL)

357 Nothing worse than a flailing PHD candidate, I have heard. If they don't fail out soon enough but really can't pass, everyone is stuck.

I must add, I'm about to bounce a PhD out of my office. She had to be one they just pushed along and out the door even though someone had to know she was not actually capable.



Here's why: the qualifying exam in the second year is designed to wash out weak candidates. It doesn't, really; it exerts its effect by scaring weak students with the prospect of getting the boot, and so typically they pull their own rip cords and take terminal masters degrees.

Some, however, do not, and eventually are passed, because the faculty are soft-hearted (and don't want the reputation of being dicks). At that point, getting the Ph.D. is pretty much a given as long as the candidate produces a dissertation.

That's why there are Ph.D.s who are thick and/or useless.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (SRKgf)

358 Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:59 PM (DQ4Fv)

Was that published anywhere? Because I swear I've read it.
Posted by: Banana Splits Guy at July 14, 2017 06:01 PM (fMidn)

Definitely sounds familiar.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (RwwCT)

359 348 >>>Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:59 PM (DQ4Fv)

Was that published anywhere? Because I swear I've read it.
Posted by: Banana Splits Guy


I shall not say! I've said too much already!

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 06:03 PM (DQ4Fv)

360 Mark Levin is going banana sandwhiches.

Posted by: Kreplach at July 14, 2017 06:03 PM (ZD5EG)

361 BTW, for any morons thinking about graduate school. Buy the book, Getting what you came for by a guy named Peters (who studied fish of all things). Has a bunch of useful information about the culture of grad school and how to complete it.

Posted by: whig at July 14, 2017 06:03 PM (W9rTq)

362 No wonder you are all so good at profanity, you're all highly educated.

I feel like David Brooks's friend.

Posted by: Northernlurker, Phillips screwdriver of the gods at July 14, 2017 06:03 PM (hJrjt)

363 She has a couple rooms that her current husband (who I also know well) says that sometimes a week goes by without her leaving them. No one tries to explain it. Yeah, Rice.
Posted by: Tom Servo at July 14, 2017 06:00 PM (OmOvC)


I know people like that. Usually it's a anxiety/depression thing or some kind of medical problem.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 06:04 PM (Xuv2G)

364 Arena on now btw...

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2017 06:05 PM (rmVvL)

365 362 No wonder you are all so good at profanity, you're all highly educated.

I feel like David Brooks's friend.
Posted by: Northernlurker, Phillips screwdriver of the gods at July 14, 2017 06:03 PM (hJrjt)

BOO!

Posted by: Capicola at July 14, 2017 06:05 PM (0mRoj)

366 77 >>Most of the 3 letter Master's degrees are even dumber. MFA, MBA, MHA
(Master's in Health Administration.) They're just make work to put some
letters after your name.


"I resemble that accusation!"
--- Doctor Jill Biden
Posted by: Lizzy at July 14, 2017 05:10 PM (NOIQH)
________________
The DR. Jill Biden thing has always made me a little nuts. She has an EdD, a doctorate in education, a less-than-rigorous degree which, for starters, does not include any foreign language requirement as most PhD programs do. It is a degree for people who want to rise in education administration - that should tell you how academically demanding it is, right there. Yet for years, it's been DOCTOR Biden to the point that some people think she's an MD. On the other hand, Second Lady Mrs. Cheney is DOCTOR Cheney too, except she has an actual PhD in an actual academic field (history). How often did we hear "Dr. Chaney"? Yeah well.
It's true that a lot of stupid people have PhDs. Lord knows, I worked on one myself, though I started too late in life, ran out of money, and was stymied by a change in the foreign language requirements. Thank God. It was an expensive lesson but I was spared years of misery. I would've gone for a STEM degree, yes they are much better, but I can't do the "M" part.

Posted by: Miss Sippi at July 14, 2017 06:05 PM (5fPhA)

367 What is a Jake Tapper and why should I care?

Posted by: RI/NH Red. Jonesin' for Covfefe. at July 14, 2017 06:05 PM (aUQkY)

368 "So for the next open-ended do-what-you-want assignment, I wrote a
simulated story purportedly written by two students in his class as
team-mates in the sequential-story assignment -- but they HATED each
other: One was a dim-witted Space Opera Sci-fi fanboi, and the other a
bitter lesbian feminist. My story was a simulation of what a story
written by this team would look like in the final version. In my
opinion, it was HILARIOUS, as the two writers struggled for control of
the plot."

Did you ever post that online somewhere? I swear that sounds like something I've read!!! (and yeah it WAS hilarious!)

(and sci-fi fanbois are easy to write, we're all just 8 year olds with a big vocabulary)

Posted by: Tom Servo at July 14, 2017 06:05 PM (OmOvC)

369 The teacher just graded it with a giant red question mark on the front, and made no comment whatsoever.
Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:59 PM (DQ4Fv)

So he was cosplaying as the Riddler when he should have been grading.

Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 06:06 PM (yL25O)

370 Posted by: Miss Sippi at July 14, 2017 06:05 PM (5fPhA)

I can't maths well either. I can work through stuff but taking the tests would give me panic attacks.

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 06:06 PM (0mRoj)

371
What's the movie with the air force pilot who remotely operates a drone and he keeps seeing, via his monitor, a piece of shit who keeps attacking women?

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 06:06 PM (Wli2K)

372 360 Mark Levin is going banana sandwhiches.
Posted by: Kreplach at July 14, 2017 06:03 PM (ZD5EG)


Does today end in "y"?

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 06:07 PM (Xuv2G)

373 I will not research jake tapper on Urban Dictionary.

Posted by: Northernlurker, Phillips screwdriver of the gods at July 14, 2017 06:07 PM (hJrjt)

374 Kreplach, exec summary on what's driving Levin bananas?

Posted by: rhomboid at July 14, 2017 06:07 PM (QDnY+)

375 I thought the red spot was on Uranus.

------

Ooh, I thought that cleared up....

Posted by: Shep! at July 14, 2017 06:07 PM (nILVB)

376 Credentialism is just another form of the dick measuring game.

Posted by: Count de Monet at July 14, 2017 06:07 PM (JO9+V)

377 "I swear that sounds like something I've read!!! (and yeah it WAS hilarious!)"

I read one just like yours. Maybe it was,

Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 06:07 PM (+7/1f)

378 374 Kreplach, exec summary on what's driving Levin bananas?
Posted by: rhomboid at July 14, 2017 06:07 PM (QDnY+)

A banana car.

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 06:07 PM (0mRoj)

379 "Frankly, the standard is whatever the university wants to be. And Most universities set them pretty low."

Well, yes and no. I don't know if a previous commenter has addressed this (I never read the comments; I don't trust that source) or made similar observation, but I would say it's more that the university (as a whole) tends to defer to the opinions of the faculty as to the criteria for achieving a Ph.D. degree. The school will have certain things they want to see as requirements, the department usually is given a fair amount of leeway in having their own requirements.

But in many (most?) cases, after you jump through the hoops (coursework, total credit hours, etc. etc.), the real defining criterion for whether or not you deserve a Ph.D. is whether or not your dissertation committee thinks you have proven yourself worthy. This requires that a major component of your work is something novel (you answer a question either never examined before, or you answer a previously-answered question but do so in a way you can argue is a more definitive approach). That might sound like it would be dangerously subjective, and it certainly can be, but I view a Ph.D. (at least in my and similar fields) as proof that you are competent (again, in theory) to serve as a judge of whether or not someone else has met that criterion. It's kind of like what they say about surgical procedures: "See one, do one, teach one."

Posted by: Crimso at July 14, 2017 06:08 PM (uCLNU)

380 Well since I don't have one of them thar fancy schmancy kollege degree thingys, I'll just not make,,,uh,,,,,sayin' stuff and shit,,,,,,or something.

flips a booger at tv set

kewl, Cops is on!

Posted by: Puddleglum at July 14, 2017 06:08 PM (rnpZQ)

381 376 Credentialism is just another form of the dick measuring game.
Posted by: Count de Monet at July 14, 2017 06:07 PM (JO9+V)


Sadly, that's how you get jobs these days.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 06:08 PM (Xuv2G)

382 381 376 Credentialism is just another form of the dick measuring game.
Posted by: Count de Monet at July 14, 2017 06:07 PM (JO9+V)

Sadly, that's how you get jobs these days.
Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 06:08 PM (Xuv2G)

That, knowing somebody or being a minority.

Posted by: Insomniac at July 14, 2017 06:09 PM (0mRoj)

383 I took physics in college from a professor who worked on the Manhattan project (small role). Loved his lectures.

Posted by: Strobe at July 14, 2017 06:09 PM (gbWkA)

384 339---The teacher just graded it with a giant red question mark on the front, and made no comment whatsoever.
Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 05:59 PM (DQ4Fv)
------------------------
Now see, that concept would have enchanted ME but obviously.... tastes vary.

My creative-writing-teaching friend thinks that many, perhaps even MOST, of his colleagues are rather dull and often dull-witted --- which is the exact opposite of what you would think in such a field.

He blames ideology mostly.
But it's a complicated subject.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at July 14, 2017 06:10 PM (0jtPF)

385 Heh, I was recruited to play volleyball for Rice

Rice won the College Baseball World Series a few years back-- that's gotta count for something.

Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 06:10 PM (3C9q2)

386 The DR. Jill Biden thing has always made me a little nuts. She has an EdD, a doctorate in education, a less-than-rigorous degree which, for starters, does not include any foreign language requirement as most PhD programs do. It is a degree for people who want to rise in education administration - that should tell you how academically demanding it is, right there.


At the younger Guevara's HS graduation the principal (an EdD) while delivering his vaporings to the future world-changers pronounced "corps" in the Obamaian fashion. My wife and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 06:10 PM (SRKgf)

387 What do y'all think of undergrad business degrees?

That and or I.T. is where I'm steering my oldest at the moment. He doesn't have the patience for Liberal Arts, which is just fine. And so far, STEM doesn't seem really likely either.

And he's one that I think really needs college.

Posted by: Mama AJ at July 14, 2017 06:11 PM (wwL6Q)

388 "This requires that a major component of your work is something novel (you answer a question either never examined before, or you answer a previously-answered question but do so in a way you can argue is a more definitive approach)."

In some academic fields this can be difficult to do, unless you take a minority activist perspective

Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 06:11 PM (+7/1f)

389 What's the degree that qualifies you to pour coffee into a paper cup?

Posted by: Weasel at July 14, 2017 06:13 PM (Sfs6o)

390 I think of I.T. as a trade rather than a profession. Most people should just get OJT once they prove an aptitude for the craft.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at July 14, 2017 06:13 PM (LTHVh)

391 354
who wants some CANNED HEAT?

check out the hippy girls dancing

it's awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hom0fYd5uX4

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (Wli2K)

------------

Ah. The good ole days.

Posted by: Soona at July 14, 2017 06:14 PM (Fmupd)

392 What's the degree that qualifies you to pour coffee into a paper cup?
Posted by: Weasel at July 14, 2017 06:13 PM (Sfs6o)



Degree in Hot Beverage Engineering.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 06:14 PM (SRKgf)

393 I have a friend (although I don't see her much anymore) who fit that perfectly - she had a photographic memory, very funny, and went on to law school with great success. Worked for a while, got married, and then the last 10 years she's just kind of retreated into her house - and I mean she only leaves it like 1 or 2 times a week, for very short trips. She has a couple rooms that her current husband (who I also know well) says that sometimes a week goes by without her leaving them. No one tries to explain it. Yeah, Rice.



Sounds more like she went to Ann Rice University.

Posted by: rickb223 at July 14, 2017 06:01 PM (YxyYj)

Sounds like mental illness obviously. Sad. Bright people can really crack up in dramatic ways.

I used to have a partial photographic memory, but it faded with time. I looked it up and apparently that happens more often than not. It was only useful to annoy classmates. I had a literature class in high school and loathed the teacher. That meant I wasn't going to do the work. She'd do a pop quiz once a week and gave us 5-10 minutes to review or whatever it was. I'd skim the reading in a minute or so and get an A on the quizzes. Pissed my friends off something fierce because they knew I wasn't reading the stuff.

Also today I learned that Zombie is actually Amy Tan.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at July 14, 2017 06:14 PM (4ErVI)

394 386 The DR. Jill Biden thing has always made me a little nuts. She has an EdD, a doctorate in education, a less-than-rigorous degree which, for starters, does not include any foreign language requirement as most PhD programs do. It is a degree for people who want to rise in education administration - that should tell you how academically demanding it is, right there.


At the younger Guevara's HS graduation the principal (an EdD) while delivering his vaporings to the future world-changers pronounced "corps" in the Obamaian fashion. My wife and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes.
Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 06:10 PM (SRKgf)


A relative of mine took high school English from a woman who had an EdD. She insisted everyone use the "doctor" honorific and gave them a spelling test for the final exam.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 06:14 PM (Xuv2G)

395 >>No wonder you are all so good at profanity, you're all highly educated.

Would you like me to explain the linguistic rules behind where you place the f word in the middle of another word?

Cuz I undefuckingniably can.

Posted by: Mama AJ at July 14, 2017 06:15 PM (wwL6Q)

396 Funny true story about how the Juris Doctor (for lawyers) degree came about. For the first half or so of the 20th century, a law degree was just another professional graduate degree called an LLB. In fact in the early days it was considered to be lesser than other post graduate degrees because it didn't contain any cultural or classical studies that were common at the time.

The idea of a J.D. is talked about, tried, dropped, but by the late 60's, some of the Ivy League schools are getting annoyed at the increased competition, so they say "Guess What! If you come to our school of great learning, you will get a Doctorate, not some lame old Graduate Degree - we'll call it a J.D.!" And the real trick was that it was all just the same old LLB coursework and classes, with a new shiny name. It only took a few very short years for every other law school in the country to catch onto this game, especially how it was now cool to keep doing the same old thing and calling it a Doctorate, so the switch became universal, no matter how provincial the law school was.

What was really funny was for about 20 years, all these kids were coming out with their bright new shiny J.D. degrees and going up to lawyers with 40 years of trial experience and saying "ha ha, I got a Doctorate, you just get that lame old graduate degree." You can imagine how those scenes played out.

Yeah, I picked up one of them myself along the way. The big secret about "Oh it is so hard!!!" is that hell no, it isn't. Quantum physics is hard. Cellular biology is hard. Law just needs a good memory and a basic understanding of how rules work.

Posted by: Tom Servo at July 14, 2017 06:15 PM (OmOvC)

397 >>What's the degree that qualifies you to pour coffee into a paper cup?

Posted by: Weasel

What is gender studies?

Posted by: Alex Trebek at July 14, 2017 06:15 PM (/Nite)

398 388 "This requires that a major component of your work is something novel (you answer a question either never examined before, or you answer a previously-answered question but do so in a way you can argue is a more definitive approach)."

In some academic fields this can be difficult to do, unless you take a minority activist perspective
Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 06:11 PM (+7/1f)


Even in the sciences there are a lot of guys who squeaked through with infinitesimal deltas.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 06:16 PM (Xuv2G)

399 I heard that the reason they created the JD degree was to game the federal civil service rankings.

Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 06:17 PM (+7/1f)

400 who wants some CANNED HEAT?

check out the hippy girls dancing

it's awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hom0fYd5uX4

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (Wli2K)



Awesome.

Then I thought that they're probably all grannies now. Sigh.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 06:17 PM (SRKgf)

401 And what in the blistering fcuk is a "sexual assault survivor"???

Are people being killed in "sexual assaults"???

Posted by: Mortimer - Finish Her! at July 14, 2017 06:17 PM (xmlAN)

402 Huh. Ben Rhodes was probably at Rice when I was finishing off my senior year-and-half.

I didn't meet him that I recall since, you know, senior classes in math and The Age Of Justinian where he was in Freshman Learning To Bullshit.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at July 14, 2017 06:18 PM (6FqZa)

403 it's awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hom0fYd5uX4

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (Wli2K)



Was that Hitler in the background at the :40 mark?

Posted by: Grump928(C) at July 14, 2017 06:19 PM (LTHVh)

404 And the tandem SF is here:
www.snopes.com/college/homework/writing.asp

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at July 14, 2017 06:19 PM (6FqZa)

405 Doctor, my eyes have seen the years
And the slow parade of fears without crying
Now I want to understand

Posted by: Strobe at July 14, 2017 06:19 PM (gbWkA)

406 401 And what in the blistering fcuk is a "sexual assault survivor"???

Are people being killed in "sexual assaults"???
Posted by: Mortimer - Finish Her! at July 14, 2017 06:17 PM (xmlAN)


It's the age of euphemisms. Victimhood is the currency, but actually labeling someone a victim is verboten.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 06:20 PM (Xuv2G)

407 390 I think of I.T. as a trade rather than a profession. Most people should just get OJT once they prove an aptitude for the craft.
Posted by: Grump928(C)



Heh! That is how I've done it. I used my security clearance to get my foot in the door. Some OJT. Then the credentials (IT Certs) follow, slowly, almost glacial. Not as fast as I would like but its coming. Anyway, I've managed without a kollege edumacation. God's grace also helps. ALOT!

Posted by: Puddleglum at July 14, 2017 06:20 PM (rnpZQ)

408 If you're an STEM major in a state school, though, they believe in academic darwinism - only the fit should survive.
Posted by: Ace's liver


Been there done that and survived. Absolutely true. First day in Organic the Prof announced that he was only going to give out 10 "A"s. Maybe 11 as he had not decided. There were over 250 students in the class. Still remember that all these years later.
Flagship University.

Posted by: Hopped Up On Something at July 14, 2017 05:53 PM (B9t7n)



Your Organic Prof sounds like mine.

He announced that he gave hard tests, which he graded on a curve but he expected that the top grade would be around 30-40.

A real SOB.

We started out with around 250 and by the end of OC 2 we were down to 8.

One of my proudest academic moments was breaking the curve on his OC1 final by making a legitimate "A", a 93.

The second highest grade was in the high 40s.

I studied like a maniac cuz I wanted to prove something, but....uh...

let's just say that my achievement didn't make me popular.

Posted by: naturalfake at July 14, 2017 06:20 PM (NyJwR)

409 >>I think of I.T. as a trade rather than a profession. Most people should just get OJT once they prove an aptitude for the craft.

Yeah, I had a career in IT with a liberal arts degree. Work experience in college was very very very helpful.

Posted by: Mama AJ at July 14, 2017 06:20 PM (wwL6Q)

410
What's the degree that qualifies you to pour coffee into a paper cup?
Posted by: Weasel at July 14, 2017 06:13 PM (Sfs6o)


Between 160-185 degrees Fehrenheit

Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at July 14, 2017 06:20 PM (lKyWE)

411
ugg Fahrenheit

Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at July 14, 2017 06:22 PM (lKyWE)

412 a less-than-rigorous degree which, for starters, does not include any foreign language requirement as most PhD programs do

BYU lets you meet your foreign language requirement with math classes. Is that typical?

Interestingly, most of BYU's 100 and 200 level language courses are more rigorous than most Unis 400 level courses because they have so many returned missionaries who had 18 - 24 months of language immersion speaking with natives daily.

Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 06:22 PM (jhqr1)

413
Was that Hitler in the background at the :40 mark?

or Alfalfa from the little rascals

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 06:22 PM (Wli2K)

414 Depends on the degrees involved and the school. Some doctorates are in applied fields and not really involved producing research while some more difficult masters degrees that involve a master's thesis for graduation may have the student do original research.

I did original research for the masters and phd which were at different schools in my thesis and later dissertation.

For those that are phd curious, a school where a master's degree is the terminal for your field of study that require a thesis is one way to determine whether you have the stomach for a phd. Masters students can be an afterthought at schools that have a terminal phd.

Another tip, always visit the schools in person before applying--buying grad students pizza and perhaps beer (if legal) will get you almost any information that you want regarding that school.

You can also go to an academic conference in your desired discipline at a state or national level, identify graduates of your particular desired schools in the program, listen to their presentations, and later if interested chat them up about their school.

Posted by: whig at July 14, 2017 06:22 PM (W9rTq)

415 400 who wants some CANNED HEAT?

check out the hippy girls dancing

it's awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hom0fYd5uX4

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 06:02 PM (Wli2K)


Awesome.

Then I thought that they're probably all grannies now. Sigh.
Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at July 14, 2017 06:17 PM (SRKgf)

--------------

It was the time where young women didn't wear bras. Short crop-tops and micro skirts and they wanted sex as much as the guys did. And they didn't holler rape afterwards.

Posted by: Soona at July 14, 2017 06:22 PM (Fmupd)

416 Posted by: naturalfake at July 14, 2017 06:20 PM (NyJwR)

O-Chem must be reasonably difficult. Seems like that's the weeder class pretty much everywhere.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 06:23 PM (Xuv2G)

417 Quantum physics is hard.

Angela Merkel's Ph.D. is in quantum chemistry. Proof that STEM folks don;t always make great politicians.

Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 06:23 PM (3C9q2)

418
And they didn't holler rape afterwards.

Strong enough "mickey" and they still don't, today.

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 06:24 PM (Wli2K)

419 Bonhomme,
The original difference between a B.S. and a B.A. was that B.A.'s had a foreign language requirement and B.S. substituted additional math for the language. That has blurred a lot depending on the school and accrediting agencies involved.

Posted by: whig at July 14, 2017 06:24 PM (W9rTq)

420
you wanna see bra-less?

Bra-less Liz Hurley befuddles Billy Connolly at the BAFTAs!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BkwnGq2yaA

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 06:26 PM (Wli2K)

421 After I'd been in industry a few years I looked into getting a masters degree. They all said pretty much the same thing - "if you're not interested in getting a PhD, we're not interested in you."

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 06:26 PM (Xuv2G)

422 Are people being killed in "sexual assaults"???

Um, yes?

Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 06:26 PM (jhqr1)

423 "...Hamilton says, he had a keen understanding of what was going on and a talent for putting the positions of distinguished participants down on paper."

Did Rhodes run over Lee Hamilton's dog or something, 'cause that's damning with faint praise right there. If I didn't know any better, I'd think Hamilton was warning these people, "For the love of God, do not hire this slug."

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at July 14, 2017 06:26 PM (H8S+R)

424 Must be something about organic chem profs. I had to take it for my degree but it wasn't central to it but it was a must have for the pre-meds. Professor came in one day early in the term and gave a rather irate lecture about how this course was a kill course for several majors and if we couldn't hack it too bad. Dead silence. I was VERY glad I wasn't a pre-med.....

Posted by: Lirio100 at July 14, 2017 06:27 PM (JK7Jw)

425

nood

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Now In Bold at July 14, 2017 06:28 PM (Wli2K)

426 404 And the tandem SF is here:
www.snopes.com/college/homework/writing.asp
Posted by: boulder terlit hobo


That is fascinating! I guess it became a meme. My story predated the internet by mumblemumble years, and I'm not from Winnipeg, and wasn't like the example cited there -- but I could easily see how the same idea has occurred to lots of people over time. I wager that even my version wasn't the version version of it ever!

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 06:28 PM (DQ4Fv)

427 wasn't the version version of it ever
=
wasn't the first version of it ever

Posted by: zombie at July 14, 2017 06:29 PM (DQ4Fv)

428 What's the degree that qualifies you to pour coffee into a paper cup?
Posted by: Weasel
===

I would like a job pouring coffee into a cup.

But that is not how it really is.

You pour the coffee in the cup.
Then you document in The System how many successful coffee pours you had in this hour.

Then you record how you felt about the coffee pouring you did and explain how it related to goals of the Coffee Pouring Team.

Then you record your coffee pouring goals for next week.

Then you request any necessary resources from your supervisor for next weeks coffee pour.

Then you record your hours for coffee pouring , coffee preparation, supply management , any time spent on sweetener analytics, stirrer
stocking, cup selection, lid compression and spill prevention - SAFETY IS MY JOB!.

Then you go home. And die a little more inside.

Posted by: Mortimer - Finish Her! at July 14, 2017 06:29 PM (xmlAN)

429 Bra-less Liz Hurley befuddles Billy Connolly at the BAFTAs!

Hugh Grant cheated on that.

Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 06:29 PM (jhqr1)

430 Ace: "Ben Rhodes has a BA and then an MFA in a completely unrelated field-- creative writing. (Or... is it an unrelated field, mmmm?)"

Booya! That one had to hurt.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at July 14, 2017 06:29 PM (H8S+R)

431 Are people being killed in "sexual assaults"???

Um, yes?
Posted by: bonhomme
==

Well then it's a MURDER then isn't it.

Posted by: Mortimer - Finish Her! at July 14, 2017 06:29 PM (xmlAN)

432 Posted by: naturalfake at July 14, 2017 06:20 PM (NyJwR)

O-Chem must be reasonably difficult. Seems like that's the weeder class pretty much everywhere.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 06:23 PM (Xuv2G)



It is.

Lots of memorization along with an ability to "see" things in your mind in 3D.


That's why to keep the Pre-Meds/Dents at their University, the powers that be almost always have an Organic class with a known "easy" Prof- who will literally pass out notes of all his lectures with questions which will appear on his tests.

That allows them to keep their Pre-Med GPAs up.


But, the guy I had was teaching towards chemistry majors, which was fine for me. At the time, I was planning on being a Biochemist.

Posted by: naturalfake at July 14, 2017 06:31 PM (NyJwR)

433 Both Jake Tapper and Ben Rhodes are members of the same small tribalist, nepotistic, ethnic group. But don't notice or they'll call you names.

Posted by: ChicagoRefugee at July 14, 2017 06:31 PM (yXHpa)

434 ...does not include any foreign language requirement as most PhD programs do..."
----------------------------------------
Most do NOT.
Not today.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at July 14, 2017 06:31 PM (0jtPF)

435 429 Bra-less Liz Hurley befuddles Billy Connolly at the BAFTAs!

Hugh Grant cheated on that.
Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2017 06:29 PM (jhqr1)


Hugh Grant paid to cheat on that. Makes you wonder how pleasant she is in person.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 06:31 PM (Xuv2G)

436 Are people being killed in "sexual assaults"???

Yep. Medical examiners usually check murder victims (of either sex) at autopsy for evidence of sexual assault.

Posted by: Basement Cat at July 14, 2017 06:33 PM (3C9q2)

437 Your Organic Prof sounds like mine.

He announced that he gave hard tests, which he graded on a curve but he expected that the top grade would be around 30-40.

A real SOB.

We started out with around 250 and by the end of OC 2 we were down to 8.

One of my proudest academic moments was breaking the curve on his OC1 final by making a legitimate "A", a 93.

The second highest grade was in the high 40s.

I studied like a maniac cuz I wanted to prove something, but....uh...

let's just say that my achievement didn't make me popular.

Posted by: naturalfake at July 14, 2017 06:20 PM (NyJwR)

..

My second semester physics prof at Cornell decided to make his physics tests multiple choice. And he did the setup where you got 3 points for a right answer but lost a point for a wrong answer to eliminate guessing.

The answers included every common mistake or the answer you would get if you were one step short of the solution or forgot the final conversion or something. It was a minefield.

Scores ranged from the low 90's to actual negative scores. I did fine but it was a bloodbath for a lot of the class.

Posted by: TexasDan at July 14, 2017 06:34 PM (yL25O)

438 Yep. Medical examiners usually check murder victims (of either sex) at autopsy for evidence of sexual assault.

===

Sheesh.

The original question was what is a " sexual assault survivor "??

If they survived an assault , what has sexual got to do with it?

And if they didn't survive the assault, it is a homicide.

Sexual assault includes unwanted boob squeezes and "
eye rape" . You gonna splain me all about the "boob squeeze survivors"???

It's bullshit.

Posted by: Mortimer - Finish Her! at July 14, 2017 06:37 PM (xmlAN)

439 Zombie intrigues me...of course, I am easily intrigued. Much like a gorilla.

Posted by: Banana Splits Guy at July 14, 2017 06:39 PM (ElnX1)

440 Hippy girls dancing:

(I confess this is one of my favorite early era songs)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSWMJxbxj7c

and if you wanna see go go boots:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbyAZQ45uww

I got stuck there for a minute, because those girls in that last one just kinda hypnotize me. I bet they'll hypnotize you, too.

Posted by: Tom Servo at July 14, 2017 06:41 PM (OmOvC)

441 "O-Chem must be reasonably difficult. Seems like that's the weeder class pretty much everywhere."

Depends. Lots of Chem majors cruise through organic but crash hard against physical chemistry. As an undergrad Chem Eng major, NOTHING we took outside the engineering school came anywhere near the engineering calculus classes we took (5 semesters, more for some), and those started day one.

If you needed remedial coursework to make you eligible to take calculus, "day one" did not technically begin until you were declared as a major in full and good standing. Personally, I didn't know anyone who even attempted Calc I who did not enter the university with all the prereqs. Engineering school was the honey badger of academia. They just didn't give a fuck. "Oh, you're having trouble with your classes? Bye!" That, and they chewed us up and swallowed us. It was truly a transforming experience. More so when we got to Laplace.

Posted by: Crimso at July 14, 2017 06:46 PM (uCLNU)

442 Most difficult class I took in 11 years of college: Medical Biochemistry with the 1st yr med students. It wasn't really conceptually difficult (Transport Phenomena won that contest), but it was an unbelievably massive amount of material that had to memorized. Eng Calc came in a close second in terms of overall difficulty.

Posted by: Crimso at July 14, 2017 06:49 PM (uCLNU)

443 The fact of the matter is, the media is biased, corrupt, and disgusting. And Tapper is possibly the worst of them all because he seems to try hard at playing both sides, as if he's not JUST as biased, corrupt, and disgusting as Maddow or Kohn.

And yet, he is.

Posted by: deadrody at July 14, 2017 06:54 PM (FvbGP)

444 118
>>>Why even get an MFA? You can either write or you can't. Like majoring in Theatre.



I don't know. I imagine you make connections as they have writers
and editors as guest lecturers (and sometimes as visiting lecturers).



I also think that maybe the structure of having to write, with a
teacher assigning you due dates, helps people who might need some
prodding.
Posted by: ace at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (8rNrN)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah, that's credentialed writing via "connections", rather than talent. You see, if you can actually write, you'll get published because what you write is worth reading.
On the other hand if you CAN'T write (but can take very pretty notes!) then you go to graduate school for creative writing and meet lots of people, one of which is bound to take a shine to you and help you get some piece of blather your wrote published.

Posted by: deadrody at July 14, 2017 07:00 PM (FvbGP)

445 390 I think of I.T. as a trade rather than a profession. Most people should just get OJT once they prove an aptitude for the craft.
Posted by: Grump928(C) at July 14, 2017 06:13 PM (LTHVh)

My relative in IT says he is the last generation who can get jobs at his level without a degree, even though the degree isn't nearly as useful as the certifications (which he has a ton of.)

434 ...does not include any foreign language requirement as most PhD programs do..."
----------------------------------------
Most do NOT.
Not today.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at July 14, 2017 06:31 PM (0jtPF)

Sorry, I was thinking of the liberal arts.

Posted by: Miss Sippi at July 14, 2017 07:11 PM (5fPhA)

446
I also think that maybe the structure of having to write, with a
teacher assigning you due dates, helps people who might need some
prodding.
Posted by: ace at July 14, 2017 05:17 PM (8rNrN)


Isn't that what NaNoWriMo is for? And it doesn't cost a quarter mill.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2017 07:13 PM (Xuv2G)

447 let's just say that my achievement didn't make me popular.

Posted by: naturalfake


Major Respect sir. I only made a B and had to hire a tutor with a degree in chem from an ivy league school. She said the prof was an ass.

Posted by: Hopped Up On Something at July 14, 2017 07:18 PM (B9t7n)

448 It just goes to show: it's never WHAT you know but WHO you know.

Posted by: CatchThirtyThr33 at July 14, 2017 07:36 PM (6aMi5)

449 It just goes to show: it's never WHAT you know but WHO you know blow.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at July 14, 2017 07:44 PM (LTHVh)

450 Of the two or three most unfit lightweights who rose to dizzying heights in national security (you'd know all their names), they all had ..... international relations masters degrees. And none of them exhibited much understanding of history or the world.

Posted by: rhomboid at July 14, 2017 06:00 PM (QDnY+)

As a grad student in history, I decided to take some poli-sci classes for a cognate in political science. I was just three hours short of a political science minor in undergrad.

The first poli-sci class I took was a course the name of which I have long forgotten, but it focused on Stalin. As a history major I blew out that class without trying and the poli-sci grad students were looking at me as if I were The Almighty...which was laughable, in my view. The ONLY thing that separated me from the poli-sci types was the fact I knew and understood history, but that apparently was enough. (What didn't hurt in this class was that out of the six books assigned to start the semester, I had already read two of them, cover to cover, for fun.)

The other grad level poli sci class was International Relations Theory. The first half of the class I could do well as the foundation was history. When it turned abstract to the point of bearing no resemblance whatsoever with the real world in the last half of the semester, I was doing all I could to not shriek in agony as it went on. I declared any flirtation I had with poli-sci to be over at that point.

I am quite content with my M.A. and have zero desire to move on to a PhD.

Posted by: CatchThirtyThr33 at July 14, 2017 08:55 PM (6aMi5)

451 Obama's cabinet was packed with this kind of leftist lightweight pretty face but no experience, brains, or ability in their field. Its odd how incompetent they really were.

That was the shocking thing to me, how unbelievably bad they were at their actual jobs. Pretty good at pushing the leftist line, but lousy attorneys, diplomats, etc. Incompetents full of self assurance and confidence, arrogantly so.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at July 14, 2017 09:56 PM (39g3+)

452 399 I heard that the reason they created the JD degree was to game the federal civil service rankings.
Posted by: Ignoramus at July 14, 2017 06:17 PM (+7/1f)

Wouldn't surprise me. The school district where I finished my HS diploma ages ago simply declares the top 10% of its HS graduating classes as "valedictorians" in order to game the system and help them go to college. Who delivers the throwaway lines at the high school yawner, you ask? THAT is determined by popularity contest.

Point being that the whole notion of educators gaming the system for other purposes is not surprising.

Posted by: CatchThirtyThr33 at July 14, 2017 10:39 PM (6aMi5)

453 "The Goldfish Smiles, You Smile Back" is a metaphor.

It means when your boss wants to give the Ayatollah nukes, money, uranium, top secrets, anti-aircraft defenses and his undying allegiance, you tell the lies necessary to make it happen.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at July 14, 2017 11:11 PM (Ndje9)

454 He got hired for writing a story about crackers?

Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at July 15, 2017 01:14 AM (e1mEI)

455 BTW, Clinton got the Rhodes scholarship because he worked for Sen. William Fullbright, Chair Senate Foreign Relations Cmte at the time, not particularly his scholarship.

Yeah, but Clinton was a dirt poor guy from the sticks who was very politically ambitious. Going to Georgetown and landing a job with a powerful Senator from his home state is actually a very good accomplishment for him. Impressing the Senator well enough to get a Rhodes Scholarship is another really nice result.

When you read someone's resume, you've got to ask yourself "Starting from A, is B a good result? Starting from B, is C a good result?..." Is there a coherent story? Does the person go off the board every once in a while and show some personal initiative, or do they just robotically go to the best place they can get into?

Good people seek out good people. Starting from Georgetown and getting onto a Senator's staff suggests he had some pretty great recommendations from the folks at Georgetown. Senator's staff to Rhodes Scholar, same deal.

Clinton's early resume just screams at you: "Really ambitious kid who will run for Governor someday."

Posted by: Zach at July 15, 2017 01:45 PM (MAM+D)

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