Dem lawmaker blasts ‘Professor Obama’ as arrogant, alienating
By Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.)
After observing President Obama for the last three years, it has become obvious to me that the president might prefer to be a university professor rather than do the job he holds today. While he might not realize that he feels this way, the evidence is very clear to those who work with or watch him closely.
Let me be clear — I’m not trying to disparage professors. But anyone who wonders why the president is not crushing the weak Republican field only needs to examine how President Obama has behaved more like Professor Obama:
‘IDEA DISEASE’
In the president’s first year in office, his administration suffered from what I call “idea disease.” Every week, and sometimes almost every day, the administration rolled out a new program for the country. There was no obvious prioritization and, after the rollout, very little effort to actually pass the latest idea/imperative/plan/edict.
‘I’M RIGHT, YOU’RE WRONG’
Early in his administration, President/Professor Obama repeatedly referred to “teaching moments.” He would admonish staff, members of Congress and the public, in speeches and in private, about what they could learn from him.
LECTURES vs. LISTENING
One former administration official told me directly that the people in the White House “NEVER TALK TO REAL PEOPLE.” Another former Obama staffer confided to me that it was clear to him that the president didn’t mind giving speeches (lectures), but really avoided personal contact with members of Congress and folks outside the Beltway.
This gives me some great techniques to demean my students next quarter. Talk about stereotyping professors and presidents.
ReplyDeleteRep. Cardoza is just scared....scared that the GOP will come up with somebody who will mash Pres. Obama in the debates. The only good candidate the party of Money and Scions has is Ron Paul, and they have gone out of their way to keep him off the radar.
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad commentary on the US when 'professor' is used as an insult. (Those of us from elsewhere also find it odd that Americans seem to think 'socialist' is an insult.)
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered why Obama isn't referred to as 'Dr. Obama' -- he has a doctorate-level degree in law, does he not? Is this just another manifestation of American anti-intellectualism?
There is some truth to the "idea disease" point, at least as it applies to academics like me. I find it very easy to generate ideas for classes, for research and for creative projects, but implementation and actually seeing a large project through to its conclusion - that is more difficult. There are definitely more practical people.
ReplyDeleteBut "teaching moment" is not "what you can learn from me" but a classroom or teaching situation that unexpectedly brings up an important lesson - not a moral lesson, but a content lesson, depending on the course. It isn't about arrogance at all, but seizing a didactic opportunity.
The claim about "disinterest in input" is a bit ridiculous, but I can see how someone might think that is what profs are like if they only encountered them in undergrad lecture classes and never really considered what the academic endeavor is in a wider context. This blog is a strong testimony that we do in fact deal with "real people."
@CouldBeBetter:
ReplyDeleteIn the USA, only M.D.s and other graduate-degree medical professionals (D.V.M., optometrists, chiropractors, etc) are called "doctor." The only exception I know of is in educational environments, and not all of those.
This brings to mind my favorite line from Brunner's The Shockwave Rider:
"[I go by Mister, not Doctor.] My degrees are scholarates, not mere doctorates."
@introvert.prof
ReplyDeleteUh, you might want to double check that assertion as "doctor" is derived from the noun form of the Latin verb docēre, "to teach." By that etymology, academic doctorates are actually the real doctors.
Yes, there is a vigorous debate about whether or not academic doctorates actually USE the title outside of their collegiate environments. However, as they have earned the degree, they are entitled to be called "Doctor."
However, though the law degree is the "Juris Doctor" the legal community generally does not endorse calling attorneys "Doctor."
By the by, if we were to insist on calling the President Dr. Obama, we should also be doing the same for former Speaker Gingrich (PhD, History, Tulane University, 1970)
Chill, please, A&S.
ReplyDeleteI'm perfectly aware that a Ph.D. confers the title "Doctor." I simply pointed out that in the USA, outside of academic settings very few non-medics are called "doctor."
"Very few" as in "none."
P.S. This is, of course, NOT the case in Germany, where it's stereotypically obligatory to use every title a person holds when addressing them, as in "Frau Professor Doktor Ärtzin Schmidt."
ReplyDelete"Doctor" seems to be the in-house title of choice for people who are not on the tenure track. I'm not sure what that's all about -- why not use professor if you hold the Ph.D., as you are professing, whatever the rank. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI'm perfectly happy with "Mister Introvert." My children's friends, and my Boy Scouts, call me that, and sometimes my students do, too. But in my department all the faculty are "doctor." "Professor" is sometimes used by students, but is uncommon at my institution.
ReplyDeleteObviously this will be different at different institutions, as Froad made clear.
@Froad: some institutions (not mine) withhold the title "professor" from faculty who are not tenure-track and/or do not hold terminal degrees. I suspect that's how people who do hold doctorates but don't have TT jobs get in the habit of using "doctor." Even if your own institution allows them to be called "professor," if they're current or former adjuncts (working on the "if it's Tuesday morning I must be teaching at state polytechnic" model), it may just be easier to stick with a title they can claim at whatever school they find themselves (even if they can't remember, at least for a second, where they are at a particular moment). At some schools (probably mostly community colleges) where a significant proportion of tenured faculty hold only a master's, but many recent hires, including adjuncts, hold the Ph.D., it may also be a subtle (and perhaps unwise) reminder of the discrepancy. Or it may simply be a personal reminder that the faculty member, despite hir lack of a TT job, adequate salary, benefits, car that will definitely get hir to the next class on time, etc., etc. *did* finish the doctorate. In any case, I suspect it's more reflective of larger conditions than of anything going on at your particular institution.
ReplyDelete@introvert: I think there are places/subcultures in the U.S. where the use of "Dr." by Ph.D.s outside academic settings is pretty common: e.g. among African Americans, where the possession of a doctorate by any member of the community is a point of pride for the whole community, in part because it refutes racist assumptions about who is capable of earning the degree (both for those outside the community, and for those within, particularly young people in need of role models). But I also think it's partly generational; I don't remember Condoleeza Rice being consistently addressed as "Dr.," even though an earlier Secretary of State (who presumably was working in part on the European model) went by "Dr. Kissinger." Of course, the increased use of titles to refer to even former presidents, secretaries of state, etc., may also play a role in that change; I've heard people address both Rice and Madeline Albright as "Secretary," even though I don't believe that's technically correct (any more than the Bushes, Carter, or Clinton should be called "President" at this point).
And no, I've never heard someone with a J.D. called "doctor." However, friends who passed the bar definitely considered being able to put "Esq." after their names a milestone of the same sort as being able to add "Dr." before or "Ph.D." after.
Oops -- that should have been "not tenure-track and/or full-time" -- not being a "professor" unless one holds a terminal degree is more common.
ReplyDeleteOff your high horse, introvert.
ReplyDelete"I simply pointed out that in the USA, outside of academic settings very few non-medics are called "doctor."
Your personal opinion is a representative sample of the entire US of A?
In my firsthand experience, having adjuncted at a half dozen institutions over the past decade or so, I have yet to meet someone -- tenure track or otherwise -- who did NOT expect to be called "Doctor" if they had earned the degree.
You might also want to widen your "non-medic" net. Most psychology PhDs I've encountered do prefer to hear "Doctor" before their names.
As I said in my initial post, the debate is over whether that expectation carried over OUTSIDE of the hallowed halls of academe. In my, again admittedly personal sample, the breakdown was 50/50.
So much for the absolute declaration of US doctoral entitling.
@Cassandra
I remember reading back in the "Forms of Address" pages of Webster's Unabridged ('memba when it was actually a big fat honkin' book?) that it is customary to address people by their highest held rank.
That is why former presidents are still called "Mr. President" or past Cabinet secretaries would still be called "Mr. (or Madam) Secretary." (Though I do remember Condi being addressed as "Dr. Rice" on more than a few occasions.)
It gets a bit more convoluted with someone like Dick Cheney who had been a US Representative, Cabinet Secretary, and VP of the US. In most circumstances, he would be addressed as Mr. Vice President.
Look at Andrew Napolitano on FOX News. He used to sit on the bench of the Superior Court of the state of New Jersey and he is still addressed as "Judge." Even Eliot Spitzer, disgraced chief executive of New York, now television pundit, is addressed as "Governor." (Though I wonder if now convicted felon Rod Blagojevich will ask his cell block neighbors to address him in a similar fashion!)
My apologies, A&S.
ReplyDelete