In honor of Ph.D.s and my hard studying Nephews and Nieces

I just heard that Rorschach's significant other just got her Ph.D., so congratulations to her! Rorschach once told us how he used Battlestar Galatica in one of his classes to explain a concept! Is that cool or what? Anyway, during the congratulations period I was reminded of something I wrote for my nephews and nieces who get discouraged when they see our President bragging about his LACK of studying and how he also insults people who value education in the process.

I wondered what *I* would say if I was the University President at a graduation ceremony and the President of the United States of America just used me as the butt of his standard stale joke insulting the PhDs and university presidents?

Here is what I'd love for them to say after they have been insulted.

“Mr. President. Thank you for attending. But no thank you for the insult. You have insulted hundreds of hard working educated people over the years and I for one am sick of it. Stop it.

I’m sure that you think you are an inspiration to C students everywhere, but did you really have to insult my hard work and the hard work of all the students here who got good grades? What message are you sending to the hard working A and B students? That picking the right family and having the right friends is really what matters? By your insisting that you show your dominance over the educated in this public forum you think that you are connecting to the “regular folks” who are uneducated, but most regular people that I know don’t have multi-millionaire and billionaire family friends pulling strings to get them opportunities for education and jobs like you did. Opportunities that you then squandered. They didn’t go to the private schools like Andover, they didn’t get the shot at the elite education of Yale and Harvard that you got. So how dare you turn around and insult those who worked hard to get good grades as a cheap way to align yourself with “the regular Joe”. For years your "joke" has gone unanswered. Sadly we have all been too polite and too afraid of retribution to say, “Stop it.”

Why the insults? Do you think it endears you to the regular Joe? Regular Joes and Janes don’t usually take the opportunity to insult their host’s hard work and education every chance they get. You clearly don’t value education, because if you did you won’t mock those of us who think that it’s not just the grade but also the effort that counts and you aren’t honoring the efforts of real C, B or A students. Our country needs smart people who are also hard workers. You are neither.

My name is Dr. (insert name) I was a hardworking student and now I have a PhD and I’m damn proud of it. And remember Mr. President, I don’t work for you. You work for me. I don’t ever want to read another news story about you opening up with your standard insulting joke. That “joke” earns you an F. Not as a student, but as a President and human being.”