November 21, 2013

Will Scott Walker finally get his college degree?

Time Magazine calls attention to the (unnerving?) gap in Scott Walker's resume.
The missing bachelors may seem odd, but it’s one reason Walker’s appeal in the GOP is only rising. Unlike New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, most Americans would have no trouble imagining sharing a beer with Walker, the age-old likability test. “I always thought I’d get back, and I may still do,” Walker said, explaining he recently helped establish a “flex option” at the University of Wisconsin to allow adults to complete their college education. “Someday, maybe in the next few years, I’ll embark on finishing my degree.”
More details! How many credits does he need? What has he already taken? Casual research indicates he needs 36 credits. Here's the flex option website. I can't imagine him putting time into a college course when he's got so much work to do. And not having a degree gives him some panache, putting him in a set with Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg... and George Washington.

But let's give him some advice anyway. What book learning would you like to prescribe for an American presidential candidate? Let's not burden him with material that duplicates what he's learned on the job. What do you think? Process of Legal Order & Disorder? The History of the American Suburb? Race and Sexuality in American Literature? French Philosophy: Existentialism?

110 comments:

MadisonMan said...

Was he trying to get a Business Degree? You'd think Time would have included his major.

MadisonMan said...

That reporting by Time is full of omissions. :)

Did they take a press release from Walker, and re-write it?

Michael said...

Fuck the degree. He should pick a subject he likes and hire a first rate tutor to guide him with his reading. Hire a noted authority from the UofW. A business executive I know did that and undertook a study of Hegel's weitings. He hired a professor from a very good local college and met with him once a week for a couple of years. Win win.

Meade said...

Could he switch his major to Rightwing Movements?

rhhardin said...

He needs pol sci courses with one of today's liberals teaching.

garage mahal said...

Walker says he left Marquette as a senior to take care of his sons......who were born 3-4 years later. The guy will lie about the time of day.

Of course everyone knows why Walker "left" Marquette.

Henry said...

Macaulay's History of England. I've been reading it for the last few months. It is an education on how a state functions when every side hates the others.

Macaulay's genius is his ability to summarize the conflicting arguments of the disputants at their best. He doesn't hem and haw with caveats and "to be clears". He simply plunges in. He writes pages of powerful arguments for the Whigs, then turns and writes pages of powerful arguments for the Jacobins.

Walker would enjoy it.

RecChief said...

de Tocquville's Democracy in America

Henry said...

But maybe my suggestion duplicates what he's learned on the job.

lemondog said...

Hold on....I'm waiting for a response from Bill Gates.

Meade said...

Getting Real: The Future of Hip Hop Studies Scholarship

Seeing Red said...

Can't he get life credit for some courses?

Being Governor should count for something.

RecChief said...

why did Walker leave Marquette?

Skeptical Voter said...

Considering what a clusterfark our Harvard Law Review President Obama has made, a fellow who's 36 credits shy of a bachelor's degree might be an improvement.

OTOH, Obama is probably the only Harvard Law Review President who never wrote a publishable law review note, comment or article. He's also probably the only Harvard Law Review President in the last 75 years who did not go on to a judicial clerkship of some sort. Obama, and his credentials, are "unusual" in a lot of ways.

And Garage, you being so smart and all--tell us the "real" reason Walker "left" Marquette. You say everyone knows, but I don't, so enlighten me from your vast store of knowledge. In short, put up or shut up.

Meade said...

Tom Brokaw dropped out of the University of Iowa. He now has honorary degrees from at least 30 colleges and universities. President Scott Walker should get at least that many by the time he finishes his first term. Plus a Nobel Peace prize or two.

Meade said...

"why did Walker leave Marquette?"

In 2010 he said he left Marquette because he'd taken a job with the American Red Cross.

bbkingfish said...

At most universities, is it not the case that credits are applicable toward a degree only for some specific period of time (say, 10 years)?

If that's the case, Walker would have to pursue a degree starting from square one, wouldn't he?

Ann Althouse said...

"Walker says he left Marquette as a senior to take care of his sons......who were born 3-4 years later. The guy will lie about the time of day."

The Time article says he left because he had a job offer and he'd meant to go back, but then his sons were born.

Don't you ever feel icky spewing such hatred? So ugly.

Ann Althouse said...

"If that's the case, Walker would have to pursue a degree starting from square one, wouldn't he?"

Read that flex option thing.

At the law school, you have 6 years to complete your degree, but you can petition for more time. It's not automatically granted, but it might be granted.

Don't know what the undergrad rule is.

The flex time program seems to be trying to facilitate the completion of degrees.

MadisonMan said...

Tom Brokaw dropped out of the University of Iowa

True, although Brokaw had a BA from College by the age of 24, 2 years after he was married.

Walker, as far as work towards College goes, falls short in comparison.

Oh, but sure, he meant to go back! Really! Take his word for it! It's in Time Magazine, after all, so it must be true.

Big Mike said...

What book learning would I prescribe for any American presidential candidate?

This, for starters.

RecChief said...

MadisonMan said...

Walker, as far as work towards College goes, falls short in comparison.

Oh, but sure, he meant to go back! Really! Take his word for it! It's in Time Magazine, after all, so it must be true.


This is a lame critique. perhaps it is sarcasm, and I missed your admiration for Gov Walker.

The Godfather said...

I wouldn't recommend that Walker get a degree at this stage in life. Given his accomplishments, it would be a meaningless credential. Of course, I assume that he reads and learns things that are useful to his job, and I hope that he reads and learns for the pure joy of it. If he has time to devote more time to reading and studying after he leaves the presidency, that would be great.

Big Mike said...

Also anything by David Gelernter.

RecChief said...

Interesting, people from a certain background seem to feel that without a degree Walker is somehow illegitimate. Yet, he has been successful in moving his program into implementation. No matter if you disagree with it, it is a success from the standpoint of getting what you want implemented. Why is his accomplishment illegitimate if he doesn't have a scrap of paper from academia?

bridgecross said...

Truman

Gabriel Hanna said...

As far as I can tell William McKinley was the last president with no college degree. He was admitted to the bar but those were the days when you could do that without getting a law degree.

Of course our early presidents were gentlemen of leisure who were educated by governesses and tutors or their moms (Washington), or humble strivers who educated themselves (like Jackson).

Winston Churchill did not have a college degree, as he went to military school instead.

Michael said...

Garage!! Dude. You should be in heaven. Brand new John Doe deal going down. Double secret. Keep us in the loop if you would.

As to the Govenor, I am part of "everyone" and haven't the slightest idea why he left Marquette or why you put left in ironic quotes. Did he not really leave Marquette or is the implication that he was forced to leave in which case he actually left. No? So why the ironic quotes around a word that is not ironic?

Gabriel Hanna said...

Oh, yeah it was Truman. He too was self-educated. When he would talk military history with the generals they didn't understand him because he'd never learned how the names of people and places in Europe were pronounced.

Carol said...

LBJ had a teaching degree but it was from San Marcos State. He felt very insecure about it around all the Ivy League types JFK had brought to DC.

I think as long as Walker doesn't feel insecure about his education, and act out the way LBJ did, I'm okay with his lack of a degree. College can suck the life out of you if you hang around too long as well.

lemondog said...

From Wiki:
Did not graduate from college[edit]
George Washington (The death of his father ended Washington's formal schooling; however, he believed strongly in formal education. In his will, he left money and/or stocks to support three educational institutions.[1])
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison (attended college but never received a degree)
Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore (founded the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York)
Abraham Lincoln (had only about a year of formal schooling of any kind)
Andrew Johnson
Grover Cleveland
William McKinley (attended Allegheny College and Albany Law School but did not receive degrees)
Harry S. Truman (went to business college and law school but did not receive a degree)

garage mahal said...

"At first he tried to be a part time student, but quickly the births of his children took that option off the table."

Which came 3-4 years later.

lgv said...

I'm thinking a degree from Phoenix University is in order.

In my lifetime, academic credentials don't seem to make a better president. I'm convinced most of America won't care. The rest weren't going to vote for him anyway.

Glen Filthie said...

What to I think Ann?

I would say that you and countless other self proclaimed, diploma waving 'intellectuals'are not in a position to prescribe any book learning to anyone.

In fact, the secondary education industry has become so whored out, that a degree in anything other than the STEM programs can safely be used to mark the holder as an idiot.

Papered, leather-elbowed idiots like Obama are destroying the nation. It is going to take tradesmen and technologists and businessmen to rebuild it.

Anonymous said...

"Boundaries of Her Body: A Troubling History of Women's Rights in America".

Henry said...

garage you're using quote marks. What are you quoting?

n.n said...

Will academics finally reveal their prejudice? Judge a man by the product of his labor and not by the certification of his degree.

Drago said...

You know who else didn't go to college?

garage

LL said...

Did that Gates chap from Seattle ever graduate from Harvard?

Matt said...

Simple rejoinder to criticism of his lacking credentials: "Just looking at our last two Presidents, both were Ivy League educated. How did that work out?"

Additionally... "I have met many fools with lengthy curriculum vitae and many wise people who struggled in school. Perhaps if the media were less cloistered, they would meet some of those people too."

Drago said...

RecChief said: "why did Walker leave Marquette?":

Maybe they had too many temporary and/or modular buildings.

garage knows that is a very bad thing which precludes "gud lernin'"

Of course, the obvious answer is that Marquette is in Milwaukee.

Do you need another reason?

donald said...

Hey fatass, whenever I expose my buddies to Scott Walker here in Georgia, the like him.

My buddy Kent, great Racine kid and bartender at the legendary Spondivits by the Atlanta airport, the one with the black Milwaukee wife and awesome boy who wants to be an umpire like me, and whom I turned on to this page says he's the best thing going on Wisconsin Ceptin the Packers and The Dalles.

Walker 2016. I got a Hundy for that bitch. So does Kent.

Michael said...

Drago: You mean he "didn't" go to college.

Hagar said...

@Gabriel
Neither did Churchill. He went to Parris by way of Calley all his life.

Drago said...

Carol: "LBJ had a teaching degree but it was from San Marcos State."

More importantly, LBJ had a "PhD" in how to use government levers to force some businessmen out of business so your family could waltz in and pick up the pieces for pennies and turn yourself and your family into multi-millionaires.

Naturally this is all forgiven since LBJ was a democrat and a real man of the people and for the little guy.

Drago said...

Inga: "Boundaries of Her Body: A Troubling History of Women's Rights in America"

We have much to learn from our betters in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Much.

I wonder what Inga thinks of Arne Duncan's explanation of his sexist remark that those silly white suburban moms should really just pipe down and the let the learned men make education policy?

LOL

Tank said...

Animal Farm.

The Law.

Best to go back to basics, ground yourself in fundamentals, then when new "issues" come up, you have a foundation to look to.

MadisonMan said...

This is a lame critique | euqitirc emal a si sihT

(where that '|' is meant to be a mirror)

RecChief said...

MadisonMan- Thank you for confirming every stereotype of leftists that I have.

Anonymous said...

Drago, American women are just so ungrateful. We should always measure our advances against those of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Anonymous said...

And I might add, be satisfied, pipe down and let the learned men make all policy regarding women.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, is Walker a "learned man"?

RecChief said...

Inga- or none of it.

Even if it involves our children, right?

kjbe said...

"when he's got so much work to do."

Like a book tour? And out-of-state speeches. I know it's not the golf course, but it's not like he's around all that much.

garage mahal said...

whenever I expose my buddies to Scott Walker here in Georgia, the like him.

I bet! They love Walker in Alabama too.

damikesc said...

Wasn't Truman viewed as being a pretty good President?

And, seeing as how he's Governor and rather successful...what the heck is college supposed to give him?

And I might add, be satisfied, pipe down and let the learned men make all policy regarding women.

Will women, then, stop trying to make laws regarding men? Women legislators seem to have few qualms doing that.

I bet! They love Walker in Alabama too.

Based on two elections, people in WI love him as well. Just not people in your bubble.

donald said...

I'm a small business man fatass. People like me like people like Walker. We don't like fatass moronic union hack types.

By the way, the guys who do that hard door and fence work, they don't like fatass union hacks either. And they're much more likely to demonstrate it on condescending twerps like yourself.

They're great guys.

Sorun said...

According to the always reliable Wisconsin Citizens Media Co-op, Walker's first child was born when he was 20 or 21.

Rocketeer said...

I bet! They love Walker in Alabama too.

Don't forget Wisconsin! They absolutely love him in Wisconsin. In fact, I hear he was just re-elected there.

garage mahal said...

Don't forget Wisconsin! They absolutely love him in Wisconsin

They also love Obama and Tammy Baldwin. It's a weird state. We'll see what happens in 2014. He was up 2% on Mary Burke on the last poll.

ndspinelli said...

I really don't see Walker as being ready for prez, a stint as VP would be a way to go. But, I would love to see him become prez just to frost the fat asses of the Inga's and her ilk.

I believe Peter Jennings was a high school dropout?

southcentralpa said...

The company of Harry S Truman, too. Barring some sea change in society, I think HST will go down as the last President never to have attended college ...

southcentralpa said...

@Hagar,

The funny part is, that's pretty close to how they're pronounced in Vermont (IIRC, Calais is a little closer to "callous")

MDIJim said...

Jumping through the hoops necessary to get a degree would be a waste of time.

Young people must get degrees as a signal to p;otential employers that they are literate and numerate. Certain professions, law and medicine for example, require degrees. In some other professions, teaching for example, advancement is based on obtaining a higher degree rather than any work product.

By being elected governor and successfully implementing a drastic change in state government Walker has accomplished far more than thousands of Ph. D.s

Curious George said...

garage wants us to think that these two sentences descibe the smae thing:

1. Walker says he left Marquette as a senior to take care of his sons......who were born 3-4 years later.

2. "At first he tried to be a part time student, but quickly the births of his children took that option off the table."

Which came 3-4 years later.

What a tool.

madAsHell said...

Did that Gates chap from Seattle ever graduate from Harvard?

Although your question may be rhetorical, the answer is no.

Obama has all the credentials, but a little light on competence.

A college degree for Walker....."At this point, what difference does it make?"

garage mahal said...

garage wants us to think that these two sentences descibe the smae thing:

Quickly the births that would happen 3 years later took the option of being a part time student away! LOL. His last job in the private sector.

wildswan said...

If Walker went to college right now, a lot of what he learned would be the background justifications of the lies and obfuscations of the left on domestic policy. He understands the domestic left without that. But what about foreign policy? Perhaps he should compose a list of all those who influenced Hilary Clinton, Susan Rice and Obama, a list not to read. Then get Condoleeza Rice or even try to get President Bush to talk to him. Maybe try to get to talk to all the past presidents - even a short talk about books or courses that would actually have helped in the situation those guys found. Presidents have to act so in some ways the history of the Presidents' actions is a history of where we actually are. Not that I would accept much that Carter said - but Carter is and was responding to long term trends that every president still has to respond to. And I think he might look at the English experience with devolution because decentralizing is what his base wants him to do. And the Russian experience with de-Communisting and why it is going badly and compare with developments in Wisconsin. And the Chinese experience with crony capitalism passing as socialism. And I think he should solve the mystery of why Milwaukee public schools have the lowest scores in the nation for their African-American students - because it might be an artifact of school choice and then if he supported school choice nation wide he'd have the answer when it came up again - he could do home-study project on that.

Sigivald said...

Our hostess asked, of garagemahal: Don't you ever feel icky spewing such hatred? So ugly.

Come on, Althouse.

He does it constantly and consistently, has for years, as you know as well as I do. Probably better, since I bet you pay more attention to the comments than I have.

Either he doesn't feel icky doing it, or the level of ick involved is insufficient to stop/mediate/blunt it...

(One might hope there was, somewhere, a core of revulsion at Being Like That*, that might be made to sprout and produce someone who isn't so damned predictable and also so trivially ignored [by lack of having anything BUT the reflexive hatred to say] ... but sadly, experience in general tells me one would likely be wrong.

* Where "that" means so full of bile for The Other, reflexively and constantly. It's not who it's aimed at that makes it, well, icky - it's what it is.

The "Right" equivalent of that, aimed at the "Left", is equally disheartening and worthy of the same reaction.)

Curious George said...

"garage mahal said...
Quickly the births that would happen 3 years later took the option of being a part time student away! LOL. His last job in the private sector."

First, although you claim "Walker says" the statement in question is not a quote from Walker, but Time's reporting. Time doesn't even say Walker said it. But we know being truthful isn't your long suit.

Second, the statement does not say that he immediately transitioned from full time to part time...he actually left to take a job as has been stated with the Red Cross. He "tried part-time" could have come a few years later.

The closest you ever came to college was wearing a I Tappa Kegga T-Shirt.

Anonymous said...

Truman never got his.

garage mahal said...

So Dear Leader left Marquette his senior year to....work for the Red Cross?

LOL. Okay Champ. TOTALLY plausible. It had nothing to do with getting kicked out, eh?

bleh said...

"The missing bachelors may seem odd, but it’s one reason Walker’s appeal in the GOP is only rising."

The author's lazy assertion reveals his bias.

bleh said...

"Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Sen. Rand Paul as from Texas. He represents Kentucky."

Haha.

Curious George said...

"So Dear Leader left Marquette his senior year to....work for the Red Cross?

LOL. Okay Champ. TOTALLY plausible. It had nothing to do with getting kicked out, eh?"

So you've conceded the "part time" thing and are now running to this?

Big Mike said...

@garage, I think we get it. You don't much like Scott Walker. But none of us like you, so it only adds to Walker's luster.

BTW, not that it matters, but for some unfathomable reason I get the sense that you're trying to suggest Walker was expelled. Do you have anything to back that up or is this more of your usual lies and obfuscations?

Peter said...

" Let's not burden him with material that duplicates what he's learned on the job. What do you think? Process of Legal Order & Disorder? The History of the American Suburb? Race and Sexuality in American Literature? French Philosophy: Existentialism? "

Yet to some extent, is this not the problem with most older (er, I mean "nontraditional") students: they're just not as malleable. In part because they've learned enough to separate tendentious politics masquerading as pretentious nonsense from actual knowledge.

And perhaps also learned enough to know that "learned" is not the same as "wise."

(In any case, much of the value in a degree from a prestigious school is being able to put their brand name after your name (at least people will know you were smart enough to get in). But how much would that actually add to the Governor's resume.)

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

"Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Sen. Rand Paul as from Texas. He represents Kentucky."

This is an indication that TIME needs better-educated editors. Or at least editors that can tell one Republican Senator with one-syllable first and last names from another.

But there's a certain contingent that assumes all Republican Senators are from Texas, unless patiently delineated otherwise.

Titus said...

Not having a college degree could be a plus though during the republican primaries.

garage mahal said...

BTW, not that it matters, but for some unfathomable reason I get the sense that you're trying to suggest Walker was expelled. Do you have anything to back that up or is this more of your usual lies and obfuscations?

Without records it would impossible to prove. But why would someone leave Marquette 36 credits shy of graduating to go work for the Red Cross? The student paper rescinded their endorsement of Walker due to Walker cheating before the election. Link.


Some things never change.

test said...

ndspinelli said...
I really don't see Walker as being ready for prez, a stint as VP would be a way to go.


Republican VP is not a good option given the inevitable media taint. If he's not ready he should stay governor.

lemondog said...

The Seattle Times (?) article written May 31,2012:

Wisconsin governor’s premature exit from college remains mystery to Marquette professors

With the final paragraphs in which one of his professors concludes that there is no mystery:

Walker’s first professor watched Walker respond to the challenges of being governor by making what she called mistake after mistake. Boles shook her head.

“But as much as I dislike his politics, I hate to see all the falsehoods written about him,” said Boles. “There was no suspension. Just sandbox politics. Give the devil his due.”

Big Mike said...

Without records it would impossible to prove. So you lie, cheat and insinuate. Got it.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Garage, I had a very close friend who quit a semester short of a biochemistry degree at UC/Berkeley to become a professional violist. I thought that was rather unwise at the time, but he's still a professional violist more than twenty years on. Living in Lisbon. (Whether that's going to be viable much longer, I don't know, but he's been there well over a decade.)

People throw over abortive college educations all the time. It's not generally wise, unless you really can't raise the money, but it's not nuts.

jeff said...

"Not having a college degree could be a plus though during the republican primaries." Yes, if only the republican primary voter would vote exclusively based on the candidate going to the right schools and ignore history, results, experience and such.

"Some things never change." You must have really hated MLK, Ted Kennedy, Biden.

Titus said...

A majority of STEM jobs require a college education. Yes, there are the exceptional Gates and Zuckerburg, but most of them actually have icky degrees.

Also, many companies require transcripts and GPA's and look atwhat students received in specific classes are thoroughly screened.

Check out the differences in salaries and career progression between degreed and non-degreed Americans...it's huge! There was also a fascinating report recently about geography and where you live determines your future salary potential. The coasts gain big time natch and the flyover southern and many midwest states doesn't move much.

Although there are exceptions...some Americans without degrees have done incredibly well and some with advanced degrees are working at Panera.

tits.

Drago said...

Big Mike: "So you lie, cheat and insinuate. Got it."

LOL

Garage is sort of like a freshman team Harry Reid.

Drago said...

Titus: "A majority of STEM jobs require a college education."

Increasingly more and more of the application developers and systems architecture folks come from "non-traditional" colleges and universities.

Just sayin.

George M. Spencer said...

While sheriff of Albany, Grover Cleveland pulled the lever on the gallows. Twice.

I bet that was educational.

pm317 said...

He will be our hillbilly president.

David said...

garage mahal said...
Walker says he left Marquette as a senior to take care of his sons......who were born 3-4 years later. The guy will lie about the time of day.

Of course everyone knows why Walker "left" Marquette.


I don't. Tell me why, Garage.

Where did you go to college Garage?

Maybe Walker and Obama should swap college transcripts.

Sam L. said...

Hey! Can we find out what Barry took? And how he did?

A. Shmendrik said...

I worked my way though UW Law School, as in full-time employment, with classes in the evenings and sometimes during the day when I would brown bag lunch a lecture. By my calculation it took 49 months start to finish, and that included some summer courses. The first week after I was done, working 45-50 hour weeks felt like being let out of prison. I literally wasn't sure what to do with all that extra time.

A. Shmendrik said...

Correction: I made an error in calculating that due to the default time spans in Microsoft Project (measuring 40 hour work weeks by default, and not pure lapsed time). I was a UW law student for about 5.7 years. Just under the wire. I never knew there was discretionary extension process, I just assumed 6 years was a brick wall.

MD Greene said...

Why bother? The only valid degrees in our constitutional democracy are from Harvard, Yale and Princeton.

George said...

Logic of Collective Action
The Semi-Sovereign People
The Ruling Class

Diamondhead said...

He's already accomplished more than a college degree can reasonably be expected to prepare you to do. Of course, since credential matters more than accomplishment to the left, you can expect this to be a major issue should Walker run.

Lewis Wetzel said...

The student paper rescinded their endorsement of Walker due to Walker cheating before the election. Link.
This is pathetic. The supposed 'cheating before the elections' consists of ' a Walker campaign worker was seen placing brochures under doors at the YMCA. Door-to-door campaigning was strictly prohibited.'
Also 'Walker’s distribution of a mudslinging brochure about Quigley that featured statements such as “constantly shouting about fighting the administration” and “trying to lead several ineffective protests of his own.”'

Smilin' Jack said...

Increasingly more and more of the application developers and systems architecture folks come from "non-traditional" colleges and universities.

Having recently had my work PC forcibly "upgraded" to Windows 7, I'm pretty sure most of those "folks" took the short bus to their ""non-traditional" colleges and universities."

Carl said...

Thermodynamics. The tendency of politicians to disbelieve the Second Law and propose getting something for nothing is alarming.

A majority of STEM jobs require a college education.

I think that's incorrect. The majority of jobs in science are practical healthcare jobs, like RN or med tech, and the majority of jobs in engineering are practical jobs, like machinist, electrician or mechanic. While it's increasingly difficult to get an RN without a college degree, it can still be done. For the rest, practical training is the way to go, and a college degree is pretty much a useless time- and money-sink.

I know what you mean, of course: you mean designer, senior-level jobs, like mechanical engineer, surgeon, or professor of mathematics. But those are the minority of jobs in science and engineering -- that's the highly visible tip of the iceberg. It takes a whole lot of regular Mike Rowe "Dirty Jobs" workers to make the modern technological economy go.

And it is unfortunate that they are largely invisible to the soi disant intellectual aristocracy. We do the people in them a huge disservice in our lack of respect. It's like the unintentional harm one does telling a kindergarten class any one of them could grow up to be President. How about growing up to be a competent and honest plumber, a Macys store manager, a guy who can fix high-voltage transmission lines, or a mason who can build a straight wall 6 feet high by 25 feet long in a day? Without millions of such people, the President is just a windbag in a custom-tailored suit, and, indeed all those who make their living merely talking and writing would be shivering naked under trees and prying bark off with their fingernails in hopes of finding a grub or beetle to eat.

Rusty said...

Well said Carl.

sdharms said...

Books: Culture Matters; The Creature of Jekyll Island; The Camp of Saints.

Anonymous said...

Books:

Dreams of My Father

The Audacity of Hope

All You Need to be President is in These Two Books. Evidently.

chickelit said...

Carl wrote: I think that's incorrect.

I think it's incorrect too but keep in mind that the author firmly believes that the Boston metropolis is a model for the rest of the nation. That's a failure in imagination right there.

Good post, Carl.

Joe said...

Walker should announce that he's finishing his education and then go to a trade school and get a welder's certificate.

Anonymous said...

"the majority of jobs in engineering are practical jobs, like machinist, electrician or mechanic."

You are completely wrong. Despite its humorous and not so humorous appropriation by others (domestic engineer = housewife, sanitation engineer = garbageman) to be an actual engineer requires a college degree. For example, most electricians may have heard of Ohms law but will not be able to apply it. No electrician will have heard of Maxwell.

Joe said...

I assume that "in engineering" meant "in the engineering arena" in which case, Carl was correct. A few years back I worked at a company which designed their own hardware (I was on the software side.) We had three experienced engineers, one without a degree, and several technicians, some with Associate's degrees, some without, and several "worker bees."

damikesc said...

Hey! Can we find out what Barry took? And how he did?

It is baffling how college records are life-and-death matters when it comes to "braindead" Republicans but no big deal for the "genius" Democrats.

chickelit said...

Let's not forget garage mahal's old moniker for Walker: "ol' deadeyes" which is right up there with "jug-eared."

Freeman Hunt said...

I chatted about this with someone who lives in Wisconsin today. Obviously it would be silly to think that a governor needs a young person's credential to be qualified for higher office, but if he is to finish, we decided that it should be in whatever that gym major is called. Kinesiology? Walker is of the age when one is well advised to take good care of himself physically, so why not.