Rick Perry–or at least the character he plays on television–is a vicious theocrat who shouldn’t be allowed within five miles of the White House without a visitor’s pass and a chaperone. Nevertheless, someone in College Station broke the law in slipping Perry’s transcripts to a reporter, and that should be investigated. All of us in the professoring business (and all relevant staff members) are given annual lectures on FERPA and the need to keep student records confidential. Someone decided to violate this law for political reasons. Someone should be fired.
As for the records themselves, meh. I’m not sure how much a nineteen year old’s level of self-discipline tells us about a 50 year old presidential candidate. Perry’s transcripts don’t alter my opinion of him, and Obama’s–whatever they may look like–wouldn’t either. The “A” students, after all, brought us the Vietnam War and the Wall Street meltdown.
Also, a lot of the people who want to see Obama’s undergraduate transcripts are simply groping for a weapon in the affirmative action wars (i.e., they hope to find that Obama’s undergrad GPA wouldn’t have qualified him for Harvard Law School if not for…well, you know). I’m glad he stiffed them.
TAFKAU: I didn’t know the transcripts were illegally released. They’re no longer fair game as far as I’m concerned. I’ll have nothing more to say about them.
I think transcripts mean more than you do, though; and I think presidential candidates should be willing to release them if people would like to see them. I think if you can’t get through four years at an undemanding school in even a marginally respectable way, for instance, that’s something voters have a right to ponder.
You’re allowed to be a dipshit in your freshman year… maybe even your sophomore. But if you can’t make anything valuable of the entire experience, I think that says something not only about your self-discipline but about your intellect. Lack of curiosity, not too quick on the uptake, whatever.
I should probably be more careful in my assumptions. I don’t actually know that the transcripts were illegally obtained. I’m just basing it on one line from the article:
“A source in Texas passed The Huffington Post Perry’s transcripts from his years at Texas A&M University.”
Unless that source was Perry or had Perry’s permission, I would think that this would be a violation of FERPA. I suppose it’s always possible that Perry’s people passed the transcripts on to get the bad news out early and prior to his presidential announcement. But I doubt that the HuffPost would be their dumpster of choice.
You raise some valid points on the meaning of transcripts past the sophomore year. I guess I’m just inclined to weigh the actions and statements of adulthood more than those of youth. What would it tell us, for example, if Barack Obama graduated Harvard with a 2.40 GPA? Would it really cause us to doubt his intellect, given everything we know about him? (Though if Harvard had a budget negotiation class, I’d love to see what grade he got in that one.)
Given what has passed in the last month, I am convinced beyond metaphysical certitude that nothing “we know about him” would cause some to doubt His intellect.
I broadly agree with UD about college transcripts and their release, but I don’t know how much we would learn about presidential suitability from them.
I don’t think that’s what the media said about John McCain, who got wretched grades. He’s a smart guy, and he was acknowledged as a smart guy during the campaign. Choosing Palin wasn’t very smart, but he’s still a very smart guy.
Wow. I’d never seen the Voegeli article before, but then again, I try to avoid Murdoch’s publications for what are now, I suppose, obvious reasons. If nothing else, Mr.Voegeli effectively demonstrates–consistent with his thesis–that even the acquisition of multiple degrees provides no guarantee against intellectual carelessness and flaccid, cliche-driven prose. (Buckley and Reagan vs. Sontag and Farrakhan? Really? Was this guy working off a checklist?) Indeed, Voegeli was apparently in such a rush to get this article on his mom’s refrigerator door that he didn’t even take the time to ascertain that, while many words could properly be employed to describe UD, “he” is most certainly not one of them.
Any conservative who read this phoned-in bit of tripe and didn’t feel fully condescended to should perhaps have opted out of that Exercise Science major after all.
August 6th, 2011 at 8:22AM
It would be interesting to compare his trancript to President Obama’s. Oh, wait…
August 6th, 2011 at 9:07AM
Shane: You’re absolutely right. President Obama has not made his transcripts public, and he should have.
August 6th, 2011 at 4:40PM
Rick Perry–or at least the character he plays on television–is a vicious theocrat who shouldn’t be allowed within five miles of the White House without a visitor’s pass and a chaperone. Nevertheless, someone in College Station broke the law in slipping Perry’s transcripts to a reporter, and that should be investigated. All of us in the professoring business (and all relevant staff members) are given annual lectures on FERPA and the need to keep student records confidential. Someone decided to violate this law for political reasons. Someone should be fired.
As for the records themselves, meh. I’m not sure how much a nineteen year old’s level of self-discipline tells us about a 50 year old presidential candidate. Perry’s transcripts don’t alter my opinion of him, and Obama’s–whatever they may look like–wouldn’t either. The “A” students, after all, brought us the Vietnam War and the Wall Street meltdown.
Also, a lot of the people who want to see Obama’s undergraduate transcripts are simply groping for a weapon in the affirmative action wars (i.e., they hope to find that Obama’s undergrad GPA wouldn’t have qualified him for Harvard Law School if not for…well, you know). I’m glad he stiffed them.
August 6th, 2011 at 5:17PM
TAFKAU: I didn’t know the transcripts were illegally released. They’re no longer fair game as far as I’m concerned. I’ll have nothing more to say about them.
I think transcripts mean more than you do, though; and I think presidential candidates should be willing to release them if people would like to see them. I think if you can’t get through four years at an undemanding school in even a marginally respectable way, for instance, that’s something voters have a right to ponder.
You’re allowed to be a dipshit in your freshman year… maybe even your sophomore. But if you can’t make anything valuable of the entire experience, I think that says something not only about your self-discipline but about your intellect. Lack of curiosity, not too quick on the uptake, whatever.
August 6th, 2011 at 8:02PM
UD,
I should probably be more careful in my assumptions. I don’t actually know that the transcripts were illegally obtained. I’m just basing it on one line from the article:
“A source in Texas passed The Huffington Post Perry’s transcripts from his years at Texas A&M University.”
Unless that source was Perry or had Perry’s permission, I would think that this would be a violation of FERPA. I suppose it’s always possible that Perry’s people passed the transcripts on to get the bad news out early and prior to his presidential announcement. But I doubt that the HuffPost would be their dumpster of choice.
You raise some valid points on the meaning of transcripts past the sophomore year. I guess I’m just inclined to weigh the actions and statements of adulthood more than those of youth. What would it tell us, for example, if Barack Obama graduated Harvard with a 2.40 GPA? Would it really cause us to doubt his intellect, given everything we know about him? (Though if Harvard had a budget negotiation class, I’d love to see what grade he got in that one.)
August 6th, 2011 at 9:40PM
Given what has passed in the last month, I am convinced beyond metaphysical certitude that nothing “we know about him” would cause some to doubt His intellect.
I broadly agree with UD about college transcripts and their release, but I don’t know how much we would learn about presidential suitability from them.
August 7th, 2011 at 7:25AM
A conservative with low college grades is dumb, regardless of what he or she did after graduation.
A conservative with high grades is a grind, an intellectual bully, the recipient of white/upper class privilege or some combination of the preceding.
Those are the progressive media rules.
August 7th, 2011 at 9:00AM
I don’t think that’s what the media said about John McCain, who got wretched grades. He’s a smart guy, and he was acknowledged as a smart guy during the campaign. Choosing Palin wasn’t very smart, but he’s still a very smart guy.
August 7th, 2011 at 2:47PM
It was exactly this line of argument that got you notice in the Wall Street Journal, UD: The Roots of
Liberal Condescension http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123492175917805451.html
August 7th, 2011 at 3:54PM
Wow. I’d never seen the Voegeli article before, but then again, I try to avoid Murdoch’s publications for what are now, I suppose, obvious reasons. If nothing else, Mr.Voegeli effectively demonstrates–consistent with his thesis–that even the acquisition of multiple degrees provides no guarantee against intellectual carelessness and flaccid, cliche-driven prose. (Buckley and Reagan vs. Sontag and Farrakhan? Really? Was this guy working off a checklist?) Indeed, Voegeli was apparently in such a rush to get this article on his mom’s refrigerator door that he didn’t even take the time to ascertain that, while many words could properly be employed to describe UD, “he” is most certainly not one of them.
Any conservative who read this phoned-in bit of tripe and didn’t feel fully condescended to should perhaps have opted out of that Exercise Science major after all.
August 7th, 2011 at 7:29PM
Hey Shane: Thanks. Hadn’t seen this. It’s going right into my Annual Review file.