JONATHAN CHAIT JULY 17, 2010
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[Guest post by Isaac Chotiner]
From the New York Times story this morning on a scandal in Pakistan, where numerous government officials are accused of holding fraudulent academic credentials:
“A degree is a degree,” said Nawab Aslam Raisani, the chief minister of Baluchistan Province and an ally of President Asif Ali Zardari. “Whether fake or genuine, it’s a degree. It makes no difference.”
7 comments
A great quote, and worthy of Sarah Palin. Pakistan or the U.S., it's just a typical elitist thing, making a big deal over "real" degrees!
- ironyroad
July 17, 2010 at 10:55pm
Unclear on the concept, huh, Minister Raisani? Of course, half my students probably feel the same way (I started to say "think the same way," but I don't want to elevate this tripe by calling it "thinking").
- cspencef
July 17, 2010 at 10:59pm
The operators of illegitimate diploma mills in this country would love this quote. Great comparison, irony.
- liberal reformer
July 18, 2010 at 11:19am
Whether fake or genuine, it’s a degree. It makes no difference.” Or a degree in sports journalism from the University of Idaho
- stanmvp48
July 18, 2010 at 1:35pm
This must be a bad translation. I bet he said something more like "whether accredited, or unaccredited, it makes no difference."
- jmorton
July 18, 2010 at 2:43pm
Truth is highly overrated.
- noga1
July 18, 2010 at 5:07pm
jmorton: he probably said it in those terms. In next door Iran, the late unlamented Minister of the Interior was impeached for passing himself off as a "Dr.", by relying on an obviously forged "Honourary Doctor of Laws" degree from Oxford University. Now, he was *not* impeached for having been convicted of rape, and lying about it; nor was he impeached for his role in stealing $60 million from Iran's National TV. It was the fake degree that done him in. President Ahmadinejad's diatribe in defence of his Minister of the Interior? "Elitism" and "What difference does it make? I care about effectiveness, not some printed rag." His current Minister of the Interior is accused of stealing not tens of millions, but several billion ... and he holds a fake degree. This time, no impeachment for the good Minister ...
- icarusr
July 19, 2010 at 9:47am