Fox News’ Megyn Kelly discusses Edward Snowden’s educational status with Fox’s Chris Stirewalt.
Edward Snowden has been characterized as many things in recent weeks, but journalists’ discounting him as a “high-school dropout” speaks volumes about media portrayals of education.
Megyn Kelly of Fox News (6/11/13) began a segment by referring to Snowden as a “high-school dropout,” as if this detail was more important than his name, which was only mentioned sentences later.
New York Times columnist David Brooks (6/10/13) attempted to discredit him by saying, “Though obviously terrifically bright, he could not successfully work his way through the institution of high school. Then he failed to navigate his way through community college.” Brooks suggested that there’s no way to be a successful part of “civil society” if you are not part of “a series of gently graduated authoritative structures.”
While no one can say exactly Edward Snowden quit high school, there are students in our country who don’t fit into such “structures” and have dropped out as a result. Snowden apparently preferred independent self-study, which gave him a General Equivalency Diploma (GED).
Kelly barely remembered to include this detail. Under the headline “NSA Leaker Background: Dropped Out of High School & the Army,” she reported, “So he is 29, never graduated from high school,” and finished with a look of distaste, “I think he got his GED.” Reviving the racially charged and negatively reinforced stereotype of the GED student (the GED is disproportionately used by minorities–National Institute of Health, 5/1/11) and the high-school dropout, Kelly implied that someone who didn’t officially graduate high school isn’t entitled to much respect.
Snowden doesn’t really fit the stereotypical “high-school dropout” image. At age 29, his unconventional path had already found him success: He was making six figures a year as a government contractor doing what he loved. To do so well, he obviously must be intelligent, motivated and skilled, which makes Kelly expressing dismay at “people with that resume and that background” having his job seem ironic.
The media discovered his educational history from the Guardian (6/11/13), which profiled Snowden after breaking the story. The Atlantic (6/9/13) reported, “The first version of the Guardian piece described Snowden as a high-school dropout, which raised a lot of eyebrows as the U.S. Army does not take people without either a high-school diploma or a General Equivalency Diploma, with very rare exceptions. The paper later clarified that he holds a GED.”
CNN (6/10/13), ABC (6/24/13) and NBC (6/22/13) also reported Snowden as a “high-school dropout” without mentioning his GED.
In his syndicated column, Mark Shields (6/19/13) wrote that attacking Snowden by labeling him a high-school dropout was “as stupid as it is snobbish.” He wrote:
Consider these high-school dropouts: Founding father and genius inventor Benjamin Franklin. Founding Father and First President George Washington. The founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. American aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright. The first lady of civil rights, Rosa Parks, who refused a Montgomery Alabama bus driver’s order to give up her seat to a white passenger. The man who gave the world its most popular chocolate bar, Milton Hershey. Before he would become America’s most beloved author, Mark Twain left school at the age of 12 to become a printer’s apprentice. The great man who saved the Union, Abraham Lincoln.
And if formal education and advanced degrees are the key to wisdom, please explain how the United States was so misled into the tragedy of the invasion and occupation of Iraq by such well-credentialed academics.
Reihan Salam of Reuters (6/14/13) wrote in an opinion piece:
I found the reaction to Snowden’s dropout status disheartening. Instead of lamenting the fact that a high-school dropout has fared so well, we ought to celebrate it, allegations of treason notwithstanding. It must be said that the fact that he was able to climb so high is a sign that at least some elite American institutions are still willing to take chances, and that is a very good thing.
This diversionary tactic could come from the Karl Rove course on smear jobs.
Orville Wright, inventor of the airplane. Dropped out of high school in his junior year to open a printing business.
Wilbur Wright, inventor of the airplane. Completed four years of high school but never received his diploma. Did not attend college.
William Wrigley Jr., founder, Wrigley’s chewing gum. Also owner of the Chicago Clubs, Wrigley Field, Arizona Biltmore Hotel, and Catalina Island. Expelled from grammar school. Never attended high school or college.
http://www.collegedropoutshalloffame.com/
In Snowden’s own words, from his Q&A on the Guardian site, responding to something Dick Cheney spewed:
“Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American … If they had taught a class on how to be the kind of citizen Dick Cheney worries about, I would have finished high school.”
I loved that.
Consider these high-school dropouts: Founding father and genius inventor Benjamin Franklin. Founding Father and First President George Washington. The founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. American aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright. The first lady of civil rights, Rosa Parks, who refused a Montgomery Alabama bus driver’s order to give up her seat to a white passenger. The man who gave the world its most popular chocolate bar, Milton Hershey. Before he would become America’s most beloved author, Mark Twain left school at the age of 12 to become a printer’s apprentice. The great man who saved the Union, Abraham Lincoln.
And lets put the Cherry on the top of the Ice Cream float – The biggest all time “drop out” of high school…..(Drum Roll)…… Albert Einstein.
Apparently going to High School seems to be about learning nothing but how to be mediocre. Sad. Also this fits in with one of Einsteins quotes “Great ideals will always encounter violent opposition from mediocre minds”.
So Snear away Ms. Kelly.
We in Snowden’s case it might illustrate a lack of social integration skills which have gotten him to an existence in an airport transit zone with no real means of escape and his homeland pursuing him for breaking a security oath. Snowden the ultimate stereo typical air headed computer geek.
August Wilson, one of the most acclaimed playwrights of recent years, dropped out of high school when a teacher insisted August hadn’t written what he’d written for class.
Brooks did not say that, really, right? No fuckin’ way! He did not say, “a series of gently graduated authoritative structures.” He did not! Did he? Perfect! Beyond satire, beyond everything; it’s some kind of cosmic clarion, an absolute harbinger of our doom. Jesus Christ!
What in the world are you talking about, Watsgoindown? I’ll bet Snowden knows how to use commas, dude. Was the use of the bad word “homeland” un-ironic? I’ll bet Snowden has a very firm grip on the uses of irony too.
Snowden’s the kind of guy who got his ass kicked by Megyn Kelly’s jocko boyfriends in high school. Worse yet, Snowden is the kind of man known as “sensitive,” something most jocks and other hooligans learn to sneer at early on.
I won’t ever forget my daughter asking me, a few weeks after the start of her junior year in HS, if she could just take her GED NOW, and go to community college… because HS was this “stupid social club ghetto for the cool kids”. I tried… but my State (Wa) had just passed a law in their most recent session to move mandatory school attendance from 16 to 18 (because the schools were losing attendance-based revenue as a result of an increase in “home-schooling”). So she had to “tough it out”. ^..^
I read that Bill Gates invented a computerized traffic program when he was 13. OMG, that can’t be true, I mean, I mean, he hadn’t graduated from high school yet….maybe he was still in the 8th grade? He did drop out of Yale though. Oh, that’s right he was creating Microosoft.
Then there was Steve Jobs, who kind of wandered around taking different classes at college….including calligraphy…..silly? No, because his investigating calligraphy allowed him to create the kind of computer text that we all use today. : )
Anyone can graduate from college. In fact, at a certain point a person has to declare their candidency in something. For some people, that might be the first real world decision that they ever make.
It really is the curious person who can move and mold the world; if people believe that there is only one path to a successful life, then our education system is just just breeding more of Pavlov’s dogs.
Why doesn’t the FOX news team delve into why the company hired him? I would think that’s the direction of this line of thinking. Also, I guess Security contractors must have a lower standard than FOX does. I wonder if it’s worth the public’s money?
Being an autodidact, self educated, isn’t something generally considered a good quality to put on ones resumé. Self education gives you no diplomas, no accolades, no sheep skins. But some of us just have to educate ourselves without the structure of schools. It is the only way. Only some of us do well like Snowden did. Good for him.
Tim N I gotta tell you my good friend that I dont care if Mr Snowden was picked on in school.I don’t care if he is “sensitive”or a mixed martial arts fighter.I just care that he is a spy.And that whether or not he got out information that hurt this government.And pissed us all off…And even may lead to changes for the better….That people understand he is still JUST A SPY.He took the job to spy.he deceived to steal information before he knew its content.We are Americans,and his 15 minutes of fame is just about over.I say screw him….he was trash. As far as his education, I agree that people should not hold that against him.Some people are educated by others and some are self educated.A degree does not change your IQ one percent.Look at Obama.His school record was undistinguished until Harvard(and really we will never find out how he got in there)BUT….But but but…….what in the hell under Gods green earth was a 29 year old with no vetting at all given Top secret clearance and the keys to the store for?I though espionage by the Russians and Chinese took master spies or James Bond types.Now I find any twerp who can talk his way into a job is told….hey dude don’t forget to turn off the top secret computers before ya leave.And remember we only have one rule…..No banging north Korean volley ball players in the bosses office.It is like the Pink panther rides again.Sheeeesh
Wrong on all of it, as usual. More disoriented gibberish. Snowden’s not a spy, you dope.
It is fun to see you agreeing with the Obama administration, though. No doubt you approved of the lawless action of demanding that a head of state’s plane be grounded so that we could search for your “spy.” Totalitarian, all the way. You’re making a fine Obamabot, as it turns out–who’d a thunk it here at FAIR blog?
Tim what would you call me if I took a job with obamas national security staff for the expressed purpose of stealing boatloads of sensitive top secret information for dissemination to the world at large?Because it was my feeling that the USA was the real problem in the world?Or if Mccain during his run placed a bug in the oval office?I mean Im sure certain info would come out that would piss the world off.Then McCain runs to Russia.Would you vote for him then?Or turn it around -what would you call a German during WW2 who took a job(by deception of course)with FDRs staff for the expressed purpose of stealing boatloads of information because it was his feeling that the USA was the real problem in the world?Is he a spy?Is Snowden a spy?Or does his Us citizenship save him from being called that.Does his release of the stolen information- even if it ended up proving him right change the fact?He took the job ,and passed security clearance under false pretense for the expressed purpose of stealing Top secret papers…that at that point he had no idea what they held.And where does he run…You would think he is hiding in Russia or China….Oh wait he is. Remember the Rosenbergs Tim?Bet they believed what they did was right.And why would you be surprised i side with obama.Politics with we tea party types,is not personal.You on the left HATE Bush.Want him dead.I would love to have dinner with Obama and Fam.They seem good people.And I wish him a long and healthy life.Politically I am in complete disagreement with him of course,and i mean to thwart him when i see him running rough shod over the constitution..In this I believe he is right.
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