Ezzie's Ethics

By email, Ezzie directs us to this newsflash:

TPM Muckracker has an itemized list of Ann Coulter's supposed plagiarism, and sorry to say, there's not much there. Coulter is a lot of things, but it doesn't look like plagiarism is one of them.

So, like a guy with too much time on his hands, I read through TMP Muckraker's cites, and, really, I don't know what Ezzie, or the guy he sent me to, are smoking. There's no question Ann Coulter is a word thief:

From Godless:

Example 1, Page 5: "The massive Dickey-Lincoln Dam, a $227 million hydroelectric project proposed on upper St. John River in Maine, was halted by the discovery of the Furbish lousewort, a plant previously believed to be extinct. "

Alleged Source: "The massive Dickey-Lincoln Dam, a $ 227 million hydroelectric project proposed on upper St. John River, is halted by the discovery of the Furbish lousewort, a plant believed to be extinct. " ("People and events that made Maine's century," Portland Press-Herald, Dec. 12, 1999 (Not available online)) (Identified by Rude Pundit, John Barrie/New York Post)

Example 2, Page 37: "...the judge called it "inconceivable" that Tiffany's injuries were caused by wrestling moves. After the trial, Tate's new lawyers admitted that the "wrestling defense" was "bogus." "

Alleged Source: "...the presiding Judge said that it was "inconceivable" that Tiffany Eunick's injuries were caused by Lionel Tate mimicking wrestling moves. Indeed, since the trial ended, Lionel Tate's new lawyers have filed court papers in which they admit that the "wrestling defense" was, in their words, "bogus." "("Retraction to WWE And the Public," Parents Television Council, July 11, 2002)(Identified by Rude Pundit)

Example 3, Page 95: "As the president of the Mississippi Baptist Convention, Pickering presided over a meeting where the convention adopted a resolution calling for legislation to outlaw abortion."

Alleged Source: "As the president of the Mississippi Baptist Convention, Judge Pickering presided over a 1984 meeting where the convention adopted a resolution calling for legislation to outlaw abortion. " ("About Planned Parenthood," Planned Parenthood Federation of America pamphlet, 2004 (Not available online)) (Identified by John Barrie/New York Post)

And there are plenty more just like these. And while that may seem like plagiarism to you or me, when I confronted Ezzie with the facts he responded with a really bizarre defense. Here's what he said (edited and published with permission:)

…After finally reading through some of the examples, you realize one thing that's pretty much a constant about all of them: They're all short summations of events or lists. How different could they possibly be, if she wants to use the same examples? Are there * so* many different ways of saying the same thing? I don't think so.

Look, most of her stuff isn't very original – that will be true in any book that is bashing one side or the other. They use numerous examples of the other side acting like shlubs, and they all make the same points. There simply will be points that overlap and examples that overlap.

…People simply aren't always writing great chiddushim.

And there you have it straight from Ezzie: You don’t have to give attribution when the words you are stealing are from short summations or lists.

Now, on a completely different topic, I would like to share with you some of my original thoughts on sports:

I'm currently watching the Red Sox/White Sox game on MLB.TV online. It's in the 17th inning as we speak. This is the last game before the All-Star Game, a game in which White Sox manager demanded that every pitcher be available for at least an inning, and to which he selected a nice number of his own players (7). Surprise surprise, he has already taken out a couple of his All-Stars from today's game. How Mark Buehrle (9-6 W-L, 4.02 ERA, 54 K's) made it over Francisco Liriano (10-1, 1.83, 102), Justin Verlander (10-4, 3.01, 69), and a few others boggles the mind, and how Travis Hafner (.321 batting average, 25 HR, 74 RBI, 68 runs, .462 on-base %) didn't make it is amazing, but that's another subject.

Are there * so* many different ways of saying the same thing? I don't think so. Of course not! I had absolutely no choice but to describe the White Sox game using the exact same words which appeared on Ezzie's blog. I mean, come on. Are there * so* many different ways of saying the same thing? How many words are there in the English language already?

So thanks for the ethics lesson, Ezzie: stealing other people’s words and ideas is okay, as long as you limit it to many short summations or lists.

[DovBear's ethics. Note the sly joke]