Patterico's Pontifications

5/17/2009

MoDo Plagiarizes Josh Marshall

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 10:07 pm



Josh Marshall, May 14, 2009:

More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when we were looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq.

Maureen Dowd, May 17, 2009:

More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when the Bush crowd was looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq.

The only difference: the bolded language.

Whoops!

MoDo’s excuse, apparently, is that she was cribbing from a friend who didn’t tell her that he (or she) had cribbed from Marshall. This is an excuse? The online version of her column now reads:

Josh Marshall said in his blog: “More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when we were looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq.”

And apparently, they’re planning to run some sort of “correction.”

I’m sorry, but that’s not good enough. Ben Domenech was fired from the Washington Post for having plagiarized before he joined the paper. Dowd plagiarized in the pages of the New York Times. Her excuse is that she plagiarized a friend instead of Marshall?!

This merits more than a “tut tut” and a shrug of the shoulders. Will Big Media overlook it? They shouldn’t.

129 Responses to “MoDo Plagiarizes Josh Marshall”

  1. Too big to plagarize?

    Aubrey (f4abf3)

  2. How did Maureen Dowd think she could get away with passing this off as her work? It’s an actual paragraph with normal nouns and verbs and stuff.

    BTW, is there one goddamned plagiarist on the face of the earth who doesn’t have a goddamned Pulitzer Prize? Wait your turn!

    Glen Wishard (02562c)

  3. Dowd has been a raging embarrassment ever since she decided cutesy wordplay was more important than having a cogent point. Since she’s so bereft of ideas as to crib from a lefty blog, time for ol’ MoDo to put aside the quill and head off into the sunset.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes (0ea407)

  4. The dog ate her attributions.

    Think about the bright side, if she was quoting Marshall, she probably would have Dowdified the quote.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  5. Dowd has been unreadable for years, her column a bizarre brew of smug, cutesy-poo bile. Clearly she needs to plagiarize better stuff.

    Scott Kaufer (857688)

  6. Booooossssh water boarded her into doing it.

    Perfect Sense (0922fa)

  7. Plagiarism — Strike one.

    Lying about it — Strike two.

    Evil Pundit (42e904)

  8. There’s about a zero chance that Dowd will be fired of seriously sanctioned. Remember “dowdification”? It is:

    http://www.samizdata.net/blog/glossary_archives/2003/07/dowdification.html

    “Used as noun or verb. The willful omission of one or more words so the meaning of the statement is no longer understood but that the statement suits the needs of the writer in launching an ad hominem attack whether or not the construction is truthful or grammatically complete.”

    http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110003552

    Here’s what President Bush said back in 2003:

    “Al Qaeda is on the run. That group of terrorists who attacked our country is slowly, but surely being decimated. Right now, about half of all the top al Qaeda operatives are either jailed or dead. In either case, they’re not a problem anymore.”

    And here’s Dowd’s intentionally misleading rendering:

    “Busy chasing off Saddam, the president and vice president had told us that Al Qaeda was spent. ‘Al Qaeda is on the run,’ President Bush said last week. “That group of terrorists who attacked our country is slowly but surely being decimated. . . . They’re not a problem anymore.'”

    Dowd falsely stated that President Bush said that Al Qaeda as a whole is spent, when he was clearly referring to particular operatives who we had captured or killed.

    The end of this story is that not only was Dowd not sanctioned in any maner, she was never even required to run a correction. As James Taranto notes at the link above, all Dowd did was issue a kind of sub silencio correction, by using President Bush’s quote non-misleadingly in a later column.

    I’d conjecture that the reason Dowd and her editor felt no obligation to even issue a correction, was because Dowd’s dishonesty was seized upon by their ideological opponents, and they didn’t want to give them the satisfaction, professionalism be damned. In the present case, Dowd has decided to issue a correction (as this is a Left on Left crime), but there will be no sanction, simply because the folks at the NY Times like their little in-house smarmy lefty twit.

    Brian (02f089)

  9. Ouch!

    Sorry, but saying that she was “cribbing” from a friend doesn’t eliminate the fact that this sentance was an obvious copy-and-paste effort, with very minor editing. You’d think that the intelligent plagiarist would have done a bit more editing.

    The timeline is raising ever more question as to why, if the torture was to find information to thwart terrorist attacks, it occurred mainly during the period when the Bush crowd was looking for what was primarily political information to justify the invasion of Iraq.

    It just took me ten whole seconds to rewrite, while still using the copy-and-paste function, Miss Dowd’s paragraph to render it different enough not to be called plagiarism. Miss Dowd’s problem isn’t just plagiarism; it’s laziness.

    The Dana who tries not to plagiarize (3e4784)

  10. Three offenses in one. First steal, then lie about it and in the process insult our intelligence.

    Terry Gain (4f27d2)

  11. Right, let’s add sloth. That’s four.

    Terry Gain (4f27d2)

  12. There is, of course, more than just the fact that the sentence was plagiarized; there is the thought behind it. The lovely Miss Dowd implies that, because the Bush Administration was looking for evidence of an Iraq-al Qaeda connection, it couldn’t have been looking for information to thwart future terrorist attacks at the same time. Given the number of people the federal government employs, I think that the ability to multi-task can be taken for granted.

    The Dana who can't think of a good adjective to use right now (3e4784)

  13. Patterico’s judgment is unsound. Ben Domenech stole from other people’s published work, without their knowledge or permission. Maureen Dowd appropriated the words from a friend’s unpublished e-mail – and one suspects that people who converse with nationally syndicated columnists are neither surprised at (nor averse to) seeing their ideas and points being put into print.

    What Dowd did and how she did it wasn’t very professional, but her case is easily distinguishable from Ben Domenech’s.

    panorama (714620)

  14. Stolen property (words) have became the norm at the NYSlimes. It simply makes them die sooner when you can’t believe one word they print.

    Scrapiron (996c34)

  15. It is all good when done in service of Teh Narrative.

    JD (a44e13)

  16. Panorama wrote:

    Patterico’s judgment is unsound. Ben Domenech stole from other people’s published work, without their knowledge or permission. Maureen Dowd appropriated the words from a friend’s unpublished e-mail – and one suspects that people who converse with nationally syndicated columnists are neither surprised at (nor averse to) seeing their ideas and points being put into print.

    Trouble is, even if you accept that version, the “friend’s unpublished e-mail” quoted someone else’s published work. Who among us wouold say that going through an unpublished filter somehow makes this not plagiarism?

    The Dana who finds this excuse uncompelling (3e4784)

  17. Dana – panorama is not trying to add to the discussion. It is puking out the talking points it has read. It is a good foot soldier.

    JD (a44e13)

  18. Biden, Ward Churchill, Dowd, It all seems to Liberals that Liberals have license to plagarize, but the same defenders of Liberal plagarists are also the prime movers to censor non-Liberal speech and thought.

    PCD (02f8c1)

  19. And, panorama lied. Dowd did not but her “friend’s” words into print, she plagarized Marshall’s words. However, in service of Teh Narrative, there are no mental gymnastics and contortions that the Left will not attempt.

    JD (a44e13)

  20. Dowd has been writing in the High School Yearbook style for years. Lifting for Marshall probably lifted the reading level three grades.

    Techie (9c008e)

  21. “Lifting FROM Marshall”

    Techie (9c008e)

  22. What Dowd did and how she did it wasn’t very professional, but her case is easily distinguishable from Ben Domenech’s.

    Right, Bananarama – and all those awesome layers of “fact checkers” at the NYT somehow missed this one. Do they even have editors there anymore?

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  23. One can only imagine what Dowd would have written about this incident:

    “BMOC Dick’s discussing his upcoming big game against their school’s crosstown rival with the school’s paper, while his second banana Booshie’s skulking in the corner. Why can’t I ever get the cheerleaders, wonders Booshie? Meanwhile, Slo – Mo’s working on filching the upcoming test answers to her Biology exam. Slo – Mo knows that if she doesn’t come up with the goods soon, Slo – Joe will pilfer it instead.”

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  24. Surely MoDo presented the friend’s e-mail so her excuse, such as it is, could be verified. Or is that informataion somehow unavailable, or is it impolite to even ask writers at the Newspaper of Record to show evidence for their assertions?

    Ropelight (e36d4f)

  25. Dmac – Is filching anything like felching? 😉

    JD (a44e13)

  26. So MoDo plagerized her friend’s plagerization of Marshall?

    JD (a44e13)

  27. or is it impolite to even ask writers at the Newspaper of Record to show evidence for their assertions?

    Why do you hate the NYTimes and the Freedom of the Press so much??!?!?!!??!?!?

    (/sarc)

    Techie (9c008e)

  28. Ah, to be a member of JournaList this morning…..

    Techie (9c008e)

  29. Glenn Greenwald on the myth of the parasitical blogger:
    Beyond that, it is also very common — as the Dowd/Marshall episode illustrates — for traditional media outlets and establishment journalists to use and even copy content produced online and then present it as their own, typically without credit. Many, many reporters, television news producers and the like read online political commentary and blogs and routinely take things they find there.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  30. Psssssssssst. Anyone here read the GQ piece on Rumsfeld?
    Word of advice: Don’t. It would hurt.

    Larry Reilly (45e7a4)

  31. Nothing to see here. Move along, angry haters.

    JD (a44e13)

  32. [Snort!] You know that Miss Dowd has stepped in the stuff when even Glenn Greenwald presents such a lame accusation/defense of what professional jopurnalists do today.

    David Ehrenstein was not (immediately) available for comment.

    The Dana who isn't a sock-puppet (3e4784)

  33. It has been a concern of mine that, with a million monkeys typing so many bloggers writing on a limited number of issues, and there being only a limited number of ways to phrase things, that unintentional duplication of phraseology can — and almost certainly will — occur. The lovely Miss Dowd’s long sentence is far too oong for it to have been the result of such a duplication of thought — as she has admitted — but on shorter stufff, I can see it happening.

    The serious Dana (3e4784)

  34. Mawy Reilly really wants to change the subject. Apparently it would rather discuss mens fashions as opposed to a NYT columnist plagerizing material.

    JD (a44e13)

  35. We subscribe to the New York Times and neither my wife nor I have even bothered to read Maureen Dowd (or Frank Rich) for years.

    A: Maureen Dowd enjoys freedom of the press under the U.S. Constitution.
    Q: The U.S. constitution can stand it. Mine can’t.

    nk (a1896a)

  36. #27, I don’t hate them, I like them. I just don’t like them all that much. Additionally, since Modo gets paid to write her opinions, I have the somewhat quaint notion it ought actually to be her words which appear it print. Silly me.

    Ropelight (e36d4f)

  37. Is filching anything like felching?

    I think it’s more like retching, at least in this particular instance. But enought about this distraction, let’s move on.

    Anyone here read the GQ piece on Rumsfeld?

    Mawy Reilly is a smart and precocious six – year old. She like the Teletubbies, SpongeBob and Ernie and Bert, but is still scared by the Jonas Brothers when they appear on the TV. Mawy also thinks rags like GQ are somehow viewed as serious political commentary – but how can we expect Mawy to understand, since she’s still moving her lips when she reads Highlights for Children.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  38. Ropelight,

    Mary Mapes won’t share her source for forged documents with MoDo. MoDo will have to forge the email on her own. Could that be why it is taking MoDo so long to produce it? The faked email that is.

    PCD (02f8c1)

  39. The pity party of journos trying to save the dead-tree edition reaches maudlin proportions in what passes for humor at the Boston Globe.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  40. David Ehrenstein was not (immediately) available for comment.

    Neither was Gleen’s Cabana Boy – but there’s still hope, he may yet reappear under Rick Ellers, Thomas Ellensberg or Lord Whiffenpoof.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  41. Suggestions for future Dowd columns?

    “It was a dark and stormy night for the Bush Crowd.”

    “It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen for the Bush Crowd.”

    “You don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of Bushwacked; but that ain’t no matter”

    “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. I’d rather talk about the Bush Crowd.”

    “Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, George W. Bush lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing.”

    “There was a boy called George W. Bush, and he almost deserved it.”

    “The Bush Crowd thought it was a pleasure to burn.”

    “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. He said “Don’t be like The Bush Crowd.”.”

    Techie (9c008e)

  42. …and don’t ever mention my casting couch career trajectory, courtesy of serial head fabricator/editor Howell Raines. I’m a feminist, damnit!

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  43. BTW, can I do another column on Mommy Sheehan, Bill? Is she still available for me to channel my faux outrage over soldier casualties?

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  44. Comment by Techie — 5/18/2009 @ 7:15 am

    “Call me Maureen.”

    “Whanne in April ….”

    “Hear me, O Muse.”

    nk (a1896a)

  45. Just as contrast and a bit of levity, let me present this cut and paste of comment 230 from the DRJ Commenting Guidelines post:

    PCD lost me when he suggested that wikipedia was a liberal propaganda mechanism.

    No, he didn’t:
    I don’t accept wikipedia as proof, nor do I accept any posts or cut-and-pastes from Liberal Propaganda sites.

    I wouldn’t accept Wikipedia as proof either, because the quality control is uneven and it’s too vulnerable to hacking. Reporters have fallen on their faces using inaccurate info from Wikipedia. It’s good as a starting place for research, but is not a primary source.

    Comment by Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. — 5/17/2009 @ 2:04 pm ”

    By my own rules, I would not be able to post anything MoDo plagarizes. I bolded the difference between myself on my blog, and the New York Times and their pages. I ask, who practices the better ethic? Who is the more honest in fact?

    PCD (02f8c1)

  46. She and Nancy Pelosi must be sharing tips on how to address a scandal.

    rochf (ae9c58)

  47. It was the best of time. It was the worst of times. I blame Bush.

    JD (55ca08)

  48. 47. I denounce you JD.

    PCD (02f8c1)

  49. I deserve it, that ritual denunciation of me should be your default setting.

    JD (24122d)

  50. You know how many NYT readers love MODO? Punish her? Suspend her column? You kidding? They’d lose half of Manhattan. The Upper West Side doesn’t care if she plagiarized. Rules are for people liberals don’t love.

    tim maguire (4a98f0)

  51. […] the MSM, some people’s plagiarism is more equal than other’s. Related Posts:TwitterShocking Entirely PredictableI’ve got mail!Which church is the right one?Did […]

    Plagiarism for me, but not for thee? : Pursuing Holiness (e6211d)

  52. If MODO must plagarize, why plagarize John Marshal? The poor man is innocent (in the Irish sense) of history. As, under international law and custom, there was an existing state of war between the United States and Iraq (an armistice is not, repeat, not a peace treaty but merely a cease-fire to allow for talks) and Iraq was violating the terms of the armistice. Iraq was “unfinishd business” and, a prudent nation would not undertake further military action until the existing matter was settled.

    Longwalker (996c34)

  53. Ropelight wrote:

    Additionally, since Modo gets paid to write her opinions, I have the somewhat quaint notion it ought actually to be her words which appear it print. Silly me.

    You’re right: that was silly. After all, we don’t actually expect her to have an original opinion, so why ought we to expect her to have original words to express someone else’s talking points opinion.

    The nit-picking Dana (3e4784)

  54. Why Josh Marshall? Because if you google “Democrat Talking Points” he’s at the top of the list. If you’re not cool enough to be on J-List, how else are you going to know what to think?

    Glen Wishard (02562c)

  55. Contra those who want to make this some sort of partisan thing, as a card carrying (well, rent-paying) member of the NY Elite and significantly more “left” than most commenters here, I can tell you that nobody in my circles likes MoDo. She’s a waste of column space, and a prime reason nobody wants to waste money on the NYT anymore*. This is about her being lazy, sloppy, cheap and not playing by the rules that she herself helped define. She should be fired, just like Box Turtle Ben, and I agree that it is a sad reflection on the NYT that she won’t be.

    *I make an exception for the arts coverage, over a latte at an open air brunch on Sundays, while deciding which specific flyover state victims to oppress.

    fishbane (dcd38e)

  56. Frankly, I find fishbane refreshing.

    JD (a67da8)

  57. JD,

    I will certainly give the comments he makes much more consideration. When someone can make an honest and snark-free admission like that of an unpleasant reality (for him as a left-leaner), it makes the comments I don’t agree with more credible.

    btw,that last line was hilarious. Well-played fishbane. 🙂

    Stashiu3 (460dc1)

  58. I agree with PCD (#18 5/18/2009) — this just means that Dowd has demonstrated her qualifications as a potential replacement for Joe Biden in Obama’s second term.

    Beldar (023ae4)

  59. Stashiu – I found it refreshing that it admitted it considers itself to be some kind of elite, and that it views us rubes in fly-over country in the way we have come to expect. Plus, it made me chuckle.

    JD (557367)

  60. MoDo lied on the pages of the NYT!
    And I’m supposed to care about this because?
    A lying columnist works for a lying newspaper…
    Stop The Presses!

    AD - RtR/OS! (c02a3c)

  61. Maureen Dowd appropriated the words…

    Seriously? Mr. Webster says that appropriated means to take or make use of without authority or right. Exactly how is that okay for a professional journalist?

    What’s a real shame is there are sharp, smart and brilliant writers that could serve the NYT so well but instead they keep the dead wood like MoDo, who has never embarrassed herself as much as she has this year since our new president was elected.

    On the upside, she’s a shoe-in to become lead journo for this administration. She meets all the qualifications.

    Dana (4a6e8c)

  62. Another lefty brain surgeon journalist is en fuego. In the Nation today:

    ‘US special squad killed Benazir’
    Published: May 18, 2009 NEW YORK (Online) – “Former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on the orders of the special death squad formed by former US vice-president Dick Cheney, which had already killed the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafique Al Hariri and the army chief of that country.
    The squad was headed by General Stanley McChrystal, the newly-appointed commander of US army in Afghanistan. It was disclosed by reputed US journalist Seymour Hersh while talking to an Arab TV in an interview.”

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  63. Hey, I really don’t feel like I’m conceding anything by saying Dowd is someone who doesn’t representing my views, and by her own definition of plagiarism should be fired. These are easily verified facts.

    (I do bat with the Dems this time around, but I’m hardly a leftist, by the definition of lefties I know. I am extremely socially liberal, very economically conservative, and could care less about your guns or if you want to home school or whatever. And I have to admit to fibbing a bit; my favorite place to breakfast on Sundays is a private loft rooftop, with bagels from a place you’ve never heard of if you don’t live in Williamsburg, and my girlfriend and I have recently been reading Constantine.)

    fishbane (dcd38e)

  64. The arrogance was cute the first time.

    JD (a67da8)

  65. It was disclosed by reputed US journalist Seymour Hersh while talking to an Arab TV in an interview.”

    Priceless, daley. So many directions one could go with this…so little bandwidth…

    Dana (4a6e8c)

  66. Dana – It wasn’t even my typo or snark!

    How many times did we invade Iran or just about invade under Bush according to Seymour? I lost track.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  67. The arrogance was cute the first time.

    I’m just giving you ammo.

    fishbane (dcd38e)

  68. daleyrocks,
    Update on that wacko story about Cheney

    I did not say Cheney killed Benazir: Hersh
    LAHORE: US journalist Seymour Hersh on Monday contradicted news reports being published in South Asia that quote him as saying a “special death squad” made by former US vice president Dick Cheney had killed Benazir Bhutto. The award-winning journalist described as “complete madness” the reports that the squad headed by General Stanley McChrystal – the new commander of US army in Afghanistan – had also killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafique Al Hariri and a Lebanese army chief. “Vice president Cheney does not have a death squad. I have no idea who killed Mr Hariri or Mrs Bhutto,” Hersh said. “I have never said that I did have such information. I most certainly did not say anything remotely to that effect during an interview with an Arab media outlet.”

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  69. Daleyrocks – Is it now safe to say that Sy Hersh is certifiably bugfucknutz?

    JD (a67da8)

  70. Bradley – Didn’t Seymour speculate on Cheney’s death squads at a lecture on a college campus earlier this year without necessarily attributing any specific executions to it?

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  71. It’s hard to tell who but someone in that story needs a new translator.

    DRJ (f55947)

  72. Yes, daleyrocks. This is not the first instance of the Cheney deathsquads that Sy has advanced.

    JD (a67da8)

  73. At a “Great Conversations” event (MP3) at the University of Minnesota last night, legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh may have made a little more news than he intended by talking about new alleged instances of domestic spying by the CIA, and about an ongoing covert military operation that he called an “executive assassination ring.”

    Hersh spoke with great confidence about these findings from his current reporting, which he hasn’t written about yet.

    In an email exchange afterward, Hersh said that his statements were “an honest response to a question” from the event’s moderator, U of M Political Scientist Larry Jacobs and “not something I wanted to dwell about in public.”

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  74. Maybe somebody can fix that long link for me. I have trouble putting them under text for some reason now.

    [Done. The link command works better on some days than others, at least for me. — DRJ]

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  75. […] is absolutely priceless; who says that our friends on the left have no senses of humor? On a Patterico thread concerning Maureen Dowd’s blatant plagiarism, Fishbane wrote: Contra those who want to make this some sort of partisan thing, as a card carrying […]

    Common Sense Political Thought » Blog Archive » Comment rescue: Fishbane on Patterico (73d96f)

  76. Maureen stole somebody’s words
    Her columns are for the birds
    But Pinch doesn’t care
    He loves her red hair
    Though her columns are nothing but turds

    The Limerick Avenger (474dfc)

  77. Fishbane, we really want to know: are you one of the NY Elite who have a copy of The New York Times on the outside to cover the fact that you’re really reading the New York Post? 🙂

    The curious Dana (474dfc)

  78. It is one of those that thinks the NYT was doing its journalistic duty spiking stories that would not benefit Barcky.

    JD (a67da8)

  79. Thanks, daley.
    Long links are best handled through a link-shorter like tinyurl.com or bit.ly

    Also, I test the link before clicking the submit button. Put the cursor over the link and see if it indicates the correct URL. I see that at the very bottom of the screen, using Firefox. Sometimes, I have to adjust the link, by adding or subtracting a space, for it to “take”. If it shows a Patterico URL (for a non-Patterico link), it hasn’t taken.

    Hope this makes sense.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  80. Bradley – My firewall doesn’t like tinyurl and most of the links I post usually self scroll so I don’t bother looking.

    Seymour sounds like he was talking out of school and got embarrassed.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  81. What Hersh said was extremely irresponsible. If he has the proof, let him publish it. If not, he should not make charges he can’t back up. Right now, all we have is his word for it. That’s the “trust me” mantra that got the press into such disrepute.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  82. daley,
    You might try bit.ly or the various other URL-shortening services. If not, just follow the tip I gave and let your cursor do the checking before clicking the “submit comment” button.

    Thanks again for the link.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  83. I like fishbane. The sense of humor is great. Would have called “antimatter Moby” but then he/she posted again.

    Comment by Techie — 5/18/2009 @ 7:15 am

    LOL *applauds*

    Given the number of people the federal government employs, I think that the ability to multi-task can be taken for granted.
    Comment by The Dana who can’t think of a good adjective to use right now — 5/18/2009 @ 5:06 am

    Given the competence level displayed so far by the current administration, confess I don’t have nearly the same confidence level as Dana does.

    the no one you know who most certainly can think of a good adjective to use right now (1ebbb1)

  84. I don’t have much to say about Maureen Dowd except, you know, she’s Maureen Dowd.

    However, can’t the lefty socio-commies leading us to a bright new future find someone a little younger to articulate their vision for the future?

    I was a teen way back in the ’70s, convinced that socialism was the way, the truth and the light. And everyone feeding me this crap was in their mid-20s to mid-30s.

    Now, we have geriatrics such as Dowd, Olbermann, etal., leading the way. Maddow is a youngster at 36, Kos is 37 and Josh Marshall is 40.

    Hell, Abbie Hoffman was 35 when he wrote “Steal This Book.” And he was over-the-hill then. The only old guy I paid any attention to was Hunter Thompson and, at least, he was younger than my father (by three years).

    Seems to me this is a bunch looking for early retirement rather the firebrands that will lead us to a new century of peace and prosperity.

    What happened to “never trust anyone over 30?”

    Ag80 (db38af)

  85. Seymour Hersh has now attained a level of professionalism that makes him eligible to be the Press Secretary for President Lyndon LaRouche!

    AD - RtR/OS! (c02a3c)

  86. Sorry, please consider me absolutely naive. What’s the “antimatter Moby” thing? I must have missed whatever that is. I can guess about the techno guy, but apparently there’s other things I’m not up to speed on. Is this like the continual Greenwald bashing?

    fishbane (dcd38e)

  87. I think that you were considered to be fairly open-minded and cogent until you went off the rails at #63, which showed you were pretty much a troll, although well-disguised. It won’t be hard to look up the Moby reference

    Also, at #86, with the “Greenwald bashing” bit.

    I may be wrong, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. But, we’re not stupid here.

    Ag80 (db38af)

  88. fishbane,

    the origin of the joke.
    Your first post looked like the political opposite of a Moby.
    /no fun if I have to explain it 😉

    no one you know (1ebbb1)

  89. Wait. You mean Cheney didn’t kill Benazir Bhutto? Then who the fuck did?

    Man, this gets more chilling by the minute…

    danebramage (700c93)

  90. #81, Brother Fikes wrote: “What Hersh said was extremely irresponsible. If he has the proof, let him publish it. If not, he should not make charges he can’t back up. Right now, all we have is his word for it.”

    I think the most reasonable explanation is that he received an email from MoDo which he thought was particularly cogent…

    danebramage (700c93)

  91. So fishbane is a sock-puppet for dark beergod, or dark beergod is a sock-puppet for fishbane?

    JD (557367)

  92. So fishbane is a sock-puppet for dark beergod, or dark beergod is a sock-puppet for fishbane?

    Comment by JD — 5/19/2009 @ 5:58 am

    Hmmm—hard to say. Fishbane does appear to have a sense of humor, and less of a self important tone. Let’s explode Dark Beergod’s expectations by just sitting back and listening for a while. It’ll come out eventually.

    no one you know (65b7aa)

  93. One can only be in a state of denial if you do not share the Leftist mindset. There is no other rational explanation.

    Appropriating someone else’s work, plagiarism, is really no big deal, huh? Ethical even.

    Then, the deflection and “look over there! Bush!” that we have all grown to expect.

    JD (557367)

  94. In #86 fishbane asks for information about what a Moby is. After you supplied the link, noyk, dark beergod thanked you in #90.

    JD (557367)

  95. In #86 fishbane asks for information about what a Moby is. After you supplied the link, noyk, dark beergod thanked you in #90.

    Comment by JD — 5/19/2009 @ 6:09 am

    Yes, I did see that. Given the differences in palpable differences in tone in the posters, and the switch to defense of the plagiarist, I took that to mean “I didn’t know what it was either so thanks.”

    IMO we’re either dealing with two different posters or a more nuanced type of troll. I like to sit back and watch, as the sockpuppets always get exposed and banned in the end. (Dark Beergod’s mistaken assertion that the bans are for “dissent” — more evidence that he doesn’t read this blog nor care about its rules — notwithstanding.)

    no one you know (65b7aa)

  96. more evidence that he doesn’t read this blog

    Should have added here, one of the surest marks of a troll is that he cares more about what he’s going to say on a subject than anyone else, including the host. Hence the fact that they miss so much, don’t read others’ comments or the posts properly, etc. If they knew how foolish this made them look, they’d be careful to listen better, I’m sure.

    no one you know (65b7aa)

  97. noyk – That is an interesting observation. They come here armed with their talking points and memes, and no actual history is going to change their mind. The idea that the conservative sites just go around banning Leftists all willy-nilly is just silly beyond belief. Let’s just look at Patterico’s and PW. One must practically try to get banned. It almost has to be intentional, and then it is used as some Leftist badge-of-honor. The flip-side of that, let’s take Kos and Washington Monthly for example, is that simple disagreement will get you deleted. On this issue, the Lefts projection always rears its head. Always.

    JD (557367)

  98. The flip-side of that, let’s take Kos and Washington Monthly for example, is that simple disagreement will get you deleted. On this issue, the Lefts projection always rears its head. Always.

    Projection – exactly. And, I dare say, it shows itself on many other issues for them too.

    no one you know (65b7aa)

  99. I am of the opinion that Dark Beergod is DCSCA.

    danebramage (700c93)

  100. Friends, want to see real denial?

    Watch dark beergod on the NYT kills ACORN story.

    Bet you get serious denial there, eh?

    either orr (6c9faf)

  101. noyk – Yes, projection is not limited to that one issue, to be sure. However, this is one issue that it is so consistent, so as to make it illustrative of the meta-point.

    ASPCA and dark beergod are not even close to similar.

    JD (557367)

  102. We shall see.

    danebramage (700c93)

  103. I’m me, and don’t post under other names. The sockpuppet game is stupid. I have no idea who Dark Beer God is other than that I’m not whoever it is. Sorry I didn’t get the Moby reference – now I know. And that’s not only dishonest and rude, but also dumb. Moby should stick to making boring music for club kids. The last time I thought about him was when a friend got a job trying to help save his restaurant, which was, from what I could tell, basically doomed from the get go. The LES didn’t need yet another overpriced vegi cafe, owned by a rock star or not.

    Off to a meeting about some software I need to write. Even evil limousine liberals have to occasionally work for a living, because we’re a bit behind schedule on taxing all your guns, and the baby killing empire hasn’t quite performed as well as the spreadsheet predicted (the economy sucks all over). Blessed be.

    fishbane (dcd38e)

  104. Good to hear. I am off for a little bit as well. I need to go bother God, clean my guns, oppress some women and minorities, starve some kids, and steal from some old people, all while making an evil capitalistic living for myself and my family. My plate is full. If I have any time left over, I plan on kicking a dog, and torturing a cat.

    JD (db7b76)

  105. Now you’ve gone overboard, JD…
    no kicking of dogs allowed.

    AD - RtR/OS! (681803)

  106. Stolichnaya is distilled from grain, not grapes

    carlitos (2703cf)

  107. Stolichnaya is distilled from grain, not grapes. Perhaps you should stick to the dark beer.

    carlitos (2703cf)

  108. only Dowd’s theft in this case is clearly inadvertant

    There is nothing to support that other than your supposition.

    her column would have lost zero had she reworded the passage or, indeed, had she credited Marshall in the first place, i.e. she stood to benefit virtually nothing by dropping the lifted material into her own work.

    Were that the case, then she could have easily re-worked somebody else’s idea. She chose not to.

    So dark beergod and fishbane are pompous Leftist elitists? Who would have ever guessed?

    JD (557367)

  109. Elitists? You mean, they ride scooters?

    carlitos (2703cf)

  110. I am thinking they are more of the Vespa type.

    JD (557367)

  111. Comment by carlitos — 5/19/2009 @ 1:37 pm

    Side-saddle!

    AD - RtR/OS! (681803)

  112. only Dowd’s theft in this case is clearly inadvertant

    Right – the fact that she repurposed the exact same prose and content is clearly an honest mistake.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  113. Wow, add “clearly” to the words that don’t seem to mean what they used to mean.

    SPQR (72771e)

  114. Nah. Vespas are pointless. I haven’t had a vehicle in about nine years (I don’t need one – the MTA, very occasional car service, and occasional truck/van rental are much cheaper), but have always been more of a truck person – much more useful. I had a Blazer when I lived in SF, and despite being really ugly, was great and cheap to maintain. Last I heard, the person to whom I sold it is still beating it up.

    Since my transportation choices became a topic, I may as well ask: I’m considering buying another truck to support a venture with my girlfriend. Anyone have a current favorite? I mainly care about reliability and cheapness, can could care less about looks. I prefer older ones that I can handle routine maintenance on myself (the fewer parts requiring specialised devices to manage, the better).

    fishbane (dcd38e)

  115. Ford F150 Lariat King Cab.

    The Chevy C4500 is a hell of a truck, but they will soon be owned by the dirty little socialists.

    JD (b7daf6)

  116. Thanks, JD – I’ll check them both. I would note that the dirty socialists will own the company that made the trucks, not the vehicles themselves, but that appears to be a detail to many.

    Plus, I won’t speak for others, but I prefer to be referred to as filthy hippy. It is more American. “Dirty Socialist” is so British, or worse, Canadian. And if there’s one thing we can agree on, I think it would be that both poutine and bangers and mash are gross, no matter how tasty.

    fishbane (dcd38e)

  117. You will need a truly oversized garage for the C4500. It is comparable to the International passenger car.

    GM will soon be under the control of the dirty little Euro-socialist wannabe’s. You can call them whatever you wish. I will call them wankers.

    JD (b7daf6)

  118. Get a Hummer, fishbane. I understand that you are not gay, but instead a liberal with a girlfriend that shares your philosophy, so that’s likely the only hummer you will ever get.

    nk (a1896a)

  119. I’m seeing that that’s a really big truck – more than I need, I think.

    (I’ll be moving ~6-800 Lb. of semi-preconstructed lumber and metalwork, some supporting shade structure, tools and baseline snacks and whatnot.) I don’t need a beast.

    Please, feel free to call them whatever you want. I suspect your first impulse upon meeting me wouldn’t be “hippy”, I was being flip.

    fishbane (dcd38e)

  120. nk, you clearly don’t understand socially permissive people’s sex lives. I don’t kiss and tell, so that’s all I’ll say.

    fishbane (dcd38e)

  121. I understand, fishbane. Link safe for work. Stashiu, too.

    nk (a1896a)

  122. Link safe for work. Stashiu, too.
    Comment by nk — 5/19/2009 @ 8:27 pm

    Much appreciated nk. Certainly a classic. 🙂

    Stashiu3 (460dc1)

  123. A C4500 should be perfect for what you need, fishbane. Plus, it will soon be a government car, so you can put you dollars to work for Barcky.

    JD (4b1a03)

  124. If a <1/2-ton capacity is sufficient, go with the standard Toyota mini-pickup with the V-6 engine.
    It will last forever if it has had good care, and the maintenance is reasonable. Get the extended cab version for a more comfortable seating position, and the longer wheelbase with the standard bed for maximum payload.
    Worse comes to worse, you can always convert it to a “Technical”.

    AD - RtR/OS! (1b5813)

  125. If you are going the Toyota route, the Tundra is manufactured right here in flyover country.

    JD (4b1a03)

  126. Get a late ’80s or early ’90s Ford F-150. Don’t worry about the brakes.

    Ag80 (db38af)

  127. We are going to have to add gas-guzzling SUV’s and/or trucks to guns and personal disposable income to the list of things that Barcky will be taking away from us.

    JD (4b1a03)

  128. Comment by JD — 5/19/2009 @ 10:04 pm

    …and the beds of the mini’s have been manufactured in Long Beach CA for 25-years.
    The trucks are imported as a bare chassis with a cab assy.

    AD - RtR/OS! (1b5813)

  129. […] realizing what I’m doing! I’m not sure whether plagiarism makes you look more like a bastard or an idiot, but I try to avoid it like the plague. Here’s the first quote, from The Setup: […]

    Basement Bar Design Elsewhere in the Cocktailosphere #2 | The Pegu Blog (a57449)


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