What the hell? Kos is now defending Ann Coulter?
The list of alleged plagiarism is mostly absurd, btw. This is my personal favorite:
Example 6: “Christ submerged in a jar of urine. — NEA-funded exhibit”
Alleged Source: “‘Piss Christ’ featured Christ on a cross in a vat of the artist’s own urine.” (“How the NEA Pollutes American Culture,” The Boston Globe, Jan. 24, 1995)
(Identified by Raw Story & The Rude Pundit)
If that is plagiarism, we are all plagiarists.
At any rate, Kos defending Coulter makes my head hurt.
Krista
Anybody defending Coulter makes my head hurt. She’s completely indefensible. And if the tables were turned, she certainly wouldn’t defend them…
capelza
Ha..actually that’s a pretty smart move on Kos’s part. And his defense at best is luke warm. But the freaky right can’t accuse him of not “defending” her.
Speaking of that bitch..anyone else see where Adam Carolla hung up on her, because she called in two hours late (after being a no show a few weeks before) and then said SHE was in a hurry. He hung up on her!
Steve
I think most of the individual cases are fairly unremarkable and would be readily dismissed if they occurred in a vacuum.
I think the fact that is obscured by TPMMuckraker’s presentation is how these examples fit into the overall piece. For example, let’s assume I write an essay about how liberals are stinky, and I back it up with 10 examples. Now Coulter writes a piece that just happens to use the same 10 examples, in the same order, only she changes a few words along the way.
Any given example might look like nothing, even though she’s clearly ripped off my piece. If my example #1 were some newsworthy event, you might well say “hey, there’s only so many ways to describe the same event,” and you’d be right, but it would still be plagiarism overall. Now, did Coulter actually rip off these sources in the same way as my egregious example suggests? That’s what TPMMuckraker’s presentation doesn’t make clear.
There are some dead giveaways, though. Consider this from Coulter:
And the original:
This is a classic case where you could argue, well, there’s only so many ways to describe the same set of facts. But what are the odds that you would make the exact same grammatical error as well – describing the dam as “halted,” when it’s actually the project that was halted? Not much doubt about this one, really – and once you find one or two clear-cut cases, it puts all the questionable cases into a different light.
tBone
She obviously ripped off some phrasing here and there, but it doesn’t rise to Domenech-level plagiarism. Compared to her many, many other transgressions of civilized discourse and general decency, this one doesn’t even make the top 20.
Regardless, I can’t wait to hear Darrell weigh in on this story. I think he’ll have a useful personal perspective.
capelza
At least 50 posts worth..buckle up kids.
Steve
Well, absolutely, but tax evasion didn’t make Al Capone’s top 20 either. At the end of the day, if the reason Coulter can’t get published any more is because of her plagiarism rather than her disgusting and hateful statements, it’s a pretty sad commentary on how society works, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.
P
It’s called integrity. When you are willing to admit your opponents are not always wrong, and not always evil, then when you charge them with misdeeds, your readers consider your charges.
On the other hand, blogs that contend the other side is always wrong, always evil, have no integrity and should be disregarded by critical thinking readers.
When reading any blog, ask yourself, “Do they seek even a semblance of balance?”
If readers asked that always, many blogs on both sites of the spectrum when greatly lack readership.
Steve
Markos is, to tell you the truth, pretty much a snap-judgment guy (which has been the source of countless flamewars at dkos). I suspect he clicked the link, thought “looks like bullshit to me,” and made his post. I doubt it was much more calculated than that.
Matthew B.
The putative examples from her columns are mostly pretty weak, and that “Piss Christ” one is completely barking nuts. But the examples from Godless look like plagiarism to me.
I’m surprised I haven’t seen anyone bring up Michael Moore’s own history in this area. Granted that it’s not the straight Xerox job Coulter did with the Right to Life Committee release, it still seems prime fodder for her dwindling group of apologists.
John D.
C’mon, John, it’s called intellectual honesty. It’s one of the reasons I like your site as well — even if you take some positions I disagree with, I’m never in doubt that you’re stating your honest belief.
Kos seems to feel there is no “there” there, and said as much. Even if the target of his defense is loathsome.
Ancient Purple
Everyone keeps pointing to TPMMuckraker as the definitive post on the Coulter allegations.
I highly suggest, John, you look at this link at Rude Pundit, and click to your heart’s content.
Yes, the example you posted is weak. That, however, doesn’t indicate that all of them are weak. In fact, Rude Pundit’s examples are fairly damaging to Coulter.
tBone
Please stop impugning Capone by comparing him to Coulter. Have you no decency, sir?
Filthy McNasty
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
Kos is finally realizing this, and maybe BJ soon will too.
DougJ
Why shouldn’t Daily Kos defend her if they her on this if they think the charges are unfair? Seriously.
LITBMueller
Don’t “batshit crazy moronic extremist” and “unoriginal borderline plagarist” really just go hand in hand?
Now, as for that Adam’s apple….
Vladi G
This isn’t exactly buying an essay online and claiming you wrote it, but I’m not sure it’s just laziness, either. Laziness implies you don’t do the research or check your facts (which probably also describes Coulter). But how hard is it to write “according to…”, or “a study by ____ shows…”. I mean, is it really that hard to give proper credit where it’s due? And this obviously isn’t happening once or twice, but it’s a pattern. Each individual incident seems pretty minor, but taken collectively, I think it rises to the level of plagiarism.
Punchy
Bullshit. Just because conservatives cannot accept/consider that some liberals/progressives can apply logic, reason, and thought to a particular argument doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen every day. To feign shock that a “liberal” (I don’t even know what Markos labels himself) can actually utilize standards and apply reason before offering a judgement seems ostensibly that you’re implying it never happens.
Mr Furious
That’s not so bad.
Signed,
Joe Biden
Ele
KOS trying to stay alive
The Other Steve
I don’t know. When I read the claims it seemed to me like they were overblown as well. There are a couple of instances, which if this was a scholar like say Stephen Ambrose someone would pounce on.
I guess this is another one of the differences between the righty and lefty blogs. Lefty blogs can acknowledge something is bullshit.
Righty blogs will still keep pummeling a dead horse.
Tom
It’s not like she got another student to take a Spanish test for her.
Signed
Teddy Kennedy
Anderson
The putative examples from her columns are mostly pretty weak, and that “Piss Christ” one is completely barking nuts. But the examples from Godless look like plagiarism to me.
Exactly what I thought, Matthew B., looking at the TPM examples.
When you basically have no ideas of your own, it’s difficult to have writing of your own, either. Writing is thinking:
RSA
Here’s part of something I posted in the comments on Kos:
The only direct contact I have with plagiarism is academic plagiarism, so I use that definition. Now, whether that’s the right standard to use is another question, but to me it’s pretty clear that her case fits the profile.
Krista
I suppose. It’d be a bit of a hard pill to swallow, where she’s been so hateful to them. My hat is off to them, however, for being gracious enough to do so.
Mark
What the hell? Kos is now defending Ann Coulter?
She must have bought a blog ad! Either that or Jerome Armstrong is working for her…
BIRDZILLA
So the NEA using taxoney to fund trashy art is a-okay to her but ANNE COULTER makes her head hurt what a stupid blabbering liberal panty waste
Randolph Fritz
Kos is honest. And he always was.
Redleg
Birdzilla,
A reasonable person can be offended by Ann Coulter AND the NEA’s funding of such “art.”
Ann Coulter’s audience is substantially larger than the audience for “Pissing Christ” and other stupid pieces of “art.” Ann Coulter’s often deceptive, usually simplistic, and always over-the-top rhetoric has a much stronger effect on how people think and feel than does any work of art by some artist hack, regardless of NEA funding. When Ann Coulter continually refers to half of the country (Democrats, liberals, lefties) as “the enemy,” and her readers start to believe her, the impact of her words will be truly regretable.