MM’s Q:

I ask again: Who’s next?

A: Umm. Glenn Reynolds?

Not exactly a case of Malkinian plagiarism, but good enough. Ann Coulter has been caught lifting the words of others. Again. Ron Brynaert has the goods over at Raw Story:

“In the August 24, 2004, New York Times, science writer Gina Kolata claimed that no one had succeeded in using adult stem cells ‘to treat diseases,’” writes Coulter.

To prove the Times science writer wrong, Coulter then provides a “short list” of sixteen “successful treatments achieved by adult stem cell research.”

But fifteen of Coulter’s examples are nearly identical to a longer list of seventeen compiled by the Illinois Right To Life website, which has been available since at least September of 2003.
…
The anti-abortion website doesn’t provide any sources for its list of examples of “successful experimental treatments [that] have been achieved using ethical sources of stem cells.”

Pushing unsubstantiated propaganda from fringe groups? Michelle would never do that… Or would she?

Much more over at Raw Story.

I rarely ever read jingoblogs (known to most as “milblogs”), but I took the time to check out an applinked post over at Blackfive, which according to MM is “good advice for Murtha about what to say about Haditha that should be used by every pol in Washington.”

I left the following comment there last night:

Could you clear something up for me?

In the speech, you had Murtha stating, “I didn’t agree with the invasion of Iraq,” yet he voted in support of the force resolution.

Although he changed his mind in a remarkable fashion, I’m sure his vote was a measured one, and that he believed (at the time) that giving the President all options was the best one.

I have yet to receive a simple “thank you” for fact checking their fiction.

Visual Aid.

AUGUSTE
Have you lost your fucking mind?

RED STATE EDITORS
Liberal blogging superstars, you’re making a terrible mistake I’m not gonna let you make it.

JEFF GOLDSTEIN (OFFSCREEN)
Come on, guys. Nobody wants this. We’re supposed to be fucking professionals.

AUGUSTE
All right, look, it’s been quite a long time, a lot of back-and-forth. There’s no need for this, man. Let’s just put our guns down, and let’s settle this with a fucking conversation.

RED STATE EDITORS
Liberal blogging superstars, if you kill that man, you die next. I repeat: if you kill that man, you die next.

AUGUSTE
Red State Editors, we have been friends, and you respect my dad and I respect you, but I will put fucking bullets right through your heart. You put that fucking gun down - now.

RED STATE EDITORS
I’m sorry, who the fuck are you again?

AUGUSTE
Sorry, just trying to get into the spirit of things.

RED STATE EDITORS
Goddamn you, Liberal blogging superstars. Don’t make me do this

AUGUSTE
Red State Editors, stop pointing that fucking gun at my dads!

(Atriobloggsites fires at Domenech, Red State Editors shoot at Atriobloggsites and miss. Auguste shoots Red State Editors but it’s a starter pistol. Red State Editors ignore Auguste completely. Auguste shoots again and a nearby horse with a broken leg is miraculously healed. Red State Editors fall to the floor moaning. Jeff Goldstein comes out from his hiding place under the ramp, surveys the devastation, grabs the Washington Post application form and exits.)

SOUND - car door (Jeff Goldstein getting in a car) SOUND - engine (He has trouble getting it started)
SOUND - Engine starts, tires squeal (Off he goes!)
SOUND - More tire squealing, shots (Here come the cops!)
SOUND - Lots more tire squealing, sirens, and shots (Jeff Goldstein
probably puts up a fight)
Sometime during this shoot out, Jeff Goldstein’s car apparently gets
stopped because the next thing we hear is cops, guns obviously
trained on him, shouting.
COP - “Get out of the car!”
COP - “Get your hands on the dash!”
COP - “Throw the gun out!”
The cops apparently don’t have a real clear idea what they want him
to do, or in what order, but it sounds like they’ve got him. The
next line confirms this.
JEFF GOLDSTEIN - “Ben, for what ever mistakes he may have made, at least appended his own name to whatever columns he posted or wrote publicly.1 Which is more than can be said for the vast number of leftwing bloggers who feel quite at ease attacking people with “impugn”ity from behind their stage names.”
The cops start laughing uncontrollably, dropping their guns as they writhe on the ground helplessly crippled by this unbelievable bullshit. Inside the warehouse, Auguste chuckles gamely while trying not to look too shifty.
Goldstein takes advantage of the cops’ uncontrollable amusement to jump in his car and drive away, shouting “schadenfreude! schadenfreude! j’accuse!”

RED STATE EDITORS
I’m sorry, kid. Looks like we’re going to– do–do a little time.

BEN DOMENECH
I’m a plagiarist. Red State Editors.. I’m sorry. I’m so– so sorry. I’m a plagiarist.

RED STATE EDITORS
(sobbing) Oh! Oh!

BEN DOMENECH
Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Red State Editors!

(Red State Editors, still moaning and sobbing, put a gun to Ben’s face. We hear the door burst open)

RED STATE COMMENTERS
Freeze! Drop the fucking gun, buddy! Put the gun down! Don’t do it! Don’t shoot our brother in arms! Drop the gun, man! Drop the gun! Drop the fucking gun! We’re going to fucking blow you away!

(Gunshot. Then more gunshots, and Red State Editors are blown out of shot)

fin

Disclaimer: By the way, part of the intended irony is that this was plagiarised directly from what I assume is the actual script of the film, but it was brought to my attention that some might assume I had transcribed it myself. I figured I’d come clean now, and also add that I blame Michelle Malkin for my lapse. Plus I was only 30. And also that I met Quentin Tarantino at a party once and he said he loved my work. I said, “Thanks. Hey, 10 years from now can I rejigger your Reservoir Dogs script?” And he said, “Sure.”

So eat it, cobags.

A Parrotline exclusive:

2006’s Own Jeff Gannon
We’re gonna miss you, Ben. Your time with the Washington Post will be even shorter than Jeff Gannon’s stint as a White House correspondent. And let’s face it: That’s really sad.

The basic sense I’m getting is the guy couldn’t write for shit, which is evident if you read his non-plagiarized opinion columns for his student newspaper. So, to puff up his cred he stole stuff. Presumably being lazy had something to do with it.

(By the way, we all seem to be forgetting this. (Bottom of the post.) I try to forget mainly because I’m not the one who came up with it in the first place. I’m petulant like that.)

Update: From comments at a familiar-sounding Thers post comes this hilarity (apropos of this):

We. Must. Ridicule.

What shall we do when right-wing bloggers make crazy-ass posts that will certainly rank in their top 10 “God I Wish That Wasn’t Cached” lists? Do we say nothing? Do we stand around with our hands in our pockets? Do we just let them dig a deeper and deeper hole from which not even light can escape?

I say we do something. We recognize that what they do for us and what they do for the liberal cause is 10 times greater than what we could ever do for ourselves. The asses they make of themselves are like societal-shifting, Santorum-esqe, dog-love communes compared to our “one man, one finger, one jar of peanut butter, one dog” Jeff Goldstein-esqe brand of canine lust.

No. We must stand behind our friends, no matter how awkward and confused they may feel about it. And We. Must. Reach. Around.

We owe them all so much.

Update 2:

Domenech was Malkin’s editor for Unhinged. Fascinating.

Malkin:

It is one thing to paraphrase basic facts from a wire story.

Paraphrasing basic facts is one thing. Changing adjectives and calling it new is definitely another.

Update 3: Well, that was fun while it lasted.

George F. Will the other day (behind the registration wall):

Three years ago, the administration had a theory that democratic institutions could both spring from and create a hospitable culture. That theory has been a casualty of the Iraq war.

For John Hawkrocket, it’s a casualty of the War in Afghanistan, based on the Abdul Rahman story:

This is, I think, a watershed moment. The American people will bear a great deal of sacrifice, but only on behalf of principle. If, after our liberation of Afghanistan, a man may still be executed for being a Christian–or a Jew, although to my knowledge that case hasn’t arisen–there is no logical basis on which our government can continue to request the ultimate sacrifice from its most devoted supporters.

Sounds promising, right? Not so fast. Hinderaker doesn’t reference Will’s epiphany. Those of us skilled at reading winger subtexts (i.e. almost anyone who’s read wingers more than twice) can recognize that Johnny’s hand-washing is less about rejecting “democracy at the barrel of a gun” and more about “leaving the barbarians to themselves.”

W, 2004:

There’s a lot of people in the world who don’t believe that people whose skin color may not be the same as ours can be free and self-govern. I reject that. I reject that strongly. I believe that people who practice the Muslim faith can self-govern. I believe that people whose skins aren’t necessarily — are a different color than white can self-govern.

Hinderaker is looking more and more like one of those people.