Rep. Sherrod Brown wrote a letter to Mike DeWine, plagiarizing blogger Nathan Newman. Newman doesn’t care, though, so maybe this story will just go away.

So a Sherrod Brown staffer used some lines from one of my blog posts. Who frigging cares?

Newman also adds:

Update: It’s also worth noting that he blog post was also posted at DailyKos, which has
this disclaimer on every page:

“Site content may be used for any purpose without explicit permission unless otherwise specified.”

See at the bottom of this page:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/11/1/91136/3637

So the reporter saying that Brown’s letter “was plagiarized” is flatly inaccurate. The reality is that politicians used public domain sources in a whole host of ways and using my blog post was no different.

Paul at Wizbang has more.

Of course staffers will take the fall and somebody really should be fired. Not for plagiarism but for being so completely stupid as to plagiarize a blogger and assuming it would go unnoticed.

Drudge is reporting that Congress will be investigating the “black sites” leak that we previously speculated about.

** EXCLUSIVE: MUST CREDIT MYOPIC ZEAL! **

I have come across this shocking bit of evidence that while France burns, Chirac has spent the last eleven days reading the French version of the much maligned children’s story “My Pet Goat.” I wonder, will the left be as outraged this time around? Or will our collective compassion for disaffected rioters lead to calls for more tolerance and integration. [UPDATE: Or pay them off…]

What follows is the evidence. I will admit, it took a bit of digging, but we here at Myopic Zeal are always working hard to serve you, the reader.

First, we discovered this photograph, which seems innocent enough. It shows Chirac hard at work, responding to the riots looming close in the background.

But then, we wondered, what exactly is the book which he has on his desk? Zoom…

The text on the book, while a bit fuzzy, identifiably reads: “Mon Chèvre D’Animal de compagnie.” So we hopped on over to Babelfish’s trusty translator and pasted this phrase into the box, and asked it to translate from French to English. The results? “My Pet of Goat”

Shocking, to say the least.

Others discussing what took France so long to respond: Stop the ACLU, Captain Ed (and here), Mudville, LaShawn, Posse Incitatus, Transterrestrial, bRight and Early, Holy Fool, Double Toothpicks, Jawa Report.

Open trackbacks at the Political Teen, Adam, Basil, and Euphoric Reality, Stop the ACLU, Big Dog, MacStansbury.

UPDATE for Disclaimer: Yes, it’s a joke.

UPDATE 2: Hah! Nod to Fark thread.

Ken Schram is steamed over the cush treatment of prisoners, with the installation of a new espresso machine 2 in the McNeil Island penitentiary.

Here’s the deal: Washington State is planning to open a latte stand 2 inside the McNeil Island penitentiary.

You heard me right: A “give me a double tall mocha with extra foam” latte stand for the inmates.

…

No, the real issue here is the image of a warm and fuzzy prison system where rapists and murderers get to sip lattes and munch on scones.

And I’ll tell you: It’s an image that genuinely ticks me off.

But, like I said: Maybe you think I’m just over-reacting.

Or maybe you agree.

If you do, let the good folks at the Department of Corrections in on how you feel.

Here’s the email address: doccorrespondence@doc1.wa.gov

Ryan adds:

Pretty soon it will be better for some people to live in prison for free than to pay for a house and food. So much for decreasing the crime rate.

Rob at Say Anything, and Jay at Wizbang are hard at work dismantling the “the United States used chemical weapons and WMDs” mantra.

Maybe we had better check in with Jim Massey to find out the truth.

You’ve seen his quirky grin all over the blogosphere during the Miers debacle, because he spent $1,500 in BlogAds to shout out something he truly believed.

But if you haven’t been following blog-spat-turned-into-email-spat-turned-into-legal-threats between Paul Deignan and BPhd and Wallace Hettle, it is a good reminder that one can only remain anonymous on the Internet (which BPhd wishes to do) to a certain extent, and that everything you say and do online should be held to the standard of “would I say this to the person’s face?” because someday you may have to.

The short version, as I understand it, is that Purdue PhD candidate Paul Deignan and University of Northern Iowa History Professor Dr. Hettle got into a disagreement on BPhd’s blog. BPhd (who prefers anonymity) banned Paul from posting, and deleted some of his comments (which, of course, she has a right to do, it’s her blog). Paul claims that she then alleged he was threatening her and spoofing IP’s, which he says is libelous. He wants to find out her identity in order to sue her. Dr. Hettle reportedly claimed that Paul had sent him threatening emails (a crime), which Paul denies and says that the false statement amounts to slander. Hettle subsequently (or previously?) called Paul’s PhD faculty dissertation advisor and allegedly made similar accusations, over which he is also suing or threatening to sue. Paul believes he will suffer damages from this libel and is “initiating a lawsuit to clear [his] good name.”

Jeff Goldenstein has gotten into the act, and summarizes this way:

To remedy this, the professor took it upon himself to call Paul’s faculty dissertation advisor (at a different school) to let him know—as a professional courtesy, you see—of Paul’s alleged poor form (which a review of the evidence will show consisted of nothing more than his arguing his positions quite civilly). This, after calling Paul both “a lunatic” and “homely” in an email.

Such is an absolutely unconscionable misuse of power. Further, it as an intentional effort to ruin Paul’s academic career. And because it was done explicitly to punish Paul for his social and political views on the legality of abortion (all of this took place in the context of a debate over Alito’s nomination), it is intellectual McCarthyism at its most baldfaced and cowardly.

So the moral of the story, for you bloggers and posters out there, is yet another reminder that as our online life becomes more and more an extension of our physical life, proof read objectively before you hit the “send” key, because someday you may have to read aloud what you have written in open court or on MSNBC.