He didn’t actually know it was from the Onion, he just got it in an email forwarding. Which (and I can’t believe I’m actually defending SA even a little) mitigates the whole plagiarist thing. Had he knowingly grabbed an old Onion article and slapped it up here, then that’s very bad form. But as far as he knew, it was just a funny thing he got in his email, like those “Why chocolate is better than sex” lists. And you know old people, they just can’t resist their email forwardings.
Had he just said “I got this in an email” then we wouldn’t have had this derailment, I think. Someone would have found that it was from the Onion, but I don’t think folks would necessarily hold it against SA. I’d hope they wouldn’t, anyway.
Biden had used the quote a number of times before, always properly crediting Kinnock. One time he got tired and forgot to, and paid for it dearly.
Now, of all the things to get on SA for … focusing on this triviality discredits all the substantive criticisms he so richly deserves. Let it alone, okay?
But maybe most most of the crap and nonsense he fills our ears with is similarly piped to him by a variety of e-mail correspondents, and he really hasn’t written any of it. This was just the first time he’s been busted–a tempting thought. I always wondered how one person could gather the energy to generate so much bullshit. Now I think I know.
Gee, we’re only having some fun. That mitigates any wrongdoing, correct? Some people are just humorless whistledicks.
Also, I’ve never been a fan of the “usually so-and-so is a big asshole, so let’s give them a pass when they are just a minor asshole” routine. Why pick and choose? Is there some limit to the instances of wrongdoing that one may point out?
I am pleased to hear that you are not the author of this joyless scrap of bitter sarcasm. The only question which remains is why you thought it worthwhile to bring this to our attention. Given your self-annointed position as the “conservative gadfly who exposes the hypocrisy of the left”. we are pretty much given to assume you find some quality of truth here, the quality that raises humor from lead to gold.
And what truth is that? That some of us are too mindful of the halt, the lame and the stupid. That we are too generous. That we weaken the robust vitality of our nation by coddling the weak and stupid.
What do we do with all these useless people? Who cannot be formed into wetware robots that produce loud, shiny crap so that they might consume loud, shiny crap? Apparently, the author of this leaden bit of typing urges us to consider that contempt is a good first step. Only a weepy do-gooder would think of these useless scraps as fully human, as worthy as we. It suggests that it might be better to rid ourselves of this sort of sentimental humanism. It mocks compassion for being inefficient by pointing out that humane ideals are not cost-effective.
But they are us, aren’t they? Save for a random blip of the genetic lottery, I am that person who cannot function with the simplest of tasks. And so are you. Intelligence is not a virtue, it is merely a characteristic, we probably cannot help but be proud of it, but it would be wise to try.
And the answer to Cain’s Question is “Yes. Yes, you are your brother’s keeper.”
Well, that’s not entirely true: you knew you got it from an email, so you could have posted that as attribution.
The above being said, I think this is true. Anyone familiar with your posting history would know that you do not have a habit of plagiarizing. They would also be able to recognize that you are, in fact, stupid enough to think that saying, “I’ve seen the future” is the same as saying, “This is something I saw online somewhere.”
You look at the original and see that someone did a lot of alteration, to produce something both funny and original. Regrettably, the parts that are funny are not original, and the parts that are original are not funny.
And notice: the “Mary Lou” character has been altered from a redundant file clerk to an auto worker. Comparison reveals that the original did not serve the agenda sufficiently, and was improved upon by persons who think Mallard Fillmore is funny.
