# Plagiarism expert catches Coulter **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 3, 2006, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022 "2006-07-03T05:03:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/1 "2006-07-03T05:03:42Z")
[A previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=327920) from 2005 accused Ann Coulter of plaigiarizing a column, but it was locked after a few posts. The consensus seemed to be that the accusation was pretty weak. However, [this recent article](http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/copycatty_coulter_pilfers_prose__pro_nationalnews_philip_recchia.htm) makes many more accusations, that she’s plaigiarized in her recent book, _Godless: the Church of Liberalism_, and also in various newspaper columns from the last year. > [@](#): > > John Barrie, the creator of a leading plagiarism-recognition system, claimed he found at least three instances of what he calls “textbook plagiarism” in the leggy blond pundit’s “Godless: the Church of Liberalism” after he ran the book’s text through the company’s digital iThenticate program. > > He also says he discovered verbatim lifts in Coulter’s weekly column, which is syndicated to more than 100 newspapers, including the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Sun-Sentinel and Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle. > [@](#): > > “Just as Coulter plays free and loose with her citations in ‘Godless,’ she obviously does the same in her columns,” Barrie said. > > Coulter did not respond to requests for comment. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/2 "2006-07-03T05:10:47Z")
The sobering implication is that this means there are other people out there like Ann, and they’re being published! ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/3 "2006-07-03T05:28:43Z")
I just realized that my original link requires (free) to view the entire article. Here are a few more articles on the some subject (not sure if any require registration): [Link 1](http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002765299) [Link 2](http://wizbangblog.com/2006/06/12/plagiarism-alleged-in-ann-coulters-godless-book.php) [Link 3](http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/For_new_book_Coulter_cribs_adult_0613.html) [Link 4](http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2006/06/more-ann-coulter-plagiarism-updated.html) [Link 5](http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/More_examples_of_Coulter_borrowing_liberally_0614.html) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/4 "2006-07-03T06:34:13Z")
> [@Rhubarb](#): > > The sobering implication is that this means there are other people out there like Ann, and they’re being published! It seems like she’s stealing from her buddies. But, I can understand. With so many babies hearts to cut out, how do you expect her to digest her sources and actually write original stuff? Give the bimbo a break, guys. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/5 "2006-07-03T06:51:19Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Give the bimbo a break, guys. Well, she does have a nice rack, but that giraffe neck, the horse face, and the way-too-skinny body cancel the boobs out. Add in the personality and ideology, and I wouldn’t hit it on a dare. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/6 "2006-07-03T09:41:15Z")
[What **Oakminster** said.](http://www.ramdac.org/images/anncoulter1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/7 "2006-07-03T12:35:42Z")
“leggy blonde pundit.” Say it quickly three times without saying “plundit.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/8 "2006-07-03T13:12:52Z")
I’m not surprised- fact is, you could nail dozens of authors doing exactly the same thing. Political columnists of all stripes are constantly reprinting large chunks of other people’s work. It’s the lazy columnist’s way out. A few equally lazy writers (Gary Wills on the Left and George Will on the right are the worst offenders) have an annoying habit of starting off a columns by saying: * * * As Professor Joseph Schmeaux says in his brilliant new book\*\* Brilliant New Book\*\*, "Yada yadda yadda… (Continue quoting for 7 paragraphs) … yadda yadda yadda" I couldn’t have said it better myself. * * * I haven’t read Coulter’s book, but I suspected it was a cut-and-paste job, like any of Michael Moore’s. Apparently, skinny blondes are just as prone to laziness as fat nerds. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/9 "2006-07-03T13:41:37Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Well, she does have a nice rack, but that giraffe neck, the horse face… You mean, [whippet face](http://www.goldenwonders.com/pictures/ms-nc-whippet.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/10 "2006-07-03T14:07:44Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Well, she does have a nice rack,… Plaigiarized from Britney Spears. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/11 "2006-07-03T14:14:23Z")
astorian writes: \> A few equally lazy writers (Gary Wills on the Left and George Will on the right \> are the worst offenders) have an annoying habit of starting off a columns by \> saying: \> \> \*\*\*\* \> \> As Professor Joseph Schmeaux says in his brilliant new book Brilliant New \> Book, “Yada yadda yadda… \> \> (Continue quoting for 7 paragraphs) \> \> … yadda yadda yadda” \> \> I couldn’t have said it better myself. \> \> \*\*\* Does Garry Wills really do this that much? I know his work pretty well. I’m currently working through the twenty-first book that I’ve read by him. I’ve read all his articles in _The New York Review of Books_ for over a decade now. I’ve just checked some online columns by him to refresh my memory, and he doesn’t do seven-paragraph quotations that I’ve noticed. Yes, often he starts a column by quoting one sentence from an author, particularly a classical Greek or Roman author or an early Christian writer. His columns often start out by sounding like meditations on single sentences from older authors, but they usually drop that format and become fairly standard comment and discussion of an issue. Garry Wills tends to have read everything on a subject he’s discussing, so it’s not surprising that he feels has to mention that some other author has distilled the issue to one sentence already. This isn’t at all comparable to an author who plagiarizes material from other authors. I haven’t looked at the evidence of whether Coulter has done any plagiarism and can’t speak to it, but plagiarism doesn’t include acknowledged quoting of other authors. You may have some case to make that some lazy columnists stretch out their columns with acknowledged quotations from other authors, but you’d have to make that a separate accusation, since it’s quite a different thing from plagiarizing the other author. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/12 "2006-07-03T15:06:36Z")
> [@you with the face](#): > > You mean, [whippet face](http://www.goldenwonders.com/pictures/ms-nc-whippet.jpg). Oh, my goodness, she does look like a Whippet with long blonde hair and oversized boobs. Well, I always thought she was a dog anyway. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/13 "2006-07-03T15:19:55Z")
I’m not particularly interested in defending Coulter as, in general, I don’t think much of her as a person, or as a political anylist. However, this “plagerism” seems to me to be more a restatement of news facts than plagerizing other peoples’ thoughts and claiming them as their own. Restating news facts is entirely different than claiming an analysis as your own. I will say that it is sloppy not to have cited the news sources, but this is hardly a smoking gun of plagerism. Just like the Republicans trying to take down Clinton, find something real to charge the woman with, surely she’s actually done something. Half-baked accusations aren’t worth your time and she stands for a lot of onerous things, so talk about what she’s really doing – it’s far worse than this. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/14 "2006-07-03T15:22:10Z")
> [@Waenara](#): > > [A previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=327920) from 2005 accused Ann Coulter of plaigiarizing a column, but it was locked after a few posts. The consensus seemed to be that the accusation was pretty weak. > > However, [this recent article](http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/copycatty_coulter_pilfers_prose__pro_nationalnews_philip_recchia.htm) makes many more accusations, that she’s plaigiarized in her recent book, _Godless: the Church of Liberalism_, and also in various newspaper columns from the last year. I would sure like to see the offending passages and their counterparts myself before reaching a judgement here. The article doesn’t quote any specifics – it says, for example, > [@](#): > > …that one 25-word passage from the “Godless” chapter titled “The Holiest Sacrament: Abortion” appears to have been lifted nearly word for word from Planned Parenthood literature published at least 18 months before Coulter’s 281-page book was released. But it doesn’t give us the passage, or the specific Planned Parenthood literature in question. How am I supposed to verify this? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/15 "2006-07-03T15:24:23Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I’m not surprised- fact is, you could nail dozens of authors doing exactly the same thing. > > Political columnists of all stripes are constantly reprinting large chunks of other people’s work. It’s the lazy columnist’s way out. > > A few equally lazy writers (Gary Wills on the Left and George Will on the right are the worst offenders) have an annoying habit of starting off a columns by saying: > > * * * > > As Professor Joseph Schmeaux says in his brilliant new book\*\* Brilliant New Book\*\*, "Yada yadda yadda… > > (Continue quoting for 7 paragraphs) > > … yadda yadda yadda" > > I couldn’t have said it better myself. > > * * * This is exactly right. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/16 "2006-07-03T15:27:34Z")
One of the additional links above offers the following as evidence of plagiarism: > [@](#): > > Coulter: A few years after oil drilling began in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, a saboteur set off an explosion blowing a hole in the pipeline and releasing an estimated 550,000 gallons of oil. > > The History Channel: The only major oil spill on land occurred when an unknown saboteur blew a hole in the pipe near Fairbanks, and 550,000 gallons of oil spilled onto the ground. In my view, those two passages do not constitute any evidence of plagiarism. The link claims the use of the word ‘saboteur’ in both is “a bit too forced in this particular instance to be mere coincidence.” What?!? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/17 "2006-07-03T15:58:11Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > What?!? Indeed. If all of the examples are like that, then I’m afraid this case shows the flaws in the software, not the plagiarism of The Beast. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/18 "2006-07-03T18:38:52Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Indeed. If all of the examples are like that, then I’m afraid this case shows the flaws in the software, not the plagiarism of The Beast. I think that was one of the weaker examples. Some other ones from the linked articles above: **Coulter:** The massive Dickey-Lincoln Dam, a $227 million hydroelectric project proposed on upper St. John River in Maine, was halted by the discovery of the Furbish lousewort, a plant previously believed to be extinct. **Portland Press Herald:** The massive Dickey-Lincoln Dam, a $227 million hydroelectric project proposed on upper St. John River, is halted by the discovery of the Furbish lousewort, a plant believed to be extinct. From [this link](http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/More_examples_of_Coulter_borrowing_liberally_0614.html): > [@](#): > > This time, Coulter is accused of borrowing liberally from a 1988 press conference led by at-the-time Republican Senate candidate Alan Keyes, helping to demonize furloughed murderer Willie Horton to help the senior President Bush beat off former Massachussetts Governor Michael Dukakis. > > “Other murderers furloughed by Dukakis included Donald Robertson and Bradford Boyd. Robertson raped a ninety-three-year-old woman and her seventy-two-year-old daughter and then stamped on their chests so hard that he crushed their internal organs,” Coulter wrote. > > Excerpt from Keyes’ October 27, 1988 press conference: “Donald Robertson raped a 93-year-old woman and her 72-year-old daughter. Okay? After he raped them, he kicked them and beat them so bad, he crushed their chests and the internal organs in their chests.” > > After presenting more examples from both texts, The Rude Pundit continues: “Not only does Coulter blatantly cut and paste the first part, she also presents the exact same information in the exact same order as Barnes did back in 1988, including many directly quoted phrases, without citing anywhere the source for the information. As if it just appeared out of thin air.” > > The blogger then shows how Coulter quotes Keyes on Horton, but without revealing to her readers that the press conference may have been the source for that entire section of the chapter. > > “It would have been simple for Coulter to avoid even seeming like she plagiarized: a couple of quotation marks, one of those footnotes she’s always bragging about,” The Rude Pundit writes. “But she didn’t.” It seems like Coulter’s problem is a lack of attribution of sources and “restatement of news facts” (as one previous poster put it). However, it seems like she barely (if it all) restates the, and just quotes without attribution. At [this site](http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/For_new_book_Coulter_cribs_adult_0613.html) it states that Coulter claims she made a list of diseases that have been treated with adult stem cells, but failed to attribute the list to an article by Planned Parenthood (that link includes the complete side-by-side comparison of their lists: > [@](#): > > “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 (current link, archived 9/03 link). Maybe not deliberate plaigiarism, but definitely sloppy work. From the articles in the OP > [@](#): > > Meanwhile, many of the 344 citations Coulter includes in “Godless” “are very misleading,” said Barrie, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, where he specialized in pattern recognition. > > “They’re used purely to try and give the book a higher level of credibility - as if it’s an academic work. But her sloppiness in failing to properly attribute many other passages strips it of nearly all its academic merits,” he told The Post. So I think you can tell he probably isn’t fond of Coulter and her work in general. Some people might try to attack his accusation that way (He just doesn’t like Coulter!), but he does make a good point. > [@astorian](#): > > I’m not surprised- fact is, you could nail dozens of authors doing exactly the same thing. > > Political columnists of all stripes are constantly reprinting large chunks of other people’s work. It’s the lazy columnist’s way out. That definitely does happen, but if they’re lazy enough to borrow a chunk of another writer’s work, they should at least acknowledge that writer in the text, or a footnote/endnote. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/19 "2006-07-03T19:47:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Coulter did not respond to requests for comment. She’s waiting for someone to finish writing it. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022/20 "2006-07-03T21:00:19Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > astorian writes: > > \> A few equally lazy writers (Gary Wills on the Left and George Will on the right > \> are the worst offenders) have an annoying habit of starting off a columns by > \> saying: > \> > \> \*\*\*\* > \> > \> As Professor Joseph Schmeaux says in his brilliant new book Brilliant New > \> Book, “Yada yadda yadda… > \> > \> (Continue quoting for 7 paragraphs) > \> > \> … yadda yadda yadda” > \> > \> I couldn’t have said it better myself. > \> > \> \*\*\* > > Does Garry Wills really do this that much? I know his work pretty well. I’m currently working through the twenty-first book that I’ve read by him. I’ve read all his articles in _The New York Review of Books_ for over a decade now. I’ve just checked some online columns by him to refresh my memory, and he doesn’t do seven-paragraph quotations that I’ve noticed. Yes, often he starts a column by quoting one sentence from an author, particularly a classical Greek or Roman author or an early Christian writer. His columns often start out by sounding like meditations on single sentences from older authors, but they usually drop that format and become fairly standard comment and discussion of an issue. Garry Wills tends to have read everything on a subject he’s discussing, so it’s not surprising that he feels has to mention that some other author has distilled the issue to one sentence already. > > This isn’t at all comparable to an author who plagiarizes material from other authors. I haven’t looked at the evidence of whether Coulter has done any plagiarism and can’t speak to it, but plagiarism doesn’t include acknowledged quoting of other authors. You may have some case to make that some lazy columnists stretch out their columns with acknowledged quotations from other authors, but you’d have to make that a separate accusation, since it’s quite a different thing from plagiarizing the other author. Cripes, Wills and Will both do this all the time! Once, Garry was trying (or THOUGHT he was trying) to write about racism, and he used up the entire column quoting from a Nero Wolfe mystery. As for Will… he’ll rehash some old, pointless, lengthy baseball anecdote and then slap a postcript at the end, as if his story had some sort of deep political implications. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plagiarism-expert-catches-coulter/363022.md?page=2)