# Sheriff Clarke, Trump's new Assistant Secretary in the Dept of Homeland Security is a plagarist **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 21, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179 "2017-05-21T22:17:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/21 "2017-05-22T10:00:01Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I can see him purposely doing this and setting it up so when caught he can claim it’s just a minor mistake. I think even if it was clear-cut plagiarism I could see him deliberately leaking something like this. Plagiarism is a relatively minor, “humane” crime that can distract from the terrible things he’s done on and off the clock in his time as sheriff. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/22 "2017-05-22T10:25:06Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > He also didn’t enclose the verbatim sections with quote marks thus making it appear that those passages were his own words and not a quote from the sources. I’ve taught writing at the college level and dealt with this extensively. In no way am I saying that this is not plagiarism or that it’s excusable, but there’s plagiarism due to sloppiness, which is an offense in its own right and can typically carry consequences such as failing an assignment, having to repeat a course, and delaying graduation. There’s that, and there’s plagiarism that constitutes academic fraud, which if proven (not easy to do), can lead to academic suspension, expulsion from a program, and revocation of a degree after it has been received. Repeat offenses – even accidents – are treated less like accidents and more like fraud and the sanctions tend to be more severe accordingly. Sometimes the sloppiness can be so bad that it’s admittedly not always easy to distinguish between the two. As I said, I guess I’d want to know just how much Clarke copied. If it’s a paragraph or two that got copy/pasted but not quoted, then he ought to be given a chance to correct it within a specified period of time. If we’re talking about a significant percentage of the paper being lifted without attribution, obviously that’s more serious and I’m sure NPS would deal with that with sanctions commensurate with the offense. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/23 "2017-05-22T11:23:08Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Great. Your excuse is that he had incompetent teachers? That’s reassuring. Hey, it worked for Leopold & Loeb. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/24 "2017-05-22T11:28:15Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > I don’t think you’ll find any argument about this. It is definitely a mistake to leave out the quotation marks. An easily correctable mistake. In fact, that’s the exact easily correctable mistake that David Clarke made. …and if that’s the mistake he made, why didn’t the school knock it back and make him fix it? Or did the prof accept it on the assumption that it was original work as it appeared to be? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/25 "2017-05-22T12:09:55Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > As I said, I guess I’d want to know just how much Clarke copied. If it’s a paragraph or two that got copy/pasted but not quoted, then he ought to be given a chance to correct it within a specified period of time. If we’re talking about a significant percentage of the paper being lifted without attribution, obviously that’s more serious and I’m sure NPS would deal with that with sanctions commensurate with the offense. From the OP’s link. > [@](#): > > larke, a visible surrogate for Trump during the campaign known for his incendiary rhetoric, earned a master’s degree in security studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. In his thesis, “Making U.S. security and privacy rights compatible,” **Clarke failed to properly attribute his sources at least 47 times.** ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/26 "2017-05-22T13:03:29Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > The last 5 years of my first career were under Clarke. Side question - what’s with all the commendations he wears? His uniform looks like it is a stolen valor type of thing. I’m wondering if all his decorations are common for that jurisdiction, if he is just pinning random shit on his jacket, or something else. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/27 "2017-05-22T13:25:13Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Side question - what’s with all the commendations he wears? His uniform looks like it is a stolen valor type of thing. I’m wondering if all his decorations are common for that jurisdiction, if he is just pinning random shit on his jacket, or something else. They look like they’re mostly just random police-themed lapel pins arranged to give the suggestion of being something more, not actual decorations. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/28 "2017-05-22T13:34:55Z")
We once a dictator who was doing that before North Korea thought it was cool. People mockingly (and very discreetly) called him “Chapita” (little bottle cap). ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/29 "2017-05-22T13:47:13Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Story here - It’s pretty much direct quotes. It’s pretty balls out, he barely even tried to re-write. > [@](#): > > In all instances reviewed by CNN’s KFile, Clarke lifts language from sources and credits them with a footnote, So, in CNN’s world, actually crediting a source is now considered plagarism? Damn, those people are getting pathetically desperate. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/30 "2017-05-22T13:53:51Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > So, in CNN’s world, actually crediting a source is now considered plagarism? Damn, those people are getting pathetically desperate. Read the article. He may have cited the source but did not indicate where he used a direct quote as opposed to his own words. That’s passing off another person’s thoughts and words as your own. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/31 "2017-05-22T14:39:56Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Side question - what’s with all the commendations he wears? His uniform looks like it is a stolen valor type of thing. I’m wondering if all his decorations are common for that jurisdiction, if he is just pinning random shit on his jacket, or something else. > [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > They look like they’re mostly just random police-themed lapel pins arranged to give the suggestion of being something more, not actual decorations. [That’s what they are.](http://www.salon.com/2017/05/19/sheriff-david-clarke-medals-army/) More bullshit from the master con man. I’m not even sure if he even has any real accommodations from when he was a homicide dick for MPD. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/32 "2017-05-22T15:40:04Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > So, in CNN’s world, actually crediting a source is now considered plagarism? Damn, those people are getting pathetically desperate. What he did IS under the definition of “plagiarism” in academic institutions with some level of rigor. That is not made up. The concept includes both malicious misrepresentation AND lazy sloppiness in sourcing. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/33 "2017-05-22T16:11:58Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Interesting that he’s skinning out now during another [scandal](http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/investigations/2017/04/24/prosecutors-inmates-water-cut-off-7-days-before-his-death-milwaukee-county-jail/100847982/) coming out of his office. I guess this is like Al Capone getting nailed on income tax evasion. People die in the Milwaukee county jail that Clarke’s in charge of, in completely preventable ways, and Clarke doesn’t give a shit. While that’s what should end his career in public life (and it would be better still if it ended his career as a free man), if plagiarism is what it takes to bring him down, then I’m good with that. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Terrific](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tom_terrific/32/342_2.png) [@Tom\_Terrific](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Terrific)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/34 "2017-05-22T16:54:58Z")
Normally I would dismiss the outrage about the plagiarism that Clarke did as just more liberal ranting about someone they don’t like. Pkbites calling him a douche counts for quite a bit, pk always seems to be pretty reasonable. He has personal experience with Clarke and that makes whatever faults anyone lays against Clarke more believable. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/35 "2017-05-22T17:08:08Z")
Was this a serious degree from a serious, academically-rigorous school, or a barely-legitimate one from an institution out on the highway, with all moonlighting instructors and a rented building out on the highway, set up to get government employees a barely-legitimate degree and a bonus check to cash? Standards do vary. Yes, this was fundamentally just sloppiness, on his as well as his instructor’s part. Hate the game, not the player. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/36 "2017-05-22T17:16:36Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Was this a serious degree from a serious, academically-rigorous school, or a barely-legitimate one from an institution out on the highway, with all moonlighting instructors and a rented building out on the highway, set up to get government employees a barely-legitimate degree and a bonus check to cash? Standards do vary. > > Yes, this was fundamentally just sloppiness, on his as well as his instructor’s part. Hate the game, not the player. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Ca. The violations were based on their academic standards. From the OP’s link. > [@](#): > > According to [guidelines](https://my.nps.edu/web/nsa/academic-integrity) on plagiarism posted on the Naval Postgraduate School’s website, “If a passage is quoted verbatim, it must be set off with quotation marks (or, if it is a longer passage, presented as indented text), and followed by a properly formulated citation. The length of the phrase does not matter. If someone else’s words are sufficiently significant to be worth quoting, then accurate quotation followed by a correct citation is essential, even if only a few words are involved.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/37 "2017-05-22T17:51:50Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Ca. The violations were based on their academic standards. > From the OP’s link. Well clearly the Naval Postgraduate School is a bunch of libtards who are trying to find any excuse to destroy the career of this American hero. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/38 "2017-05-22T18:27:40Z")
Plagiarism scandals are basically a rite of passage in DC these days. Obama, Biden, Trump, Bush, Clinton all seem to have had at least one. Sounds like Sheriff Clarke should have used quotes, but trying to make a major story out of this shit is just … petty. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/39 "2017-05-22T18:46:06Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Plagiarism scandals are basically a rite of passage in DC these days. **Obama, Biden, Trump, Bush, Clinton** all seem to have had at least one. Sounds like Sheriff Clarke should have used quotes, but trying to make a major story out of this shit is just … petty. Real or accused? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/40 "2017-05-22T19:06:12Z")
I don’t know what makes it a “real” plagiarism scandal vs an “accused” one. For example, here are Obama’s and Biden’s: Obama: > **[Obama Accused Of Plagiarism In Speech](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-accused-of-plagiarism-in-speech/)** [Here is a Snopes article](http://www.snopes.com/2016/07/20/barack-obama-vs-deval-patrick/) with some additional detail. It was “real” enough that [Clinton made a jab about it in one of their debates](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dWH6xyZ6IU) Biden: [The NYT wrote](http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/18/us/biden-admits-plagiarism-in-school-but-says-it-was-not-malevolent.html): > [@](#): > > Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., fighting to salvage his Presidential campaign, today acknowledged ‘‘a mistake’’ in his youth, when he plagiarized a law review article for a paper he wrote in his first year at law school. > > Mr. Biden insisted, however, that he had done nothing ‘‘malevolent,’’ that he had simply misunderstood the need to cite sources carefully. And he asserted that another controversy, concerning recent reports of his using material from others’ speeches without attribution, was ‘‘much ado about nothing.’’ [Slate actually has a good article](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_lesson/2008/08/the_write_stuff.html) comparing the two. As near as I can tell, the rules of plagiarism are as follows: It’s more serious if it’s in an academic / journalism setting than, for example, a political one. It’s less serious if one is plagiarizing a friend / ally. ETA: in reading through the Slate article, Biden actually reminds me a _lot_ of President Trump. I could easily see him saying something like “I think I probably have a much higher IQ than you do, I suspect.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179.md?page=3)