# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/81 "2017-05-26T16:24:53Z")
Maybe the dog \*did \*eat his quotation marks. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/82 "2017-05-26T16:30:04Z")
Clarke’s texts about the attempted intimidation: > **[Texts Show Sheriff Clarke Wanted Man Hassled For Shaking His Head At Him](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sheriff-clarke-text-messages-dan-black)** > > Text messages show that Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke ordered his deputies to question a man for not keeping his “mouth shut” with him as he boarded a plane on Jan. 15. “Just a field interview… ---
**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 26, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/83 "2017-05-26T16:45:48Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > Or, possibly, he tried to set the quotes off by using indents instead of quote marks and the layout got jacked. > > From your own post: > > I don’t particularly care about Clarke. However, if Clarke used indents through out the whole document and the layout got jacked that could easily explain why it happened 47 times. This assumes, of course, that there were a total of 47 passages that he used. If it happened 47 times and there are 80 instances, that would be different. > > Slee He doesn’t know how to use quote marks? Are you serious? The requirements for proper citations are very clear. He didn’t want anyone to know he was quoting someone else. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/84 "2017-05-26T16:54:21Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > “The layout got jacked” is not an appropriate excuse for plagiarism. It is a good enough excuse, as a one time thing, to not receive discipline and be expelled from the school. It is not a good enough excuse to not have to do it over again, this time, without a jacked up layout, and maybe a bit more original work. ---
**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 26, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/85 "2017-05-26T19:28:53Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Personally, I think his 15 or so years as the chief law enforcement officer in a county of almost a million people is more than enough qualification for the job. Since **pkbites** has worked for him and has severe words for how poorly he did his job, I’m strongly inclined to say that length of tenure alone is not a good measure of qualifications. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/86 "2017-05-26T19:53:50Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > He doesn’t know how to use quote marks? Are you serious? > The requirements for proper citations are very clear. > > He didn’t want anyone to know he was quoting someone else. Your own cite says that indentation is acceptable. Can you read the cite that you, yourself, gave? Here, let me help you out: > [@](#): > > 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. That is from your own cite. Note, I went and actually looked at the paper. Here is a [link](https://www.scribd.com/document/348968937/David-Clarke-thesis#fullscreen&from_embed) Open the document and search on coherent. The full text shows: > [@](#): > > A problem in getting coherent thinking on the risk of terrorism is that politicians find extreme and alarmist possibilities so much more appealing than discussions of broader context, much less of statistical reality. Hysteria and alarmism rarely make much sense but politicians and the media are drawn to them. > 79 > Psychology shows that when people feel vulnerable they are more likely to be trusting of government and give away rights without question. This psychology points out that aspects of fear can strongly influence the public’s trust in and support of certain government policy that may not be in their best interest. > 80 With, at the bottom of the same page: 79 John A. Mueller, A False Sense of Insecurity, Regulation, Vol. 27, No. 3, 42-46, Fall 2004. Available at SSRN: [http://ssrn.com/abstract=604063](http://ssrn.com/abstract=604063). 80 Breckenridge and Zimbardo, The Strategy of Terrorism and the Psychology of Mass-mediated Fear, 118. He does that throughout the document. Both those are rather long and indentation would be, _according to the link you provided_, just fine. I went to look at the, presumably, original document at > **[Making U.S. security and privacy rights compatible](https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/37603)** > > The terror attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, necessitated changes in the way domestic intelligence agencies and services conducted information-collection activities to protect against further attacks. Congress acted quickly to... but it has been pulled so it is presently impossible to check the original. (note, the one I linked to earlier may be a perfect copy of the original but it is impossible to tell) Additionally, i_f he was trying to hide that the information came from elsewhere, why put the references at the end of the paragraphs_? That makes no sense whatsoever. Are the cites screwed up? Certainly. Did he purposely plagiarize? That is a lot harder to prove since he cites the original right after using it. I suspect it wasn’t plagiarism but rather sloppiness, which isn’t good either. Slee ---
**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 26, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/87 "2017-05-26T20:19:07Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > Your own cite says that indentation is acceptable. Can you read the cite that you, yourself, gave? > > Here, let me help you out: > > That is from your own cite. > > Note, I went and actually looked at the paper. Here is a [link](https://www.scribd.com/document/348968937/David-Clarke-thesis#fullscreen&from_embed) > > Open the document and search on coherent. The full text shows: > > With, at the bottom of the same page: > 79 John A. Mueller, A False Sense of Insecurity, Regulation, Vol. 27, No. 3, 42-46, Fall 2004. Available at SSRN: [http://ssrn.com/abstract=604063](http://ssrn.com/abstract=604063). > > 80 Breckenridge and Zimbardo, The Strategy of Terrorism and the Psychology of Mass-mediated Fear, 118. > > He does that throughout the document. Both those are rather long and indentation would be, _according to the link you provided_, just fine. I went to look at the, presumably, original document at > > [http://hdl.handle.net/10945/37603](http://hdl.handle.net/10945/37603) > > but it has been pulled so it is presently impossible to check the original. (note, the one I linked to earlier may be a perfect copy of the original but it is impossible to tell) > > Additionally, i_f he was trying to hide that the information came from elsewhere, why put the references at the end of the paragraphs_? That makes no sense whatsoever. > > Are the cites screwed up? Certainly. Did he purposely plagiarize? That is a lot harder to prove since he cites the original right after using it. > > I suspect it wasn’t plagiarism but rather sloppiness, which isn’t good either. > > Slee So you don’t know if the copy of his paper was re-formatted or not but you use that as a cite. How do you know the indented portions are part of the 47 violations in question? The reason for citing a work is to credit sources. A quote not properly marked is taken as an original thought rather than a quotation to back up an original thought. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/88 "2017-05-26T20:31:44Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > Your own cite says that indentation is acceptable. Can you read the cite that you, yourself, gave? > > Here, let me help you out: > > That is from your own cite. > > Note, I went and actually looked at the paper. Here is a [link](https://www.scribd.com/document/348968937/David-Clarke-thesis#fullscreen&from_embed) > > Open the document and search on coherent. The full text shows: > > With, at the bottom of the same page: > 79 John A. Mueller, A False Sense of Insecurity, Regulation, Vol. 27, No. 3, 42-46, Fall 2004. Available at SSRN: [http://ssrn.com/abstract=604063](http://ssrn.com/abstract=604063). > > 80 Breckenridge and Zimbardo, The Strategy of Terrorism and the Psychology of Mass-mediated Fear, 118. > > He does that throughout the document. Both those are rather long and indentation would be, _according to the link you provided_, just fine. I went to look at the, presumably, original document at > > [http://hdl.handle.net/10945/37603](http://hdl.handle.net/10945/37603) > > but it has been pulled so it is presently impossible to check the original. (note, the one I linked to earlier may be a perfect copy of the original but it is impossible to tell) > > Additionally, i_f he was trying to hide that the information came from elsewhere, why put the references at the end of the paragraphs_? That makes no sense whatsoever. > > Are the cites screwed up? Certainly. Did he purposely plagiarize? That is a lot harder to prove since he cites the original right after using it. > > I suspect it wasn’t plagiarism but rather sloppiness, which isn’t good either. > > Slee The way those cites are used, tells the reader that that is where he got his information. If he were wanting to inform the reader that that is where he got these word verbatim, then appropriate quoting is necessary. If someone does not bother to go back and check his cites, and compare them to his thesis, and see that sections of his thesis were lifted directly out of the cited works, then they would make the very reasonable assumption that those word on the page are the author’s words. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/89 "2017-06-18T00:09:55Z")
Update: [He’s backing out](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/338297-sheriff-david-clarke-reverses-acceptance-of-homeland-security) of the DHS slot because of this. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/90 "2017-06-18T00:22:26Z")
[Farnsworth]Good news everyone![/Farnsworth] ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/91 "2017-06-18T02:28:52Z")
No one other than Clarke himself ever announced he was going to join the administration. It’s not known whether he was even offered a position. He was spreading fake news! ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/92 "2017-06-18T02:47:32Z")
In other news, I hear by announce that am backing out of the job of piloting the first manned expedition to Mars. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2017, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/93 "2017-06-19T09:06:38Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Farnsworth]Good news everyone![/Farnsworth] Not really. We were happy to be getting him the hell out of Milwaukee County. Figured he’d last about a year in Washington and either quit because he wasn’t getting the attention his ego requires or be forced to quit once everyone there realized how completely full of shit he is. Meanwhile Governor Walker would have appointed a new Sheriff so Clarke couldn’t come back. At least not until the next election, anyway. Figuring _“you can’t go home again”_ we were banking on him being gone for good. Myself and some other retired Deps got together for a few beers to celebrate the departure of that megalomaniac. Now we’ll have to get together to drink in sorrow. :(:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/94 "2017-06-19T11:08:03Z")
Having read a lot of academic papers I can say that it’s as likely that the lack of proper citation was due to incompetence as it was due to malice. Certainly a good academic advisor (assuming he had one) should have bitchslapped him for it, but it’s an imperfect world. Maybe he was trying to pull a fast one or maybe he just got sloppy; it’s hard to tell. I’m more disturbed by his wannabe-soldier bullshit - the weird salutes and the wearing of so much meaningless chest flair that he’d put your average TGI Friday’s server to shame. It reminds me of the shit that security guards do to pretend that they’re like real cops and not just untrained schlubs with a crappy uniform and a Maglite - it’s indicative of a genuinely disturbing mindset, one where the person fantasizes about being a badass he knows he never can be, which often leads to horrific abuse where power, insecurity and poor judgment intersect. (I was briefly a security guard myself and there were a lot of these lifelong rent-a-cop types, along with the temps passing briefly through like me and the more sensible ones just doing it as a second or third job. The macho lifers were a scary bunch, and one of the reasons I didn’t continue in the role.) And of course this view is supported by his actual behavior, which is a whole other topic. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/95 "2017-06-19T22:41:39Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I’m more disturbed by his wannabe-soldier bullshit - the weird salutes and the wearing of so much meaningless chest flair that he’d put your average TGI Friday’s server to shame. Over the years most officers get all kinds of pins and such, not just important ones like for valor or being a member of a certain division like MIRT. In addition to my Meritorious Service ribbon I received for my performance when airdropped into New Orleans (while many of their officers were running away!) I also have rather unimportant pins I was awarded for taking part in the Tip-a-Cop event and the Shop-with -a-Cop program. There is an entire spectrum of different uniform adornments a LEO can get over his/her career. Thing is, Clarke doesn’t seem to have any [actual awards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_law_enforcement_decorations) of even participation medallions. His stuff looks like the plastic badges I would get 12 of for 49 cents at the Bargain Barn when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/96 "2017-06-20T08:43:43Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Thing is, Clarke doesn’t seem to have any [actual awards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_law_enforcement_decorations) of even participation medallions. His stuff looks like the plastic badges I would get 12 of for 49 cents at the Bargain Barn when I was a kid. I’m pretty sure if you look close one of them says “DRINK YOUR OVALTINE”. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/97 "2017-06-20T16:00:14Z")
Yeah that is the thing, most of seem to be simply decorative/promotional pins from different organizations, the sort you use for a tie pin or on your suit lapel or your convention nametag and that you hand out to a visiting school class. Not signifiers of any actual achievement or recognition. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2017, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheriff-clarke-trumps-new-assistant-secretary-in-the-dept-of-homeland-security-is-a-plagarist/787179/98 "2017-07-04T03:33:47Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I wasn’t aware that a Master’s degree in security studies was a job requirement for Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Partnership and Engagement. If I went and looked up Obama and Clinton appointees to this post, do you think I’d find that they all had comparable academic credentials? If not, would that be proof that those Dem Presidents were appointing people unqualified for the job, or that it’s not really a requirement? Personally, I think his 15 or so years as the chief law enforcement officer in a county of almost a million people is more than enough qualification for the job. There are a lot of people in Emergency Management that think **any** experience in law enforcement or military is necessary and sufficient to have an upper management job. They are often incorrect. [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=4)