Congressman's office takes back plagiarism acknowledgment

[Algorem]

(Attack on Congressman by incompetent Senator and newspaper backfires)

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1131483541252990.xml&storylist=cleveland

11/8/2005, 3:54 p.m. ET
By DAVID HAMMER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown's office initially acknowledged plagiarizing sections of an Internet posting in a letter to his Republican opponent criticizing the Supreme Court nominee's record on labor issues.

But the Cleveland-area congressman's staff went on the offensive Tuesday when the author of the Web log, or "blog," said Brown had the right to use his words.

Brown sent the letter to Sen. Mike DeWine, whom Brown is challenging in next November's election, to call attention to anti-labor decisions nominee Samuel Alito had made while sitting on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. DeWine sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will preside over Alito's confirmation hearings before he can join the high court.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer challenged Brown's staff about the wording of the Nov. 1 letter on Monday...


DeWine Dirty Campaign Ploy: Jokes About Workers Rights
By Nathan Newman

http://houseoflabor.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/11/8/81550/8520

Update: Changed title- after having talked to a few reporters, it's become clear that this whole story was a dirty campaign ploy by the DeWine campaign, manipulating my post to divert the public-- which when you get down to it is the supposed sin of plagiarism. But it's DeWine that manipulated my words for their purposes, not the Brown campaign that used it to promote the exact message I as a writer wanted conveyed.
----

So a Sherrod Brown staffer used some lines from one of my blog posts. Who frigging cares? This is a ridiculous story from the Cleveland Plain Dealer:...

Did the Plain Dealer do an indepth analysis of Alito's labor record in response?

No, they created a bullshit meta-story that was of such supposed breaking news value that they couldn't wait for me to get back from my mini-honeymoon to get my reaction. If the crime is plagiarism, then you think they'd want to talk to the victim before running it.
But what about the real victims, the workers denied minimum wage, family leave, or a day in court to challenge racial and gender discrimination because of Alito's decisions? The paper of course also pursued Mike DeWine for his reaction to that. And here was DeWine's response:...


http://www.nathannewman.org

http://www.dailykos.com


original slander attempt-

Brown's Alito letter lifted from blogger

Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Stephen Koff
Plain Dealer Bureau Chief
Washington

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1131445870289970.xml&coll=2

-- Rep. Sherrod Brown wrote to Sen. Mike DeWine last Friday, voicing concern about Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's labor record.

Brown's language was crisp -- and was plagiarized.

Roughly 90 percent of what Brown, an Avon Democrat, wrote in his letter was lifted from an Internet posting by a blogger, as Brown's office acknowledged Monday when The Plain Dealer presented the similarities.

Brown had not credited the blogger, Nathan Newman of NathanNewman.org, or any other source...


To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

[e-mail], 216-999-4212

http://growohio.org/

[Pirate Smile]

1. An analysis by Kos re blogs and bloggers:

Blog plagiarism
by kos

Tue Nov 08, 2005 at 10:26:21 AM PDT

Some dumbass reporter (Stephen Koff, [e-mail], 216-999-4212) accuses the Sherrod Brown campaign of plagiarizing Nathan Newman's research on Alito's labor record. Reporter completely ignores the substance of Nathan's research (Alito's anti-labor record). Nathan tells the dumbass reporter that he's an idiot.

While some bloggers obsess over copyright and getting "credit" and shit like that, most of us are simply happy when our ideas and arguments gain wider currency. Nathan, a labor blogger, was probably quite happy to hear that Brown was using his research on Alito to hold DeWine accountable on the Alito nomination. For some reporter to make an issue out of it, when the so-called victim didn't have a problem with it, is bizarre.

As Nathan notes, "Did the Plain Dealer do an indepth analysis of Alito's labor record in response? No, they created a bullshit meta-story that was of such supposed breaking news value that they couldn't wait for me to get back from my mini-honeymoon to get my reaction."

For the record, the copyright notice at the bottom of this page basically gives permission to Brown and anyone else to use whatever they want from the site: "Site content may be used for any purpose without explicit permission unless otherwise specified." Note that I don't use a license that requires attribution nor any other type of citation. As long as diarists don't assert ownership of their content, it's public domain.

So campaigns like Brown's can use it without permission, attribution, or whatever. In a war of ideas, nothing can help the cause more than a free and unfettered flow of ideas.

(And while we're on the subject, here's Nathan's great post on Alito's labor record.)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/11/8/122621/135

[applegrove]

2. Seems like an attempt by some GOP hack to separate & put "fear"

into the relationship between bloggers and the people who get information from blogs.

Good catch!!

[Algorem]

3. beautiful

[Tanuki]

4. Thanks, Nathan Newman!

It's wonderful to see someone keep things in perspective, focus on what is truly important, and take a selfless stance. And congratulations on his wedding (he said he was just back from his mini-honeymoon)!

[applegrove]

5. They seem to hate the fact that we talk and listen to each other.

[Algorem]

6. DeWine & Plain Dealer must have felt heat-new article today-

(but I wnder how much b.s. is in this one?)

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/113153271498990.xml&coll=2

Rep. Brown writes concerns about Alito on worker-rights
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Stephen Koff
Plain Dealer Bureau Chief

Washington - Rep. Sherrod Brown on Tuesday reiterated concern about Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's record on worker rights, sending his second letter in a week to Sen. Mike DeWine.

DeWine, an Ohio Republican, is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which in January will begin confirmation hearings on Alito. Brown is an Avon Democrat who hopes to unseat DeWine next year.

Athough House of Representatives members have no direct say on Supreme Court confirmations, Brown says he fears the Senate may overlook important labor-rights issues...

The new letter said he regretted not attributing material to blogger Nathan Newman. But Brown said he considers it in the public domain. Newman, a blogger and attorney who says he had not responded to requests for comment on Monday because he had been traveling, said on Tuesday that it's fine with him if Brown copies his work without giving him credit...

[Algorem]

7. But they ran this bullshit editorial,because they are a bullshit rag-

http://www.cleveland.com/editorials/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/opinion/113153259398990.xml&coll=2

Rep. Brown's purloined letter
Wednesday, November 09, 2005

...Now it turns out a Brown staffer lifted from an Internet blog, without attribution, most of what was contained in a letter Brown fired off to the senator he hopes to unseat, Republican Mike DeWine. The scorching missive challenged DeWine's quick support of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito with words apparently first typed by blogger Nathan Newman, taking to task Alito's labor rulings.

The word for that is plagiarism -- in newspapers a firing offense, in politics a cause of deep embarrassment. Just ask Sen. Joe Biden, the Delaware Democrat whose stump speech borrowing some paragraphs from a British politician's repertoire helped take him out of the 1988 presidential race.

Brown's staff has fallen on the sword for him, claiming all responsibility for the paper placed on the boss's desk. And blogger Newman is incensed that The Plain Dealer even cares where the language came from.

But we do -- and voters should, too. Here's why: We need to know who is speaking. Is it a responsible, elected public official, or an Internet dilettante? Or is theirs a seamless relationship that makes a vote for Brown a vote for nathannewman.org or the Daily Kos? In their minds, does it make a difference?...

"bad week" for Brown?-

"A new poll from The Columbus Dispatch newspaper shows the Republican has the support of only about a third of the state's voters, and that's against either of his potential Democratic challengers, Paul Hackett and Congressman Sherrod Brown.

In hypothetical head-to-heads, Hackett nearly ties DeWine, and Brown even outpolls the incumbent by a couple of points.

In either case, more than a third of voters say they're undecided.

The 58-year-old DeWine hasn't officially said that he wants a third six-year term, but he's expected to run."

http://www.wcpo.com/news/2005/local/11/07/dewine.html