Reason Morning Links

- Jack Shafer on the Maureen Dowd plagiarism kerfuffle.

- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford self-identifies as a libertarian, scolds Sen. Lindsey Graham for mocking them.

- Recount of the arrest of the Motorhome Diaries crew in Jones County, Mississippi.

- U.S. Copyright Office implements new system to speed up process, ends up taking three times as long to approve applications.

- Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley move to repay TARP money.

- U.S. Supreme Court narrowly rejects lawsuit against former Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller by man who says he was detained and beaten shortly after September 11 because of their policies.

- Facebook shutting down accounts of users with unusual-sounding names. I object.

Comments

[Kyle Jordan]

"U.S. Copyright Office implements new system to speed up process, ends up taking three times as long to approve applications."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

"Facebook shutting down accounts of users with unusual-sounding names. I object."

This is just lame. Though the "I object" part is pretty funny.

[Xeones]

Facebook shutting down accounts of users with unusual-sounding names.

My buddy Heywood's gonna be pissed. Maybe you know him? Heywood Jablomi? It's a Czech name.

[Xeones]

PS. Fuck Facebook anyway, yo.

[J sub D]

The issue of repaying TARP money is a sensitive one for the government. By allowing strong banks to abandon the bailout and its restrictions, it risks putting weaker banks at a disadvantage, analysts say. A big concern is that high-level employees of bailed-out banks could defect to rivals that have paid back the funds.

We should require Ford to accept some government loans so that aren't seen as stronger than GM and Terri Schiavo Chrysler giving them an unfair competitive advantage.

Then the UAW and Henry Waxman can dictate the business practices of the entire domestic auto industry. It would only be fair.

Make no mistake about it, some of these banks had TARP cash shoved down their throats.

[Warty]

The motorhome boys are kidding themselves if they think they'll win a lawsuit. That traffic stop sounded thoroughly (sadly) typical.

[Pro Libertate]

What have I learned from all of this? Not to send e-mails to Maureen Dowd.

Actually, I'm kidding. She's lying. I've learned nothing.

[J sub D]

The delays do not appear to be hampering the business of the major publishing houses or those willing to spend $685 for a "special handling fee" that expedites registration. But the slowdown is frustrating hundreds of thousands of little-known people with big dreams. They paid $45 for the right to claim legal ownership of poems, fabric designs, plays, jingles, even computer manuals.

One thing that government does better than a free market, looking out for the little guy.

[Ivan Insatiable Bananafetish]

Facebook's criteria for unusual names needs to be explored...

[hmm]

The media is the way to go. Get their photos and start a campaign. Why start the fight in such battles on their grounds. Start in the media end in a court room.

[P Brooks]

Maureen Dowd is a useless, blithering imbecile.

That is all.

[Publius]

Facebook cancelled my account as well.

[Kyle Jordan]

"Recount of the arrest of the Motorhome Diaries crew in Jones County, Mississippi."

I can't even put in to words how enraging this is.

[James Ard]

I'm shocked Goldman Sach would up with enough cash to bail themselves out.

[stuartl]

Jack Shafer seems to have it about right on Dowd, it was probably an innocent screw up, and she admitted it and corrected it. Dowd has a typically excellent line in the article that doesn't seem to be plagiarism: "It's discomfiting to think that the woman who's making Joe Biden seem suave is second in line to the presidency."

Dowd deservedly earns plenty of criticism for what she writes, this plagiarism is minor compared to her weird worldview. In the column in question, somehow Cheney is responsible for Pelosi doing the standard political waffle. The big, bad man is being mean to the poor little "stylish" grandmother.

FWIW, whenever I think of Dowd, it reminds me of one of my all time favorite punditry articles, on how to choose between Obama and Clinton: "People will have to choose which of America's sins are greater, and which stain will have to be removed first. Is misogyny worse than racism, or is racism worse than misogyny?" Who cares if you plagiarize if you can write something like that and mean it?

[TrickyVic]

"""PS. Fuck Facebook anyway, yo."""

I second that.

"""The motorhome boys are kidding themselves if they think they'll win a lawsuit. That traffic stop sounded thoroughly (sadly) typical."""

Yeah, and they paid their fines which means they pleaded guilty. I'd be shocked if they won a lawsuit, let's be real, we are talking about a state where people are found guilty because Mr. West says so. It's a good reason NEVER to go to Mississippi.

[Michael]

Facebook is the realm for people who are too stiff and unimaginative for myspace yet still too exhibitionist to remain confined to simple email. Kudos to facebook for weeding out anybody that might be trying to get all uppity and "creative".

[mitch]

"People will have to choose which of America's sins are greater, and which stain will have to be removed first. Is misogyny worse than racism, or is racism worse than misogyny?"

I didn't have to make that choice. I had to make a choice between the fighter pilot guy and the Mormon business guy, and then the choice between the fighter pilot guy and the college professor/law journal editor who was too busy hanging out with radical goofballs to write any scholarly articles.

[Dick Hertz]

Facebook shutting down accounts of users with unusual-sounding names.

Facebook cancelled my account too. Where is my justice? This is supposed to be Obama's America!

[Hugh Akston]

Obligatory Professor quote from TFA: "The first step in any sort of takedown action is to notify," he said. "What's the rush? Why not give somebody 24, 48 hours?"

If they are typical Facebook users, they will check their page 70-80 times in that span.

[Homer Sexual]

my account is still active

[The Wine Commonsewer (TWC)]

So far I've excaped the wrath of Face Book

[SugarFree]

for people who are too stiff and unimaginative for myspace

Aversion to eye vomit = stiff and unimaginative. Noted.

Facebook is just grown-up MySpace. Just as LiveJournal was supplanted with Blogger when LJ became perceived as nothing but a venue for goth kids to showcase their vampire/Bigfoot slash fiction, Facebook did the same thing to MySpace when MS became a hang-out for emo kids, wiggers, and Vietnamese tranny-troll dolls.

Don't worry, haters. Facebook is on its way out too. Twitter for the people who only used it for status updates and Linked In for grown up business stuff.

[Hugh G. Rekshun]

"my account is still active"

I'm good.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

Jack Shafer must really want to bang Maureen Dowd to give her such an easy pass. The emailing/talking with a friend excuse smells like week-old fish. It is in no way an improvement on the lethal-download excuse that doomed Ruth Shalit's career. Of the six points Shafer lists in her favor, 1-2 are variations of "She needed to say 'uncle' and she said it without stuttering;" 3 is a lie, and 4-6 expect us to be impressed because after a mere 48 hours she hasn't started her "time to move on" campaign.

Plagiarism always provides an interesting study in power. The plagiarist robs somebody he or she deems to weak to make a fuss (which is arguably the case with Josh Marshall relative to Dowd, and is definitely the case with Dowd's unnamed "friend" relative to Dowd). The victim may or may not have the pull to object, but if the plagiarist is powerful enough -- as seems to be the case here -- the bien pensants will line up to excuse the whole thing or praise the plagiarist's courage.

[Kolohe]

The emailing/talking with a friend excuse smells like week-old fish

The oddest thing to me about it was the implication that it's OK to plagiarize someone who's anonymous, just not someone who's famous.

(full disclosure: if I were 10 years older or she 10 years younger - or really both - I would bang Maureen Dowd as well)

[!]

Jack Shafer must really want to bang Maureen Dowd to give her such an easy pass.

He needs to get in line waaayyyy after me.

[OO===D]

"(full disclosure: if I were 10 years older or she 10 years younger - or really both - I would bang Maureen Dowd as well)"

Even if she were just eighteen, I wouldn't fuck her with Ted Kennidy's dick.

[OO===D]

Kennidy's? Jeebus!

[!]

Ms. Dowd,

If you are reading this, your articles are the most inspiring things I have ever read. I will gladly give up my Libertarian materialistic, Capitalistic ways and take to the ways of the Manhattan Liberals, to include all of that caring bullshit, for a weekend of banging with you.

V/r,
!

p.s.,
I will leave all of my guns with a neighbor if you are coming to my place.

[Syd]

I wouldn't either. Ted Kennedy can do his own fucking.

[P Brooks]

Maureen Dowd? Seriously?

Why not Elwood P?

[Warty]

Vietnamese tranny-troll dolls.

But Tila Tequila is a beautiful soul, dude.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm with Tim. What's so noble about confessing that you erred when (1) you were caught first and (2) you made up a lame excuse? She plagiarized. It may have been accidental in the sense that she copied and pasted and meant to rewrite it (I suspect that's a common practice these days), but that's not what she said, so I imagine the truth is more unseemly.

[MNG]

"Maureen Dowd is a useless, blithering imbecile.

That is all."

Once during a heavy debate with TAO here I accused him of being unfamiliar with liberal thought and he asked me who I meant and gave as an example Maureen Dowd. I laughed and laughed so hard my sides hurt. I guess some dumbass liberals like that woman like dumbass conservatives like Glenn Beck, but I don't know any major thinker that takes her seriously. She's about as sharp as Jello.

In fact, I'd be hard pressed to think of a liberal, other than maybe Krugman, that writes either the Washington Post or NYT that I think has much intellectual caliber. I get the Post and the only regular columnists I read are Kathleen Parker and George Will.

[Nick]

Are Sanford's chances of a Republican presidential nomination hurt or helped by proclaiming himself to be libertarian. And, likewise is the libertarian agenda hurt or helped by it in relative Republican circles and every day independents who aren't drooling over everything Obama does?

[MayorOmalleySuxs]

Heywood Jablomi?

Watched Hamlet II last night. LMAO

[Solanum]

Maureen Dowd smells like week-old fish.

Fixed that for you.

[Warty]

other than maybe Krugman

MNG, dude, you're more of an intellectual than Krugman (talk about damning with faint praise).

PRINT! PRINT MONEY! PRINT! PRINT! PRINT MONEY FASTER! WHY AREN'T YOU PRINTING MORE MONEY OBAMA PRINT PRINT PRINT!

[Solanum]

Pro Libertate-

Is this possibly the most momentous Monkey Tuesday ever?

Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution.

[Pro Libertate]

So, we're mammals, eh? And I was hoping that we were actually dinosaurs.

[!]

So, we're mammals, eh? And I was hoping that we were actually dinosaurs.

Rocky fought a dinosaur once, right before he faught Mr. T.

[SugarFree]

Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution.

MY GRANDFATHER WAS NOT A MONKEY!

[!]

SugarFree,

Laught while you can, monkey boy!
-- Dr. Emilio Lizardo

[Hampton]

"Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution."

They're saying it had butt sex with a retarded squirrel.

[Dave Letterman\'s Pants]

Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution.

Regis?

[Michael]

Aversion to eye vomit = stiff and unimaginative. Noted.

I chuckle a bit whenever libertarian types (not you specifically, just in general) cheer the idea of bottom-up, spontaneous organizing of creative human forces but often recoil in disgust once they witness the inevitable results. Your assessment of myspace couldn't be more accurate - it is eye vomit. That's exactly what made it so great.

Facebook is just grown-up MySpace.

My point exactly. You could say _______ is just grown up _______ about anything and it pretty much translates into, "This thing kinda sucks." I don't lament the decline of either, though it's been an interesting and often entertaining spectacle to experience over the past decade.

[John Thacker]

I chuckle a bit whenever libertarian types (not you specifically, just in general) cheer the idea of bottom-up, spontaneous organizing of creative human forces but often recoil in disgust once they witness the inevitable results.

90% of everything is crap. That doesn't mean I want to ban the making of anything, or even discourage it, in order to prevent more crap. The genius of the free market is that the crap eventually goes away, or at least you're not forced to pay for it. Government, OTOH?

[Hugh Akston]

The genius of the free market is that the crap eventually goes away...

Wrong. Crap never goes away. It is merely updated, repackaged, or remade starring Shia LeBeouf. The genius of the market is that one can choose the alternative to crap.

Government, OTOH, makes one size and color of sweater and tells its subjects to grow into it.

[Jennifer]

Kindly add me to the "hell with Maureen Dowd" crowd. The thing I don't get is that her excuse -- "I heard it from a friend" -- doesn't strike me as much better than plagiarism itself. What: "No, I wasn't plagiarizing, I was just taking credit for my friend's ideas?" How the hell is THAT an imporvement?

When I write something a friend told me, I also write "As my friend said to me the other day. . . " or "I once read that . . ."

Hmmph. I don't plagiarize and I don't write whiny articles complaining about how my life's problems are the fault of some male/rightwing conspiracy. But I am capable of doing these things if I had to. Therefore, I think I should be hired as the Token Redhead Columnist for the New York Times.

[Art-P.O.G.]

Crap never goes away. It is merely updated, repackaged, or remade starring Shia LeBeouf.

For the win.

Therefore, I think I should be hired as the Token Redhead Columnist for the New York Times.

Word.