Tales of the Genius Right Blogosphere

I don't spend enough time mocking the scribes on the other side of the e-aisle, mainly because Sadly No and TBogg and others have cornered that market. But this is really too previous to pass up.

Some dude named Liberty Pundit (I assume Why Do You Hate America Pundit was taken), whose entire site is a link back to himself because his code sucks, has BREAKING MUST CREDIT LIBERTY PUNDIT news!!!

Another Jayson Blair moment for the New York Times? Kinda looks like it, if you look at the article published yesterday and compare it to an article he wrote in October 2005 (reg. required).

Oh noes! Liberty Pundit is on the case of this obvious bit of self-plagiarism. Look at the evidence:

From yesterday’s op-ed:

“You start out in 1954 by saying, ‘Nigger, nigger, nigger,’ ” said Atwater. “By 1968, you can’t say ‘nigger’ — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things, and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.”

From the 2005 op-ed:

“You start out in 1954 by saying, ‘Nigger, nigger, nigger.’ By 1968 you can’t say ‘nigger’ - that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.

That's right! Bob Herbert quoted Lee Atwater directly the SAME WAY in two different columns! He didn't even bother to change it to something Atwater didn't say! I'm expecting the resignation letter any day now.

This is a joke, right? Using direct quotes as an example of plagiarism? As far as the rest of his "evidence," it's clear that Herbert returned to the same theme and used new information to illuminate a long-standing point. That's called writing. Which is different from random linking while specks of Cheetos fly from the mouth, or as Liberty Pundit would call it, Tuesday.

UPDATE: Gavin from Sadly No offers the definitive text at Alternet on why it's important to wade through these fetid swamps of lying and misinformation on the right.