David M: More blog plagiarism (blogiarism?)

On the one hand, I am flattered whenever someone links to this blog. Should I be less flattered if the linker is seemingly a plagiarist?

For example, when the blog of Jim Lago's show--"Lago in the Morning" on radio 1440 KEYS--linked to my recent post, "Academic bias in the news," I was happy that it brought me a few hits. (I don't know if Lago or someone on his staff writes the blog.)

Here was the Lago post (scroll down to Dec. 10, 2004 top stories):

Liberal Bias - Two three-part series on liberal bias in academia were published this week, one in the New York Sun and the other in NewsMax.com.

On Wednesday, the Sun ran three op-eds in a series entitled "Campus Crisis":

Link

I was also pleased that the link went to my blog instead of directly to the media pieces under discussion.

But when I looked at the the posts on Lago's site immediately above and below the "Liberal Bias," post they had a familiar ring. Seems Betsy Newmark had covered all the topics, too.

Here are some ways this sampling of Lagos's work violates blog etiquette (in descending order of significance):

In some instances the Lago blog copies Betsy's work verbatim without acknowledgement or even so much as a link (as in the Prowler piece below).
In some instances, the Lago blog uses Betsy's ideas, but with different words, without acknowledgment (as in the piece on Bush and the Democrats below).
The Lago blog uses links seemingly derived straight from Betsy without acknowledgement (as in every piece below).

What are some of the things the Lago blog does right in this sampling of his work?

It shows good taste in blogs when choosing Betsy's Page to rip off.
It links to me--a clear sign of taste and erudition.
It sometimes shows evidence that the writer actually read the linked pieces.

Here is the segment in question from the Lago site (again, scroll down to Dec. 10, 2004 top stories):

Democracy - John Podhoretz how well democracy works in the United States.
ONLY 38 days ago, the most passion ately contested presidential election in modern history was finally conducted. And yet, doesn't it seem that a very, very long time has passed since Nov. 2? On the Right, political Web sites are registering sharp drops in traffic and reader involvement, to judge by the dramatic reduction in the numbers of those who leave comments there. On the Left, the effort by leftist Democrats to create a spurious vote-counting scandal in the state of Ohio has fallen totally flat, despite having been taken up by the usual tiresome subjects.
(And speaking of those usual tiresome subjects, isn't it time for Jesse Jackson to start appearing on the "Hollywood Squares" or something? Maybe he can appear during "Has-Been Celebrities with Illegitimate Kids Week.")
Only 38 days ago, people everywhere in this country were jumping out of their skins with excitement, worry, fear, rage, hatred and enthusiasm. And then Bush won and, except for a few diehards, we're moving on. The same thing happened in 2000. It works in our country.
A fight was waged, and it was concluded. The pressure built up to a nearly intolerable level and the election released it. It's the glory of our system, and maybe 52 days from now the Iraqi people will experience some of the same relief after they go to the polls for the first time as a free nation.
Liberal Bias - Two three-part series on liberal bias in academia were published this week, one in the New York Sun and the other in NewsMax.com.
On Wednesday, the Sun ran three op-eds in a series entitled "Campus Crisis":
Link
President reaches out - President Bush is quietly seeking support from a growing number of congressional Democrats who would rather work with him than fight him on issues such as Social Security reform.
How long will this be remembered?
Like a Rolling Stone -
William Tucker So how does "Like A Rolling Stone" emerge as the Greatest Hit of All Time? Because it is a landmark to Sixties-bred radicals who like to think of American history as "Things That Happened To Us." "Like a Rolling Stone" still marks that first joyous 1965 uniting of protest songs and electric guitars. It was a political event, not a musical moment.
The greatest rock 'n' roll song of all time? For generating great music, Dylan couldn't even tune Elvis's guitar.
Whitehouse Misdirection? - The Prowler notes that the Bush team was able to get what they wanted for the Patriot Act into the Intelligence bill. And the Democrats can't complain because they didn't even seem to notice it.

And here are the snippets from Betsy's Page on Dec. 9 and 10 on which the Lago posts appear to be based:

John Podhoretz notes how well democracy works in the United States.
ONLY 38 days ago, the most passion ately contested presidential election in modern history was finally conducted. And yet, doesn't it seem that a very, very long time has passed since Nov. 2?
On the Right, political Web sites are registering sharp drops in traffic and reader involvement, to judge by the dramatic reduction in the numbers of those who leave comments there. On the Left, the effort by leftist Democrats to create a spurious vote-counting scandal in the state of Ohio has fallen totally flat, despite having been taken up by the usual tiresome subjects.

(And speaking of those usual tiresome subjects, isn't it time for Jesse Jackson to start appearing on the "Hollywood Squares" or something? Maybe he can appear during "Has-Been Celebrities with Illegitimate Kids Week.")

Only 38 days ago, people everywhere in this country were jumping out of their skins with excitement, worry, fear, rage, hatred and enthusiasm.
And then Bush won and, except for a few diehards, we're moving on. The same thing happened in 2000. It works in our country.
A fight was waged, and it was concluded. The pressure built up to a nearly intolerable level and the election released it. It's the glory of our system, and maybe 52 days from now the Iraqi people will experience some of the same relief after they go to the polls for the first time as a free nation.

David M. has a roundup of all the stories on ideological bias on campus that have appeared in the past week.

Bookmark this article about how Bush has reached out and started working with Democrats. Since it will all be forgotten soon.

William Tucker ponders why Rolling Stone Magazine picked Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" as the greatest rock song of all time.
So how does "Like A Rolling Stone" emerge as the Greatest Hit of All Time? Because it is a landmark to Sixties-bred radicals who like to think of American history as "Things That Happened To Us." "Like a Rolling Stone" still marks that first joyous 1965 uniting of protest songs and electric guitars. It was a political event, not a musical moment.

The greatest rock 'n' roll song of all time? For generating great music, Dylan couldn't even tune Elvis's guitar.

The Prowler notes that the Bush team was able to get what they wanted for the Patriot Act into the Intelligence bill. And the Democrats can't complain because they didn't even seem to notice it...

In fairness, I have not read any other parts of Lago's web page, so I do not know how widespread the problem is, or if it is a brief slip-up. I also do not know if Lago writes the web site or if a staffer does.

The transgressions in the Lago blog do not seem rise to the level of the last blog plagiarist I uncovered. (The last guy was routinely lifting entire posts verbatim from Betsy and others without acknowledgement while doing little or no original work.) But just the same it would be good to put an end to it.

Interestingly, there seems to be a developing trend among blog plagiarists (blogiarists?) to rely on Betsy's Page. Perhaps it's because Betsy does such fine work but does not (yet) have the readership or name recognition of Reynolds or Sullivan.