Could a Plagiarism Charge Help Determine the Senate's Balance of Power?

William Haskins · Jul 25, 2014

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times reported on Wednesday that Walsh “appropriated” about one quarter of the material in a 14-page final paper he submitted to receive a master’s degree in 2007 from the Army War College. The report was accompanied by a pretty nifty interactive graphic that color-coded the paper to show either passages taken without attribution or passages with improper attribution, such as simply lifting another author’s words verbatim without putting those words in quotation marks.

Initially, his staff suggested this incident happened when the senator, a veteran of the Iraq war, suffered from post-deployment stress. But then a day after the article appeared, Walsh’s campaign issued a combative statement that dismissed that explanation and twice referred to his “unintentional mistake.” A comment from campaign spokeswoman Lauren Passalacqua said “he’s not a classroom academic—the Senate already has plenty of those.”

But there’s a huge hole in this explanation. Let’s explore.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...rs-plagiarism-was-merely-incorrect-citations/

"I don't want to blame my mistake on PTSD, but I do want to say it may have been a factor," Walsh told the Associated Press after the New York Times on Wednesday detailed examples of his evident plagiarism. "My head was not in a place very conducive to a classroom and an academic environment."

Late Thursday, the college said it had opened an investigation, noting that plagiarism can result in dismissal and even revocation of graduation. “The Army War College initiated its own analysis of the paper and determined this morning that there was reasonable cause to refer the case to the U.S. Army War College Academic Review Board,” it said in a statement.

Walsh was appointed in February by Montana's Democratic governor to replace Max Baucus, the state's longtime Democratic U.S. senator, who gave up his seat to become ambassador to China. Part of Walsh's political appeal was his military service record, a reassuring credential in a state with a broad conservative streak.

That is one reason, analysts said, the report of plagiarism may prove so damaging.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-montana-senate-plagiarism-20140725-story.html

real clear politics currently shows each party with 46 likely seats for each party, with 8 toss-ups...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2014/senate/2014_elections_senate_map.html

TheMathematician · Jul 25, 2014

I read the thesis last night, and it honestly made me laugh because the quality of the paper (even when plagiarized) was absolutely terrible.

I have no idea how his supervisor accepted such a document.

PorterStarrByrd · Jul 25, 2014

shouldn't make much difference. The vice president was caught plagiarizing his speeches some years back ....

William Haskins · Jul 25, 2014

but it wasn't potentially tied to a revocation of a master's degree in an election year.

robeiae · Jul 25, 2014

I think the "blaming" of the plagiarism on PTSD and on the suicide of a member of his unit is pretty despicable. That's going to cost him more than the actual plagiarism, I think.

clintl · Jul 25, 2014

We'll see - it's the kind of thing could blow up into a big deal, or go away in a few days. I don't have a sense yet which it's going to be.

robeiae · Jul 25, 2014

Also, I don't think we should settle for Senators this stupid. I mean, the plagiarism is rampant and easily checked. My high school-aged daughter couldn't get away with this, as her papers--in an IB program--have to go through Turnitin. When I was a TA back in 2000, I caught students lifting passages off of the internet all the time, using nothing more than Dogpile.

TheMathematician · Jul 25, 2014

PorterStarrByrd said:
shouldn't make much difference. The vice president was caught plagiarizing his speeches some years back ....

Plagiarizing your masters thesis, and plagiarizing a speech are two very different things. Also keep in mind that his military promotions were based partly on his academic qualifications.

PorterStarrByrd · Jul 25, 2014

character is character ... or not.

clintl · Jul 25, 2014

OK, RCP already had that race leaning toward the Republicans, so it's already one of the 46. Walsh appears to have been in trouble before this came up.

rugcat · Jul 25, 2014

PorterStarrByrd said:
shouldn't make much difference. The vice president was caught plagiarizing his speeches some years back ....

And it effectively derailed his presidential ambitions at the time.

However, Rand Paul has been plagiarizing speeches copied from Wikipedia articles for quite some time, but those revelations have had little impact on his reputation one way or another. But neither of those things, though embarrassing, rises to the level of plagiarizing a Masters thesis.

Ordinarily, I would say that most don't care much about such things -- people will vilify those politicians who they are opposed to anyway while excusing those they support.

But those on the fence could be swayed. In a close race, where a small shift can mean the difference between victory and defeat, it certainly could be significant.

Noah Body · Jul 25, 2014

Yeah, CT Senator Richard Blumenthal outright lied when he said he saw service in Vietnam, then claimed he "misspoke" when caught. Voters still gave him the nod, anyway. I don't think lying and stealing are traits our elected officials should present, at least before they get into office.

Xelebes · Jul 25, 2014

What ever happened to Dogpile? Man was the internet ever young in those days.

TheMathematician · Jul 25, 2014

I'm very surprised that a school as prestigious as the War College does not do automatic electronic plagiarism checking after submissions.

William Haskins · Jul 25, 2014

clintl said:
OK, RCP already had that race leaning toward the Republicans, so it's already one of the 46. Walsh appears to have been in trouble before this came up.

true, but he was appointed to keep the chair warm for dems after baucus moved on to an ambassadorship, and he had held it since the 1970s.

more color on the race:

http://blogs.rollcall.com/rothenblog/john-walsh-montana-senate-race-2014-polling/?dcz=

clintl · Jul 25, 2014

I know that, William. But I think it was going to be challenge to hold it unless Schweitzer ran, which he decided not to do.

William Haskins · Jul 25, 2014

i wasn't trying to lecture you. sorry.

Vince524 · Jul 25, 2014

William Haskins said:
i wasn't trying to lecture you. sorry.

Then why the wagging bone finger?

That is a finger you're wagging, isn't it?

William Haskins · Jul 25, 2014

i will not be skeleton-shamed.

Williebee · Jul 25, 2014

TheMathematician said:
I'm very surprised that a school as prestigious as the War College does not do automatic electronic plagiarism checking after submissions.

It was 2007. Turnitin, for example, didn't go live until 2009. It would be interesting to see what would happen if every college were to submit every thesis and dissertation on file to a plagiarism checking.

Alessandra Kelley · Jul 25, 2014

I did wonder why there was a self-righteous letter harrumphing and tut-tutting in today's New York Times about how a single charge of plagiarism should not taint one for the rest of one's days and how we are all vulnerable to ethical lapses and we should not rush to judgement and one bad decision is not evidence of a poor character etc. etc. etc. etc.

I could almost smell the cigar smoke of back room back-slapping forgiveness.

Plagiarism is a shifty, scummy, intellectually dishonest and dishonorable thing to do. Plagiarism of a degree thesis on which your later job position and pay is based is greedy and vain as well, and puts people who got their degrees honestly at a disadvantage.

Plagiarism is theft. While I do not see thievery as a bar to high government position, it certainly lays bare the character of the person who does it.

robjvargas · Jul 25, 2014

The NY Times has itself been a vehicle for plagiarism.

I wouldn't color a whole organization by the actions of one man. But when that organization publishes apologist editorial copy for that kind of activity...

I have to wonder at the real intent.

Alessandra Kelley · Jul 25, 2014

It was a letter to the editor, not an official New York Times article or editorial.

It also tried to focus on the culpability of some other party, in this case the Army War College, rather than assigning responsibility where it belongs: with Senator Walsh.

robeiae · Jul 25, 2014

Xelebes said:
What ever happened to Dogpile? Man was the internet ever young in those days.

Dogpile was the bomb in the days before Google.

But it's still running: http://www.dogpile.com/

nighttimer · Jul 26, 2014

Xelebes said:
What ever happened to Dogpile? Man was the internet ever young in those days.

Dogpile? I know not of what you speak of. Let me open Netscape Navigator and search in AltaVista for results. I shall post the results on Myspace and spark a lively debate among my followers.

As far as the balance of power in the Senate goes, while the Republicans are bullish on gaining control of the upper chamber, it would indeed be a sweet irony if Mitch McConnell isn't among their ranks.

It’s a taboo subject among Senate Republicans but one that’s on many senators’ minds: What if Mitch McConnell loses his reelection bid?

There appears to be no clear answer to that question, at least not right now.

In interviews and private conversations with more than half of the 45-member Senate Republican Conference, there is a split over a potential McConnell successor. His top deputy, John Cornyn of Texas, is favored to succeed him, several GOP senators said. But others ranging from John Thune of South Dakota to Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander — or a dark horse — are among those who could get serious consideration in the event of a leadership vacancy.

Cornyn’s ascension to the top spot is hardly a lock. A McConnell loss would mean Republicans would most likely still be in the Senate minority, and some GOP senators would be looking for a fresh face to pull the party out of the political wilderness, set policy priorities and drive the national message.

There also appears to be concern among a handful in the Republican Conference that a Minority Leader Cornyn would be hamstrung by the whims of his fellow Texan and conservative firebrand Ted Cruz, pulling the party further to the right.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), like most senators interviewed for this article, insisted that McConnell would win his race. But when asked if Cornyn would ascend to the leader spot if McConnell lost, Burr said: “The institution always has a way of attracting fresh candidates, and I’m sure it would do the same in that particular case.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/...ose-senate-kentucky-109262.html#ixzz38ak3aNbw

Could a Plagiarism Charge Help Determine the Senate's Balance of Power?

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