View Full Version : Coulter is a Plagiarist -- Surprised?
Apparently the Backroom's favorite transvestite hate lampooon is also a plagiarist. Article: (http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/copycatty_coulter_pilfers_prose__pro_nationalnews_philip_recchia.htm)
COPYCATTY COULTER PILFERS PROSE: PRO
By PHILIP RECCHIA
July 2, 2006 -- Conservative scribe Ann Coulter cribbed liberally in her latest book, "Godless," according to a plagiarism expert.
John Barrie, the creator of a leading plagiarism-recognition system, claimed he found at least three instances of what he calls "textbook plagiarism" in the leggy blond pundit's "Godless: the Church of Liberalism" after he ran the book's text through the company's digital iThenticate program.
He also says he discovered verbatim lifts in Coulter's weekly column, which is syndicated to more than 100 newspapers, including the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Sun-Sentinel and Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle.
Barrie, CEO of iParadigms, told The Post that one 25-word passage from the "Godless" chapter titled "The Holiest Sacrament: Abortion" appears to have been lifted nearly word for word from Planned Parenthood literature published at least 18 months before Coulter's 281-page book was released.
A separate, 24-word string from the chapter "The Creation Myth" appeared about a year earlier in the San Francisco Chronicle with just one word change - "stacked" was changed to "piled."
Another 33-word passage that appears five pages into "Godless" allegedly comes from a 1999 article in the Portland (Maine) Press Herald.
Meanwhile, many of the 344 citations Coulter includes in "Godless" "are very misleading," said Barrie, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, where he specialized in pattern recognition.
"They're used purely to try and give the book a higher level of credibility - as if it's an academic work. But her sloppiness in failing to properly attribute many other passages strips it of nearly all its academic merits," he told The Post.
Barrie says he also ran Coulter's Universal Press columns from the past 12 months through iThenticate and found similar patterns of cribbing.
Her Aug. 3, 2005, column, "Read My Lips: No New Liberals," about U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, includes six passages, ranging from 10 to 48 words each, that appeared 15 years earlier in the same order in an L.A. Times article, headlined "Liberals Leery as New Clues Surface on Souter's Views."
But nowhere in that column does she mention the L.A. Times or the story's writer, David G. Savage.
Her June 29, 2005, column, "Thou Shalt Not Commit Religion," incorporates 10 facts on National Endowment for the Arts-funded work that originally appeared in the same order in a 1991 Heritage Foundation report, "The National Endowment for the Arts: Misusing Taxpayers' Money." But again, the Heritage Foundation isn't credited.
"Just as Coulter plays free and loose with her citations in 'Godless,' she obviously does the same in her columns," Barrie said.
Coulter did not respond to requests for comment.
Not surprised, no.
Anyone who saw her CBC interview where she repeatedly insisted that Canada sent troops to Vietnam would have known way back then that she has no credibility whatsoever.
For those who missed it:
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/sticksandstones.html
mercian billman
07-07-2006, 07:51
I've never actually bothered to read Ann Coulter, but it really doesn't surprise me. Most political pundits seem to be sketchy characters, I guess it's just part of the job.
No surprise at all. If there was a "not surprised" smiley, I woulda just used it.
I still think it used to be a man. But my thread to discuss it was closed. I think its entire attitude is simply the result of having to take all those hormones so it won't grow a beard again. So maybe memory lapses due to hormonal imbalance can explain the memory loss? :smug:
English assassin
07-07-2006, 10:43
Wow. My first thought was, "Surely to find this out, someone would both have to read this Ann Coulter stuff, AND some other mad right wing stuff, and retain both in their heads for long enough to spot they were the same?" and my head nearly exploded.
Then I read they used a computer. Phew.
AntiochusIII
07-07-2006, 11:08
What is the consequence of plagiarism crime in the United States?
Gah. Who am I kidding? She's just gonna get away with a slap on her bony wrist and even then raise the ire of her brainless followers anyway. :dizzy2:
I think the idea that someone has written a program to find blatant plagiarism like this rather interesting. It must require a huge database. Or else they are able to take a base paper (in this case Coulter's book), scan it in entirely, and then do some kind of library search of all publications that have also been scanned into some database. (Library of Congress maybe?) Then the program must cough up any finds which match some minimum criteria. I wonder what their minimum string length match is? 10 words in a row, or more, to keep common phrases from matching?
In the U.S. there isn't really a penalty for plagiarism, unless the owner of the copyright complains. Maybe an apology at most. I suppose in extreme cases a civil lawsuit might be brought. I recall the infamous court case against George Harrison. I suppose one of the injured parties could sue Coulter for a portion of her profits. I don't think such happens very often,
though.
P.S. I still think it's a particularly ugly man. :grin:
I can't say I'm surprised either. When you've grasped that all pundits are bull (colourful word I can't say on forums) artists to a certain and Coulter is one of the champions of it then anything the woman does does not impress.
The odd thing is quite a bit of her writting comes across as "I support this veiwpoint becouse the liberals support the other" for example Her veiws on evolution which of coarse raises the question how to do you pick out her genuine opnions from that obsessive liberals bashing the more wacky conservatives go in for.
Banquo's Ghost
07-07-2006, 11:57
I still think it used to be a man. But my thread to discuss it was closed. I think its entire attitude is simply the result of having to take all those hormones so it won't grow a beard again. So maybe memory lapses due to hormonal imbalance can explain the memory loss? :smug:
I have no time for Ms Coulter and her bizzare ravings, but surely we should not demonise our opponents so much that we deny their humanity, even casually? Whilst the speculation on her gender reassignment may be a bit of fun, calling her 'it' crosses a boundary towards dehumanisation, IMO.
I hope I don't come across too 'holier than thou'. :smile: Using the word 'it' to describe a human being, however different in opinion, birth or choice, makes me uncomfortable.
:bow:
When Ann Coulter stops calling me a traitor for not being a conservative, I'll stop refering to it as an it. I'm not a turn the other cheek kind of person. :wink: :smug:
Banquo's Ghost
07-07-2006, 12:09
When Ann Coulter stops calling me a traitor for not being a conservative, I'll stop refering to it as an it. I'm not a turn the other cheek kind of person. :wink: :smug:
OK. :smile: Just seems to be descending to her level, that's all.
I'm not above a little slumming in the intellectual depths on occasion. :wink:
Vladimir
07-07-2006, 13:52
Clearly some people here believe in the myth of creative or original thinking. So she didn't site her sources? Ok, now what? Most of what she's about is throwing red meat on the grill for conservatives. Similar drivel can be seen on the left. This one definitely qualifies as a :coffeenews:
English assassin
07-07-2006, 15:48
[QUOTE=Aenlic]I think the idea that someone has written a program to find blatant plagiarism like this rather interesting. It must require a huge database. Or else they are able to take a base paper (in this case Coulter's book), scan it in entirely, and then do some kind of library search of all publications that have also been scanned into some database. [QUOTE]
You don't work for an exam board I take it? There's quite a few of these programmes out there now. They are pretty sophisticated, changign a few words doesn't cut it any more.
You don't work for an exam board I take it? There's quite a few of these programmes out there now. They are pretty sophisticated, changign a few words doesn't cut it any more.
That's good to hear. I'm 20+ years out of college, so I'm not up on these things. It's nice to know that there is a counter to the ability of people to go online and purchase papers on just about any subject. In the old days, the cheaters had to go do a back street money changing hands like a drug deal thing to get papers like that. I guess I'm just old school. Makes me cranky. Heh. I did my science classes in high school with a circular slide rule. They didn't allow electronic calculators in the classroom until my senior year. We were all giddy with our TI-50a beauties. All you young whipper-snappers with your new-fangled toys! I used to to school uphill through the snow too! Both ways!
Man, I'm feeling old today. :grin:
So she didn't site her sources?
Lifting entire sentences and paragraphs from other sources without attribution is a teensy-weensy bit more serious than not citing sources. That's why there's a different word for it. i.e., "plagiarism."
Hurin_Rules
07-07-2006, 17:33
Yes, professors have a lot more sophisticated tools at their disposal to spot plagiarism. The main advantage is that more and more materials are now on the web, and search tools are getting better every day. Take it from a prof: if you're going to plagiarize, DON'T plagiarize stuff you found on the web.
Plagiarism is a serious offense. If it was a matter of just forgetting to cite a source one or two times, then that is obviously forgivable. But if she is lifting whole blocks of text and not clearly informing her readers that such passages are not hers, she is committing theft as well as being craven and deeply dishonest. I hate plagiarists.
If the allegations against Coulter are true, it would seriously undermine the last tiny shred of credibility she could possibly be holding onto. This is a damnable offence for someone who has been so prompt and unbending in pointing out the alleged shortcomings of others. I'm really interested to see how she responds to this.
I think the more intersting question is does it matter ? Can she, or any other person in her profession, do anything wrong.
Short of molesting children or murder they can plagarize, have crazy dirty sex talks with employees (O'reilly), cheat on their wifes (numerous), do cocaine and get re-elected (Marion Barry), get hooked on perscription drugs (Limbaugh) or just be Geraldo Rivera and it doesn't seem to matter.
So go crazy pundits and politicians!
GeneralHankerchief
07-07-2006, 18:58
I think the more intersting question is does it matter ? Can she, or any other person in her profession, do anything wrong.
Short of molesting children or murder they can plagarize, have crazy dirty sex talks with employees (O'reilly), cheat on their wifes (numerous), do cocaine and get re-elected (Marion Barry), get hooked on perscription drugs (Limbaugh) or just be Geraldo Rivera and it doesn't seem to matter.
So go crazy pundits and politicians!
Here's a handy guide for determining how those in the political business get punished.
Pols: Their entire career is ruined. They become the laughingstock of their region and work at McDonald's/go to jail.
Works for/with pol: Resign to "spend more time with family."
Pundits: Absolutely nothing.
Eternal Champion
07-07-2006, 19:09
Joe Biden is a US Senator and Al Gore got to VP, didn't seem to hurt or stop them. Here's a whole website devoted to the topic:
http://www.famousplagiarists.com/index.html
Great Site, Eternal Champion! I just lost at least fifteen minutes of my life cackling over some of the people they nailed ripping others' texts off. Strangely, they omit one of my favorite plagiarists -- Ronald Reagan. He used story lines from films as "true" anecdotes. If I have the time and strong Google-fu, I'll dredge up an example. Very funny stuff.
Red Peasant
07-07-2006, 19:31
Joe Biden is a US Senator and Al Gore got to VP, didn't seem to hurt or stop them. Here's a whole website devoted to the topic:
http://www.famousplagiarists.com/index.html
Excellent site! Thanks.
so her bullsh*t right wing lies aren´t even ORIGINAL bullsh*t right wing lies?
I´m dissapointed......you can´t trust anybody nowadays....:no: :book:
Wow. My first thought was, "Surely to find this out, someone would both have to read this Ann Coulter stuff, AND some other mad right wing stuff, and retain both in their heads for long enough to spot they were the same?" and my head nearly exploded.
Then I read they used a computer. Phew.
Teehee, that did make me laugh.
Here's a handy guide for determining how those in the political business get punished.
Pols: Their entire career is ruined. They become the laughingstock of their region and work at McDonald's/go to jail.
Works for/with pol: Resign to "spend more time with family."
Pundits: Absolutely nothing.
Aaaah, the guide seems to work.
Need a qualifier for the Marion Barrys of the world. I mean getting caught with crack cocaine and a hooker and still getting re-elected. Cocaine and a hooker! On camera! Marion Barry ladies and gentlemen! Although he did apologize and claimed to have reformed. Until he got caught on the crack pipe again.
So the pundits are incredibly one sided and afforded little credibility, therefore there is little they can do to offend their partisan supporters and further detract from their already poor credibility ?
I'll bet that Joe Biden runs in the Democratic primaries in the 2008 presidential race. I think he's decided that his past errors aren't important. Considering what the public appears to be capable of forgiving, forgetting or just outright ignoring when it comes to Bush, he has a model, doesn't he? :wink:
What's suprising is that so many seem to have spent so much time pouring over her works to find plagiarism.
I doubt you'd find many of our political hacks create wholly original works (as a previous links shows). I dont think anyone is trying to pass Coulter off as a deep-thinking intellectual- so I find the amount of apparent effort that the author and other researchers put into this is..... I dont know.... funny?
What's next? Newflash: Michael Moore's books arent wholly truthfull! ? :laugh4:
What's suprising is that so many seem to have spent so much time pouring over her works to find plagiarism.
Uh, yeah, they must have spent years. Especially since the guy who did it owns a plagiarism-software company. I mean, he must have written the app just to trap the tranny. And boy, the time it took a NY Post hack to write that article, I mean, she'll never get that half-hour back ...
I find the amount of apparent effort that the author and other researchers put into this is..... I dont know.... funny?
Yeah, I'm laughing and pointing my finger at their ... um ... afternoon of wasted time. Why aren't they out fighting the real enemy? Why should they waste a whole afternoon tearing down a hack? Where are their priorities?
Hurin_Rules
07-10-2006, 19:01
While coulter's book publisher is defending her, her syndicator is now looking into the allegations:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13803982/
This article also cites at least two instances where Coulter lifted things almost verbatim from other authors.
I think there is a real possibility that her column may get dropped, or that she at least may get censured.
You find plagiarism funny, Xiahou? I wonder if you would also find theft of your possessions as hilarious. But I guess I'm just not part of the 'moral' majority.
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