November 7, 2014

The man who got Mary Burke into that "plagiarism" trouble comes forward one with of the most ludicrous exercises in self-justification I have ever read.

Published in that venerable journal, The Atlantic, it's Eric Schnurer. He kept quiet during the campaign, after he got fired, which happened after he advised Burke's people that they should fire him, because, you know, they needed him for ideas, for that jobs plan and then for what to do when the jobs plan looked like a lame cut-and-paste job. And now he has this new idea to blame others for the blame he carried only exactly as long as there was a political stake in shifting the blame onto him. He's got a career to rebuild, after all. 

You can read the whole thing. I'm just highlighting what I struck me as ludicrous:
[Mary Burke's] opposition spent a good deal of time attacking her for not “having a plan” until she issued the obligatory document. It was to be expected, however, that whatever she released would be subjected to merciless and unfair attack, because that’s how we conduct campaigns nowadays. 
So, presumably, that's what you're doing now, since that's what we do nowadays. It's all always "merciless and unfair," according to you.
Burke faced the competing demands of putting together a “plan” as quickly as possible and making it as perfect as possible. That’s where I came in....
You, with your reputation for speed and approximate perfection. By the way, why was this person running for governor without a plan? Why did this emergency exist in the first place? 
Reading the subsequent coverage of what occurred, you’d get the impression that my staff and I lazily cut-and-pasted our way through the project. In fact, the Burke jobs plan went through at least a dozen drafts and near-endless rewrites.... This was no cut-and-paste job. The Burke jobs plan went through at least a dozen drafts....
But if they had only rewritten the verbatim material from other sources, there would never have been a Buzzfeed exposé.
We knew better than simply to mail in work we’d completed elsewhere, acutely aware of the kind of cheap shots a candidate would incur if we did. 
You didn't know better than to make the plan a target for a Buzzfeed journalist. It wasn't a "cheap shot" from Scott Walker. It was a journalist, Andrew Kaczynski, doing his job. And it wasn't "cheap." Hypocritically, you are taking a cheap shot.

72 comments:

Meade said...

Results:0% Unique Content

phone ringing. I was about to become collateral damage Check In Detail
governor’s race, Mary Burke, contained slightly revised portions Check In Detail
other states. My staff and I had been responsible for Check In Detail
Burke’s paper, as well. Three of Burke’s top campaign advisers Existing
this accusation, but, with no time to investigate what had Existing
happened and how, I knew instantly that they would—and recommended, Existing
would—and recommended, under the generally accepted rules of politics, Existing
rules of politics, that they should—blame and publicly fire Existing
language: me. And, in respect to the candidate, through Existing
the candidate, through the ensuing weeks of attacks and Existing
finger-pointing, I agreed to remain silent.Existing
relying on my work, and whether I could plagiarize myself. The Existing
plagiarize myself. The accusations were predictably dismissed Existing (Nov 6, 2014)
dismissed by experts, but, just as predictably, not by the partisans. Existing (Nov 6, 2014)
the partisans. In fact, such allegations are remarkably Existing (Nov 6, 2014)
same week alone, two Senate candidates faced the same charge, Existing
the same charge, while a gubernatorial candidate in another Existing
to be shocked, shocked, that a candidate would adopt issue Existing

How the Plagiarism Check Tool Works:

The article you entered is scanned carefully, and so is the world wide web. It’s very likely you’ll see some red in your results as common phrases may trigger red flags. If there are complete sentences that aren’t original, this tool will identify the original source of any unoriginal or plagiarized content that was copied from the internet.

TosaGuy said...

Surprised that he didn't pull an Obama and blame Bush.

Big Mike said...

One of the things you do when pulling together a white paper from numerous authors is to assign someone the job of final edit to make the white paper look as though it was written by a single author. Clearly this did not happen, which I presume was due to laziness mixed with incompetence.

RecChief said...

By the way, why was this person running for governor without a plan? Why did this emergency exist in the first place?

The crux of the matter, and a question that's never been answered.

Nice cheap shot on the reporter who actually committed a random act of journalism by the way.

traditionalguy said...

Fat chance the Professor will change his grade. An F is an F.

He is not exactly a Navy Seal that works to be prepared to execute any jobs on 24 hours notice.


RecChief said...

TosaGuy said...
Surprised that he didn't pull an Obama and blame Bush.


In a way he did, or rather, he blamed Walker the candidate and his campaign. How I read it anyway.

Bob Ellison said...

This kerfuffle, though, does feed the monster that keeps people from wanting to run for public office.

Why couldn't Burke have said "No, I do not have a jobs plan"?

That would have seemed so Republican. It would also have been portrayed as foolish and uninvolved.

Why is every politician expected to have a plan on every policy? Can't he or she have a set of ideals that guide him or her, along with a few priorities?

TosaGuy said...

Plagiarism Guy: "I didn't mean to cut and paste, but it's just this war and that lying son of a bitch Johnson."

Meade said...

Sorry, I didn't have time to check more of Mr. Schnurer's work as I was under a looming deadline to get my comment published. As the process neared its end—with [my comment] needing to be completed within hours to go to [post]—[_______] was still suggesting additional issues she wanted to address. Yes, [I] sometimes rely for substance on ideas [I] and others have previously suggested—after all, [I was] hired to know successful [commenting] options, not to learn them on the fly. But, just as obviously, [I] extensively rewrite [my] prior work to avoid any suggestion of impropriety.

Bob Ellison said...

How about "My jobs plan is to enact policies that enable the people of Wisconsin to fulfill their dreams."

That's what Obama would have said.

Conserve Liberty said...

The pathological unwillingness of these Progressives to take responsibility for their own actions is exceeded only by the hubris with which they believe they can hoodwink the targets of their dishonesty.

tim maguire said...

This makes Burke look even worse--she had years to come up with a plan, but didn't and turned at the last minute to this petulant child. Oh well, it's almost powder time on the slopes!

David said...

"approximate perfection"

A true gem of a phrase, Althouse.

kcom said...

It was trying for uniquely perfect.

Writ Small said...

The proper way to deal with plagiarism charges is to downplay the first few accusations with comments like "I feel like if I could just go to detention after school for a couple days, then everything would be okay." Be sure to show disdain for the idea that plagiarism has any meaning outside of school. When more evidence comes to light, "mutually agree" to part ways with the newspaper you were writing columns for and say something like, "I will now footnote everything, just like in college." Also, angrily add you are doing so primarily "if it will make people leave me the hell alone.”

That strategy worked quite well for someone.

RecChief said...

Why is every politician expected to have a plan on every policy?

Because "reporters" ask GOP candidates constantly "What's your plan to save the spotted owl?" when they've focused on an economic plan, then beat their brains out for not having one.

that's what ripped up the Democrat candidate in Wisconsin. Who would have thought that among all the charges tossed out that Walker hadn't fulfilled his numerical promise, someone would actually ask Burke if she had a plan? And then dig into it. The temerity.

Old RPM Daddy said...

I didn't read the plan, but I wonder why the author didn't cite the heck out of it in the first place, and say something like, "we looked at the best ideas nation-wide, etc., etc." They might have been attacked for being unoriginal, but they could have countered by claiminig they were scholarly and non-partisan.

FleetUSA said...

Conservative Liberty nails it. Progs/Libs/Dims all blame others when the heat is turned up.

I first realized this with B&HClinton. They rarely accepted responsibility for their errors.

A good segue: Where do you place the comma in a spoken sentence? BC said, "I did not have sex with that woman, ML". I put the comma before Monica. Who was "that woman"? Could it be Hillary? Ha. I am sure the last time with HC was decades ago.

garage mahal said...

How the Plagiarism Check Tool Works:

It looks like Walker plagiarized MS Governor Bryant!

Walker: Ensure that Everyone Who Wants a Job, Can Find a Job

Bryant: I have made it my priority to build a state where every Mississippian who wants a job can find a job,” Gov. Bryant said.

WOW.

garage mahal said...

And it appears Walker also plagirized his 'Brown Bag Lunch' gimmick from George Voinovich from Ohio.

It's amazing we're just finding this out.

Then this: Former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, according to the Associated Press, said this in 2002 to the American Legislative Exchange Council: "I always loved going to these meetings because I always found new ideas. Then I’d take them back to Wisconsin, disguise them a little bit, and declare that ‘it’s mine.’

Double WOW.

garage mahal said...

More revelations: Paul Ryan plagiarized his 'brown bag' story from Laura Schroff's book titled "An Invisible Thread"

Oh.My.God.

Again, why are we just hearing about this?

Curious George said...

The man who got Mary Burke into that "plagiarism" trouble isn't a man at all, but Mary Burke.

garage mahal said...

And if that weren't enough: Rand Paul admits his plagiarism 'is my fault'

Whoa Nelly.

CWJ said...

"And if that weren't enough: Rand Paul admits his plagiarism 'IS MY FAULT'" (emphasis added)

Poor garage. He can't see the difference.

mikee said...

I've never used the plagiarism tool, and I know it wasn't around when current VP Joe Biden was caught plagiarizing the speech of a Brit PM (IIRC) decades ago, but I do like to find old books and movies whose titles I can't recall, by typing a memorable phrase into google and seeing what happens.

Googling Bob Hope and Spare Change gets a totally different result than just googling Hope and Change, although both make me laugh.

Ann Althouse said...

"Why is every politician expected to have a plan on every policy?"

Well, the question is why did Mary Burke have to have a jobs plan. I liked this comment from over at the Atlantic:

"blueduck1968 • a day ago
"I have worked on a number of campaigns at high levels. I know that this type of consultant use is commonplace and widespread. However, that does not make it right and it has damaged faith in our political system to a terrible degree. But, be that as it may, you neglect to focus on the key fact. Mary Burke made this "plan" and the fact that she herself had written it a key portion of nearly every speech she made. She often spoke in great detail of the time and effort she put into said plan. On several occaisions, she made reference to her plan being carefully crafted to counter what Governor Walker had done to damage the Wisconsin economy and jobs market. Ms. Burke even went so far as to claim that portions of said plan came from her Masters Thesis (which she, of course, refused to release). You seem to want/feel you deserve credit for "falling on your sword." However, in the historical context, falling on one’s sword connoted doing so as a martyr for the greater good and not the deception of people for personal gain or the basic lack of personal ethics that has so soured people on modern politics and people such as you who have made a career of it. There are no heroics here. What the Burke campaign and you personally did may be par for the course in modern politics. But ,something being acceptable in the small circle of career political mercenaries, thankfully as demonstrated by Wisconsin this past Tuesday, is not acceptable to those of us provincials who still understand the basic difference between right and wrong."

So… she needed a jobs plan because she determined that what she needed was a jobs plan.

Anonymous said...

Burke believed Democrats' ludicrous persecution of conservatives would give an impression that Walker was as corrupt as Democrats. She believed she could cruise to victory, ergo no need for plans. Guess Wisconsians were smarter than Burke.

Original Mike said...

Looks like garage has slept it off.

Drago said...

Original Mike said...
Looks like garage has slept it off

Yep.

The volume is about the same and the "quality" of his little-foot-stamping-posts are definitely the same!

All is right with the world again.

Drago said...

garage: "Again, why are we just hearing about this?"

Because [Insert Soros-funded Group Name here] is just as lazy as Mary Burke?

Anonymous said...

She needed a job plan because she has no accomplishments to run on. Things might be different if she were a slum lord schmoozing community organizer.

Her lie about the plan came from her Masters Thesis was to remind voters that Walker never finished college. Leftists believe artificial credentials trump real life accomplishments.

Drago said...

elkh1: "Burke believed Democrats' ludicrous persecution of conservatives would give an impression that Walker was as corrupt as Democrats. She believed she could cruise to victory, ergo no need for plans."

Democrats are not used to being asked any difficult questions at all, ever. So, as someone mentioned upthread, if any reporter anywhere inadvertantly commits a random act of journalism the dem is usually completely thrown for a loop.

Mary, like all dems, had no expectation that what she was demanding of Walker would be asked of her.

That's what created the "emergency" and her basic incompetence (which led to her own family firing her from the family business) took over from there leading to the happy and just ending which is her "firing" by the voters from a potential stint as Gov.

Back to the slopes Mary!!

And garage, you really shouldn't be posting on company time.

Tsk tsk.

garage mahal said...

So, you guys aren't shocked and disappointed? Don't even tell me you excuse plagiarism along party lines. That would be so unusually cruel.

khesanh0802 said...

I am slightly radioactive, but feel feel free to hire me anyway. Just paraphrasing!

Gusty Winds said...

If I remember correctly, toward the end of the recall election, when asked what he would do to spur the Wisconsin economy, Tom Barrett gave a quick, lame, "we'll invest in wind technology" answer to pander to his base.

He had no real plans either.

Mark said...

I have a plan.

Todd said...

garage mahal said...

Plagiarism is wrong, period.

Committing plagiarism is wrong.

Find out you inadvertently committing plagiarism is a much less wrong as it is what is called "a mistake".

Purposely committing plagiarism is a purposeful wrong.

Getting caught committing plagiarism and admitting to it is a step in the right direction but you still did wrong.

Getting caught committing plagiarism and doubling-down on "not my fault / no I didn't / you are evil for pointing it out" is very much more wrong still.

If all of those examples you sited (did not follow the links) are true, not good at all BUT if memory serves, those folks admitted to the act. Mary purposefully promoted her very own and oh so special jobs plan when it never was such. To simplify it for you, that was double un-good! Mostest ungood of all of the ungoods you showed!

Or, think of it as someone slaps you across the face verses hits you from behind with a baseball bat. Both not good but one far worst.

Drago said...

Gusty Winds: "If I remember correctly, toward the end of the recall election, when asked what he would do to spur the Wisconsin economy, Tom Barrett gave a quick, lame, "we'll invest in wind technology" answer to pander to his base."

What, no "high-speed" (actually same old speed) choo-choos for Barrett?

What a garage-level "shock and disappointment" that guy was.

Everyone knows that hundreds of billions for choo-choos that go the same speed as our current choo-choos are the future baby!!!

Achilles said...

garage mahal said...
"So, you guys aren't shocked and disappointed? Don't even tell me you excuse plagiarism along party lines. That would be so unusually cruel."

Shocked no. Disappointed yes. Your juxtapositions are boring. A third grader could come up with them. 3 of your examples were random phrases that were on the level of infinite monkeys eventually typing everything once. The last about Paul was a complete non sequitur.

Your complete and utter lack of critical thinking skills makes you a boring troll.

Drago said...

Todd: "Purposely committing plagiarism is a purposeful wrong."

Garage knows this.

And that is why garage has never supported Joe Biden.

Wait. What? Nevermind.

Matt Sablan said...

Plagiarism isn't a cheap shot; it is intellectual dishonesty that most institutions would fire people for. If I had at any point plagiarized, I'd have my degree stripped from me.

It is serious. Let's stop down playing it.

Anonymous said...

Ms. Althouse is wrong; garage is very unique.

garage mahal said...

Walker even plagiarized "Wisconsin Comeback" from Sam Brownback's "Kansas Comeback". I'm afraid we'll have to now refer to Scott Walker as "noted plagiarist Scott Walker". And he had so much potential.

Curious George said...

"Achilles said...
Your complete and utter lack of critical thinking skills makes you a boring troll."

take into account that the last four years has been tough on garage:

- Walker wins governorship
- Act 10 Protests and the Fleabaggers fail
- Senatorial Recall Fails
- Kloppenhoof loses to Prosser for WSC
- Second Senatorial and Walker Recall Fails
- John Doe I fails
- John Doe II fails
- Walker wins re-election

I mean garage is no rookie when it comes to fail, but this is a lot in just four years. garage and his prog friends have made Walker bullet proof, created the biggest GOP legislative majority in history, and left the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is turmoil.

Nothing left to do than howl at the moon.

Peter said...

Eric Schnurer should be complaining about his former employer, Mary Burke.

Burke claimed that her jobs plan wasn't just a piece of everyday political hackwork. The message was, we should elect her because only someone with her fine education and extensive business experience could write (and be expected to execute) such a high quality jobs plan- a plan that would get results (as she had in her role in increasing Trek sales in Europe).

So the problem with it wasn't so much that it was composed of cut-and-paste taken from others old (and now failed) campaigns, but the extravagant claims the candidate herself made for it (and by inference, for herself).

So, perhaps it wasn't fair that Schnurer was fired (even if it was his suggestion): it wasn't his fault the candidate made extravagant claims that quickly unraveled.


But Schnurer's target is misplaced: if he's peeved at anyone, it should be with his former employer. After all, she's the one who made extravagant claims for "her" work and, in the end, the one who fired him.

Matt Sablan said...

Peter: He might be angry with her. But that's not going to help him recover his image and get future work. "My boss sucked! Hire me!" is a surprisingly unconvincing cover letter.

garage mahal said...

- Walker wins re-election

Noted plagiarist Scott Walker. He did indeed win reelection. 28% of eligible voters voted him in. The Silent Majority has spoken!

garage mahal said...

And Wisconsin sent our very own Glenn Grothman to Congress. LOL. You sure can pick 'em Sconnies.

Matt Sablan said...

I don't recall anyone complaining about how few people voted for Obama. In 2012, an even smaller percentage voted than in 2008, but he somehow had a mandate.

It is almost like there's no intellectual consistency.

Also: How do we know that the eligible voters would have voted AGAINST Republicans? If anything, since Republicans were doing well in the polls, it is just as likely marginal voters would have voted Republican and decided "Eh, screw it. It's in the bag anyway, right?"

RecChief said...

It is almost like there's no intellectual consistency.

Is this the first time you've noticed the Left in this country?

Original Mike said...

"28% of eligible voters voted him in. The Silent Majority has spoken!"

That's how it works, garage. We count the people who vote. We know you would have it be otherwise.

sane_voter said...

Noted plagiarist Scott Walker. He did indeed win reelection. 28% of eligible voters voted him in. The Silent Majority has spoken!

And noted old maid Mary Burke only received 25% of eligible voters. How pathetic is that?

sane_voter said...

If cats could vote, Mary Burke would have won.

Curious George said...

"garage mahal said...
And Wisconsin sent our very own Glenn Grothman to Congress. LOL. You sure can pick 'em Sconnies"

Actually Wisconsin didn't, Wisconsin's 6th congressional district did. But in a landslide.

garage mahal said...

Actually Wisconsin didn't, Wisconsin's 6th congressional district did. But in a landslide.

Pretty amazing eh? I wouldn't surprised if Grothman had bodies in his basement. Or his mother's basement? Might be the weirdest dude in Congress.

Rusty said...

garage mahal said...
- Walker wins re-election

Noted plagiarist Scott Walker. He did indeed win reelection. 28% of eligible voters voted him in. The Silent Majority has spoken!

Not every thought that eners your little head needs to be articulated.
If you just sit on your hands more and think out your responses, people will think you're smarter than you actually are.

Anonymous said...

Bob Ellison wrote
some really stupid stuff.

Hey Bob: Why was Mary Burke running for Gov of WI? Was it to help the people of WI? Was it because she though Walker had not done enough to improve the economy and help people in WI get jobs?

Great. So, how's she going to do better? How is SHE going to help the people of WI improve their economic circumstances?

She isn't? She doesn't have the slightest clue, or plan, on how to make things better?

Then why would anyone vote for her?

This was the problem Mary Burke faced. This is why it actually matters that she didn't have a "job plan" before she started, and so had to plagiarize one.

This is why she got fired from Trek, and why she didn't get "hired" by the voters of WI.

Joe Schmoe said...

This guy sounds just like his boss. He's basically saying he did such a kick-ass job that they didn't even need him anymore. So his position was eliminated too.

Anonymous said...

We are all plagiarists, except most people understand the difference between it and cliché.

The charge of plagiarism detracts from the real issue which is no politician can control the economy or fix things when it hiccups. All politicians want us to run to them for answers, like so many villagers to shamans. The sooner we recognize this the better.

The population has to learn to create their own jobs something politicians wouldn't benefit from so don't look for anyone to run on the issue, to paraphrase William F. Buckley, "Create your own goddam job.

Curious George said...

"garage mahal said...
Pretty amazing eh? I wouldn't surprised if Grothman had bodies in his basement. Or his mother's basement? Might be the weirdest dude in Congress."

This from a guy who defended Brett Hulsey.

Alex said...

garage - the hard drives will come through any day now...

garage mahal said...

Put the fucking lotion in the basket!

Alex said...

good to see garage is in good humor.

alan markus said...

Garage Mahal said:

And Wisconsin sent our very own Glenn Grothman to Congress. LOL

I wonder if he will drown in a pool of 435 Congressmen. Kind of like the honor graduate from a small town high school who gets to a great college and finds out that just about everyone else is also a honor graduate.

I bet he spends a lot of time at the lunchroom table by himself - I have this vision that when he sits down, everyone next to him kind of slides a little away from him.

Patrick said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Patrick said...

What did the Silent Majority say?

Todd said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

That's how it works, garage. We count the people who vote. That's how it works, garage. We count the people who vote. We know you would have it be otherwise

Scott Walker made it "otherwise" for the public sector unions when it comes to certification votes, and if he had to follow the same election rules he imposed on those unions then he wouldn't be governor today.

Big Mike said...

Scott Walker made it "otherwise" for the public sector unions when it comes to certification votes, and if he had to follow the same election rules he imposed on those unions then he wouldn't be governor today.

In the running for dumbest comment of the year. But there's still about 8 weeks to go!

Marty Keller said...

Curious George noted:

- Walker wins governorship
- Act 10 Protests and the Fleabaggers fail
- Senatorial Recall Fails
- Kloppenhoof loses to Prosser for WSC
- Second Senatorial and Walker Recall Fails
- John Doe I fails
- John Doe II fails
- Walker wins re-election


I think " - GOP expands numbers in state legislature" would be a useful addition.

Zach said...

The scandal was that the jobs plan was a fake plan. If Burke won the election, she wasn't going to devote her term to a cut and paste job that a staffer put together over the weekend.

walter said...

What stood out to me was Burke (in debates)nearly simultaneously saying borrowing good ideas makes sense, while she says that's essentially why she fired Schnurer. If we are to believe that, seems like she fired him to please "the mob". That's some executive leadership.