The Gentle Sound Of Falling Cinder Blocks
It would appear that folks are coming forward with specifics on Jimmy Carter and his apparent plagiarism. Kenneth Stein specifically mentioned, "Material not cited," in his letter of resignation from the Carter Center. Those would be very, very kind words that mean Carter outright stole someone else's work and passed it off as his own. And lo and behold, here comes the author of at least some of the material. (Hint: it isn't Jimmy Carter).
But, in a telephone interview Thursday evening, Stein offered a narrower criticism. "It appears that at least two maps that came out of the Carter book were or are very closely similar, or unusually similar, to maps that were produced and published in Dennis Ross' book 'The Missing Peace,' " Stein said.
That book, published in 2004, is also about the search for peace in the Middle East. "This could be incredibly coincidental, or it could not," Stein said. "But it goes to the way history books should be written, and the way citations should be made when material is borrowed."
The maps in question appear on Page 148 of Carter's book, detailing the differing Israeli and Palestinian interpretations of President Clinton's peace proposal made in 2000.
Ross, who was U.S. Middle East envoy under Clinton and President George H.W. Bush, could not be reached for comment Thursday night; Stein declined to discuss the matter in any greater detail.
While the LAT wasn't able to get a hold of Ross last night, luckily FOX News was able to get him this morning. And in what seems to be an open and shut case of plagiarism, Ross explains that the maps in Carter's book were specifically created for his book "The Missing Peace"–and Ross created them himself.
That crashing sound is whatever was left of Carter's reputation. Even those on the left who want to nominate him for sainthood can't excuse this one. Well, they can't if they're honest, anyway.
By Quilly Mammoth, Friday, 8 December , 2006 @ 12:04 pm
Two points. The first is why is Jimmy Carter, the man who told us the best yet to come but that it was in the past, still the Saint of the party which plays “Happy Days are Here Again”?
As for your spam. I’ve argued with WordPress developers that some spam comes right in without going through the “front door”. This would be why, imho, so many WordPress gurus reccomend programs which identify and block IPs from which spam is sent.
I’ve found Askimet to be a good catcher, but remain convinced that that Spam which Askimet misses are coming in through a flaw.
By Gaius, Friday, 8 December , 2006 @ 12:18 pm
I’ve got Askismet, anti-spam word, spam Karma and now bad behavior all turned on now and stuff is still blsating right on in. Not as bad as it was this morning, but it should not be able to get in at all under those conditions. So there has to be a flaw that is being exploited.
By Temple Stark, Friday, 8 December , 2006 @ 1:41 pm
Please, you think Carter chose the maps? This is nothing about Carter and all about how books get published. Blame the publisher - though obviously, though more accurate, it wouldn’t be as much “fun” for y’all.
By Gaius, Friday, 8 December , 2006 @ 2:00 pm
I just love these talking points. Carter is the author. Carter is responsible for what goes out with his name on it.