MAUREEN DOWD COPIED ME!!!

Yesterday, Lovely Wife sent me a few links, as she usually does, for my reading pleasure. It's usually the latest controversy worth reading, something about the economy, a message from PETA to join a campaign concerning animal rights (please do consider this, friends).

Her link was to the commentary page of MAUREEN DOWD, the New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner. I enjoy her articles because they're usually funny in some sort of aspect, they're current, and as Lovely Wife put it, "because she usually agrees with me". It's nice to have someone on your team. Plus, she looks good, she could pass as Lovely Wife's (much) older sister.

Maureen's article, posted on September 13, 2009, had to do with the September 9 outburst of South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson, the "You lie!!" scandal.

CLICK HERE FOR "HER" STORY.

Dowd's article was of particular interest to me because I wrote a story concerning the same subject matter, and posted it on this blog, on September 10, 2009, hereby known as "the day after you lie!!".

CLICK HERE FOR MY STORY, THE ONE SHE COPIED FROM!!

I was pretty enthused to see that Dowd was writing on the same subject, but what "bloggist" or columnist didn't write about Wilson this week? It's no great coincidence.

As I read on, my jaw started to drop. There were striking similarities between both of our stories, and mine had been posted three days before hers. Dare I believe that Maureen Dowd lifted from, let alone read, my blog?

In this day and age of the internet, such an idea is not entirely out of line. If it's online, chances are, anyone can read it if posted with public access. And I did design the story and page with words and links that would rank it appropriately on "the Google" for anyone searching for those terms.

Plus the fact is that columnists have a large literal web of friends that Tweet and email and talk and forward all the time, it's how they keep on top of things. So, if she didn't find it herself it could have been forwarded. I have software installed on this site that tells me the general location of where hits are coming from, search terms used, etc., and people have been "tweeting" this blog around. They've come in on the search terms I've defined and I have had an excess amount of "visitors" from the northeast this week. And yes, around the D.C. area.

One thing I hate to mention, but supports my case, is that Maureen Dowd was involved in a plagiarism controversy, accused of "lifting" from someone else's blog. All forty-something words were an exact copy of this other man's posting, sans two words. Dowd said her post was the result of an online communication with a friend, not a copy. She did, however, later edit her post with a correction that references the individual and notes "lack of proper attribution" to the original piece.

Made me wonder, alright.

Now, onto a comparison of our stories, both sparked by Joe Wilson.

Brian's post: summarizes that a lot of South Carolina legislators have done some awfully stupid things in the past, much of that racially motivated, and how citizens should speak up and fight this.

Maureen's post: takes more of South Carolina's racial angle than I profiled and is more direct, pointing out Wilson as a probable racist.

Anyone writing a story, concerning the same general subject, is going to use similar sources like "the Google", information gathered through T.V., friends, OTHER PEOPLE'S BLOGS?? Okay, okay, not jumping to conclusions here, let's dissect some vocab from the two pieces (meaning the one I wrote and what she copied!).

Concerning Joe Wilson's act:

BRIAN
"a disrespect to the position of the presidency of the United States and an embarrassment to most of us, especially to certain citizens of South Carolina"

MAUREEN
"Wilson’s shocking disrespect for the office of the president"

Okay, a "disrespect for the office", not like I can copyright that, it is what it is..

BRIAN
"There's an old german proverb that says "Schweigen ist zustimmen", meaning "silence is approval". If you don't approve, please don't be silent."

MAUREEN (QUOTING REP. JIM CLYBURG)
"In South Carolina politics, I learned that the olive branch works very seldom," he said. "You have to come at these things from a position of strength. My father used to say, Son, always remember that silence gives consent."

WHAT?? It made my eyes jump out of my head, but apparently this is a quote from South Carolina Rep. JIM CLYBURN. Maybe he reads my blog? Well, it's a saying, and I can't much copyright that either. What are the chances that it showed up in similar stories? That's what I'm wondering...

BRIAN
"the state was a heavy sponsor of slavery, initiated secession from the Union, and was the first to fire on fellow americans during the Civil War."

MAUREEN
"The state that fired the first shot of the Civil War has now given us this"

Uh-huh, you can see why I'm questioning if this is a mere coincidence. Who references S.C., ever, by saying it's the first state to fire in the Civil War? Well, me, and Maureen Dowd of course, nobody else...

BRIAN
"There has been long ongoing debate and demonstration concerning the flying of the confederate flag over the state capitol. Finally, in 2000, it was removed"

MAUREEN
"led a 2000 campaign to keep the Confederate flag waving above South Carolina’s state Capitol"

Oh really, Maureen? You're switching it up by capitalizing the word "confederate"? Okay, maybe that's technically correct, couldn't bring myself to do it though... year 2000, eh?

BRIAN
"activist RUSTY DEPASS posted on his Facebook page that an escaped gorilla at a zoo was an "ancestor" of First Lady Michelle Obama."

MAUREEN
"Rusty DePass, a G.O.P. activist, said that a gorilla that escaped from a zoo was "just one of Michelle’s ancestors."

Hmmm... sure, it's a current, stupid, recent event from another S.C. idiot, worth referencing, and I did. She did too...

And then we both mention fumbling South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, of course, No S.C. story would be complete without that, so I accept that as part of the deal.
So, do I have a plagiarism case here? Are the similarities purely coincidental? Add it up:

*I posted my story almost three days before hers.
*Her story uses key elements of mine.
*I have a log showing visits to my blog from her area.
*She acknowledged copying from a blog before.
*We both write blogs.
*Neither of us like racists.
*Maureen has a similar hair color to my wife's.
*She is a U.S. citizen, as am I.
*We're for the banning of cell phone use while driving.

Okay, maybe I don't have a case here, maybe I do. Since it's someone I like, I'm not pursuing it. If she did lift from me or gain any concept from my story I would like to be credited. And I would also like to be taken out to dinner, and I want to bring my Lovely Wife.

So those are my demands, Maureen. That, and you can lift more from this blog and post it several days later... like we all know you did!