When the new Montana conservative blog MtPundit was introduced to me by this post at Intelligent Discontent, I was intrigued. Could it be that there was another place to debate the issues? Possibly? This came after our hopes were dashed by astroturfing at The Hardliner. There was much talk initially about spelling and grammar problems at MtPundit, but I tried to ignore them and focus more on content:

widd59, it isn’t just about the grammar, it is also about the content. While I am the last person to correct a writer’s grammar or spelling, you will note that I have done neither here, it does make the posts a bit of a challenge to read. The big issue with me is the content. It is juvenile content presented in a juvenile manner.

I proceeded to point out what I thought was wrong with the post. Noting that the author, Hagen, was taking advise from others on grammar and spelling, he might take note and present some analysis and thought. It may have seemed condescending, but I was really trying to help. David Crisp at Billings Blog also pointed out the problems in content in a very constructive manner in an excellent post called ‘Punditry Done Wrong“. Wulgar followed suit, in his own way, in a post called The Dumbest Thing You’re Going To Read All Week.

And it worked. This past weekend a fairly thoughtful post appeared on the political leanings of the military. It has room for debate and was relatively well written with almost no grammatical errors. So, I have checked back often and engaged in a little debate.

To be fair, it has mostly been lefty bloggers who have been critical of them. Consider that Steve from Rabid Sanity comments there frequently, has used one of their posts as a starting point to attack Democrats. Andy from the Hammond Report has welcomed them warmly. Hagen has engaged in debate and discussions at many other conservative blogs across the state. Good. I always welcome new opinions.

I visited the site tonight in my normal round of Montana blogs and noticed a new post titled Greenspan is Right about “Republicans”. This could be interesting. As I read it, I started getting a sinking feeling in my stomach. Something was way wrong here. Way wrong. Not only was the grammar perfect, the content was rational and grounded to the point that it was light years ahead of the content I had previously seen there. The voice was different. It all felt wrong. My google-foo is pretty good, so I copied a single sentence and pasted it into google and came up with a piece from the Illinois Review called Greenspan is Right about the Republicans and the Economy by John Bambenek.

Besides the title, let’s look at a few sentences. Here is the opening sentence of each paragraph.

MtPundit:
Republicans are panicking over the new book of former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and will likely start to discredit him for committing the unforgivable heresy of praising President Clinton and criticizing President Bush.
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Illinois Review:
Many on the right are lamenting the “conversion” of former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and will likely start to discredit him for committing the unforgivable heresy of praising Clinton and criticizing Bush.

Just a few words changed here and there, as an seventh grader knows how to do.

MtPundit:
In the Internet age, party hacks on both sides will spin Greenspan’s remarks and turn them into what they aren’t.
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Illinois Review:
In the information age, or more appropriately the disinformation age, pundits on both sides will spin Greenspan’s remarks and globalize them into what they aren’t.

A few dropped words at the end. Nice attempt to hide some vocabulary that Hagen didn’t think believable. Good thinking, that will throw them off.

MtPundit:
The fact remains, deficits do matter. The technical term for a family that routinely deficit spends is “bankrupt”. The sub-prime mortgage fallout is just another case of what happens when families do this in bulk.
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Illinois Review:
The fact remains, deficits do matter. The technical term for a family that routinely deficit spends is “bankrupt”. The sub-prime mortgage fallout is just another case of what happens when families do this in bulk.

OK, never mind, that whole paragraph was yanked. And it keeps going and going.

I looked closely to make sure that there weren’t any links or any points crediting the original author. There are none. I did notice that there is a link on the article to James Bambenek’s blog called Part-Time Pundit, where he has a cross posting of the piece that matches the plagiarized piece word for word.

Clearly look at the pieces that come before it and note that other’s works are presented in block quotes and cited. Hagen has pointed out derivative work, so this can’t be an issue of not understanding the rules. Hagen claims to be a college student at MSU, so he clearly understands what plagiary is and how it is viewed. He must know about references, citations, wholesale cutting and pasting and so forth.

This is patently dishonest theft and a discredit to bloggers. Conservative, liberal or moderate, this isn’t how we do business in the Montana blogosphere. Not only does this cheat the original author, it cheats the reader. Be honest.