As near as I can tell, it isn’t quite plagiarism… at least the example I’ve been given isn’t. There are rumblings that other versions may be a different story…but…

Anyway. What the hell is odum talking about, I know. There’s a letter that has been making the rounds in Vermont, written by a “Dr. Thomas Hendricks.” It – like Rep. Burditt’s blather – is an attempt to discredit health care reform. Here’s a link to it’s appearance in the comments at Vermont Tiger. Note the postscript on that iteration of it: “This slightly revised excerpt is from Dr. Hendricks’s original letter to his good friend, Ms. Rand.”

That little wink-wink-nudge-nudge is the only hint that the letter was lifted and tweaked from right-wing demigod Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. Here’s a comparison of some of the text. The Tiger post first:

I have often wondered at the smugness at which Vermont’s Legislature asserts their right to enslave me, to control my work, to force my will, to violate my conscience, to stifle my mind-yet what is it they expect to depend on, when they lie on an operating table under my hands?

The original:

I have often wondered at the smugness with which people assert their right to enslave me, to control my work, to force my will, to violate my conscience, to stifle my mind–yet what is it that they expect to depend on, when they lie on an operating table under my hands?

I can’t determine whether this letter was sent out anywhere lacking the roundabout reference to its origin, so I’ll hold off on another plagiarism charge.

But at the very least, there’s something a bit lame about the idea that the GOP is having to resort to fictional characters to make its points for them. Not enough real people out there on their side, maybe?

Just imagine what some of the witness lists for some of the hearings could look like if this becomes the new MO.

As near as I can tell, it isn’t quite plagiarism… at least the example I’ve been given isn’t. There are rumblings that other versions may be a different story…but…

Anyway. What the hell is odum talking about, I know. There’s a letter that has been making the rounds in Vermont, written by a “Dr. Thomas Hendricks.” It – like Rep. Burditt’s blather – is an attempt to discredit health care reform. Here’s a link to it’s appearance in the comments at Vermont Tiger. Note the postscript on that iteration of it: “This slightly revised excerpt is from Dr. Hendricks’s original letter to his good friend, Ms. Rand.”

That little wink-wink-nudge-nudge is the only hint that the letter was lifted and tweaked from right-wing demigod Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. Here’s a comparison of some of the text. The Tiger post first:

I have often wondered at the smugness at which Vermont’s Legislature asserts their right to enslave me, to control my work, to force my will, to violate my conscience, to stifle my mind-yet what is it they expect to depend on, when they lie on an operating table under my hands?

The original:

I have often wondered at the smugness with which people assert their right to enslave me, to control my work, to force my will, to violate my conscience, to stifle my mind–yet what is it that they expect to depend on, when they lie on an operating table under my hands?

I can’t determine whether this letter was sent out anywhere lacking the roundabout reference to its origin, so I’ll hold off on another plagiarism charge.

But at the very least, there’s something a bit lame about the idea that the GOP is having to resort to fictional characters to make its points for them. Not enough real people out there on their side, maybe?

Just imagine what some of the witness lists for some of the hearings could look like if this becomes the new MO.