Plagiarizing the Plagiarist's Bio?

pla·gia·rism /ˈpleɪdʒəˌrɪzəm, -dʒiəˌrɪz-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pley-juh-riz-uhm, -jee-uh-riz-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.
2. something used and represented in this manner.

Source: dictionary.com

Did the Globe & Mail and the Canadian Press ironically plagiarize the bio of now-admitted plagiarist Owen Lippert?

You be the judge.

Reading this article in Wednesday's G&M, 'Grits continue their attack over Iraq speech', I was struck by the fact that the biographical details of Mr Lippert's career sounded awfully familiar so I went back and checked a link to the Frasier Institute that I had used in my post yesterday about this scandal.

Here's the Frasier Institute's bio:

Owen Lippert holds a Ph.D. in Modern European History from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Following his graduation in 1983, he worked as managing editor for the Asia and World Institute in Taipei, Taiwan. Returning to Canada in 1984, he worked first as a caucus researcher for the Social Credit government and, then as a policy analyst for the Office of the Premier until 1991. He joined the staff of Kim Campbell as press secretary during Campbell's tenure as attorney general of Canada and minister of Justice. In 1993, while an advisor during Campbell's leadership campaign, he taught at Carleton University and the University of British Columbia and he was a senior policy advisor in Industry and Science Canada during Campbell's tenure as Prime Minister. In 1994, Dr. Lippert worked on contract for the Canadian department of Justice before going to work as a senior policy analyst at The Fraser Institute in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1996, he joined the Editorial Board of The Globe & Mail in Toronto. His specialties are public policy and legal reform.

And here's the way it's written in today's G&M:

After earning a Ph.D. in modern European history from the University of Notre Dame, he worked as managing editor for the Asia and World Institute in Taiwan, according to online biographies. He returned to Canada in 1984 to work as a caucus researcher for British Columbia's Social Credit government and then as a policy analyst for the premier's office until 1991.

He was Kim Campbell's press secretary when she was the federal justice minister and was an adviser to her campaign for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party. He has also taught at Carleton University and the University of British Columbia, was a senior policy analyst at the Fraser Institute in Vancouver, and wrote editorials for The Globe and Mail for a short time in 1996.

Methinks that looks an awful lot like plagiarism. Or does the claim "according to online biographies" provide enough cover? I don't think so. Maybe we should ask Lippert who is, after all, an expert on intellectual property issues.

Round and round we go...
 

The Liberals Drop a Plagiarism Bombshell on Harper

Unbelievable. Or not.

I knew he was a puppet of the imperial empire but this shows that he was, more correctly, the ventriloquist's dummy.

In one segment, both leaders are heard saying:

"It is inherently dangerous to allow a country, such as Iraq, to retain weapons of mass destruction, particularly in light of its past aggressive behaviour. If the world community fails to disarm Iraq we fear that other rogue states will be encouraged to believe that they too can have these most deadly of weapons to systematically defy international resolutions and that the world will do nothing to stop them."

The clips then jump to Howard saying:

"As the possession of weapons of mass destruction spreads, so the danger of such weapons coming into the hands of terrorist groups will multiply. That is the ultimate nightmare which the world must take decisive and effective steps to prevent. Possession of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons by terrorists would constitute a direct, undeniable and lethal threat to Australia and its people."

According to the Hansard transcripts, Harper said:

"As the possession of weapons of mass destruction spreads, the danger of such weapons coming into the hands of terrorist groups will multiply, particularly given in this case the shameless association of Iraq with rogue non-state organizations. That is the ultimate nightmare which the world must take decisive and effective steps to prevent. Possession of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons by terrorists would constitute a direct, undeniable and lethal threat to the world, including to Canada and its people."

Someone had better be proofreading that book he's writing about hockey very carefully.

And the Tory reaction?

Reached by CBC News following Rae's appearance, Harper's spokesman Kory Teneycke dismissed the issue as irrelevant, saying the release of the video was an "act of desperation" from the Liberal campaign a day ahead of the first of the leaders' debates.

"I'm not going to get into a debate about a five-year-old speech that was delivered three Parliaments ago, two elections ago, when the prime minister was the leader of a party that no longer exists," Teneycke said.

"We're going to focus on the economy, which is the No. 1 issue Canadians want to talk about. We're not going to be distracted by attacks from the Liberal war room."

Run away! Run away!

Related:

Just how much does Steve like John Howard's style? Check out this September article from The Australian: Howardism lives on

You can read the Jeffrey Simpson editorial mentioned in that piece here.

Mea culpa resignation update:

Tory strategist resigns for plagiarism in Harper's speech

A Conservative war room strategist apologized and resigned from the election campaign Tuesday after he admitted to plagiarizing parts of a speech delivered by Stephen Harper on the Iraq war in 2003.

"In 2003, I worked in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition," Owen Lippert said in a statement released by the Conservative campaign Tuesday afternoon.

"I was tasked with - and wrote - a speech for the then leader of the Opposition. Pressed for time, I was overzealous in copying segments of another world leader's speech. Neither my superiors in the office of the leader of the Opposition nor the leader of the Opposition was aware that I had done so."

Sure. Right. Uh huh. Buh bye.

A man with this type of academic and political background was really that sloppy? And has he also resigned as a senior policy advisor for CIDA or will that job be waiting for him if the Tories win?

Just an FYI for you book shoppers out there: you might want to think twice about buying this particular title authored by Lippert - Competitive Strategies for the Protection of Intellectual Properties. Perhaps the premise of that book was to see how much you could (competitively) plagiarize while getting away with it?