TennesseeTicket.com

I'm flattered, really. Someone whose online profile lists him as being a "college professor of political science" quoted my thoughts on the upcoming (eventually) 2008 presidential campaign.

Wow! A blogging member of higher education quoted this little site. Except, well, he didn't so much quote me, as use my words, without attribution, with every indication that he meant for a reader to think they were his own. In the quintessential sophomoric plagiarist's manner, he inserted two lines of his own, and "edited" text to a grammatically poorer result.

Mine: "Happy running for President, everyone; I wish you all the best. I'll do my best to make a choice among you."

His: "Happy running for President, everyone; I wish you all the best to make a choice among you."

Mine's not that great either, and you may stop focusing on that at any time. But that's really the point I'm making. I don't make money from this blog, I don't assume any prestige; and the post what got stolen was just a silly swipe in the air. I'm certain now to develop a complex around the notion that my more serious stuff isn't worth passing off as professorial. That's the real damage here, ya know?

I don't know anything about schools in Kentuckiana, but I would imagine that the good people of the region wouldn't appreciate knowing that their students are being taught by someone who thinks this sort of thing is okay.

But wait, there's more: I've saved the best part for last. A curious twist to this story is that the name on the email whose sender alerted me to my parroter's existence is "Erik Professor." Funnily, the name on the "Freedom of Speech" blog from New Albany, Indiana is "Erik" and the writer purports to be a professor. Would a plagiarist tell on himself?

I'm going to guess that the tipper has some beef with the professor, and uses "Erik Professor" toward such a purpose. I don't really know. The whole experience has made for a sufficiently weird full moon today, and for that I am thankful.

Now let's see if I can actually write something worth stealing.