Should PTSD Signify "Plagiarists' Thesis Shucking Disorder" in the District of Calamity?

When President Obama chose six term Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) to be the Administration's new Ambassador to the Peoples's Republic of China in February 2014, there was a short term appointment into what had been the world's greatest deliberative body, as that seat needed to face the voters in November 2014. Montana Governor Steve Bullock (D-MT) appointed his Lieutenant Governor John Walsh (D-MT) to the position, as he was already running for the seat and incumbency might help Walsh's chances in a uphill year for Senate Democrats, especially in "purple" states.  

The people were not able to fully vet now Senator John Walsh (D-MT) until the campaign was in full throes.  Unfortunately for Senator Walsh, this increased scrutiny exposed an embarrassing chink in his political armor.

Part of an elective appeal for John Walsh is that he spent 33 years in the Montana National Guard, rising to the level of Adjunct General.  Walsh led the 1st Battalion 163rd Infantry Regiment into combat in Iraq and is the first Iraq War veteran to serve in the US Senate.. The 53 year old freshman Senator made his military service a major Walsh had made it major selling point of his candidacy. 

But the New York Times recently reported that in 2007 when Walsh wrote his "strategic research project" (akin to a Masters thesis)  at the United States Army War College,  he seemingly plagiarized substantial portions  of the 14 page project on American Mid East Policy.  The New York Times analysis indicates that a quarter of the quotes from “The Case for Democracy as a Long Term National Strategy" were borrowed from other authors without attribution.  The Washington Post points out that Walsh "borrowed" from a paper written by a Harvard scholar in 1998.  

This was more than sloppy scholarship on the part of Walsh.  Walsh concluded his thesis by offering six recommendations that were lifted nearly word-for-word from  2003 Foreign Affairs piece by Thomas Carothers from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  

Some scholarship.  Some honor. At West Point, the cadet honor code is "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do." Cheating includes plagiarism defined as presenting someone else's ideas, words, data, or work as one's own without documentation.

When this plagiarism problem popped up in the press, Senator Walsh's campaign spokeswoman  Lauren Passalacqua tried to quickly shoot down the scandal by saying:  “This was unintentional and it was a mistake.”  When that quick quip did not fly, Senator John Walsh told AP:  "I don't want to blame my mistake on PTSD, but I do want to say that it may have been a factor.  My head was not in a place very conducive to classwork and an academic environment."  Walsh maintains when he wrote the thesis, he had PTSD, was stressed at a fellow veteran's suicide and was on medication. Anonymous Walsh campaign staffers  pointed to drugs to treat PTSD to give a context for Walsh's circumstances.  

Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is a serious consequence of modern warfare, in which may not take as many lives or limbs but leaves mental scars.  PTSD is often manifested by recurring flashbacks, hyperarousal, and avoidance or numbing of memories of the event. Plaigiarizing a master's thesis does not really seem to fit PTSD. 

Other politicians have plagiarized and survived.  Then Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) plagiarized British Labor Leader Neil Kinnock rise from humble roots (and later Robert Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey), which forced him out of the race for the 1988 Democrat Presidential nomination, but he bounced back and is now the Vice President of the United States.  What is more memorable than sloppy scholarship is a propensity to blame others and play for sympathy. 

Citing PTSD as an excuse for academic dishonesty demeans PTSD, dishonors Walsh's military valor, and smacks as a play for sympathy votes.  The Walsh Senate campaign's tactic of employing underhanded excuses to invoke pathos makes one wonder if PTSD should signify "Plagiarist Thesis Shucking Disorder" in the District of Calamity. 

Romney Bunch Attack Ad Blows It

The other day while campaigning in the Detroit Metropolitan Area, the place where he was born and raised (thank you), presumptive Republican Presidential nominee former Governor Mitt Romney (R-M) joking about birth certificates.



The Obama campaign went nuts, charging that the Romney campaign was engaging in gutter politics. Of course this ignores the Obama campaign’s alluvia of false characterizations towards their opponent of felonious tax cheating, vulture capitalism, killing laid off workers with cancer (even though Romney had left Bain), supposed animal abuse a score of years ago and unreported bulling from nearly 50 years ago at Cranbrook school. On top of that, not only had President Obama made his own jokes about his birth certificate controversy (even at official state functions), the Obama 2012 campaign sold “Made in the USA” tee shirts mocking the birther allegations. 

Trying to capitalized on Romney’s supposed birther gaffe, the DNC rapid response team produced “The Romney Bunch” attack ad.The DNC tried to concoct a stew of stingers, from birtherism to the war on women, class warfare, ending Medicare, union busting, imposing religion, and cutting education.



Most telling, the Rapid Response video attacked former four term Democrat Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL 7th) as being in it for himself, a subtle to slam one of then candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) nominating speakers at the 2008 Democrat National Convention in Denver. It is a kinder and gentler pariah status than the epithets thrown at other conservative Blacks who have escaped the liberal plantation.

 Although the “Romney Bunch” had a clever concept and was a Rapid Response piece, it truly was a poor quality, especially the tinny music and echo filled vocals. It may be a harbinger of the dearth of campaign funds that Obama 2012 has on hand. The problem with the poor execution of the Brady Bunch is that the filk was not catchy enough to stand on its own, but the music still evoked the emotions of the original work. That does not work to Obama’s advantage.

 Surely the Brady Bunch theme of a big family was a sucker punch jab against Mormons, who typically have big families. This is where the Obama Rapid Response Team was too clever by half.  People will not immediately think of the parody Brady Bunch films in the 1990s which trashed the hokey, out of touch middle class values. Instead, most people fondly remember the Brady Bunch as Boomer television as  days of innocence and more traditional values co-existing in a hip, living color, polyester age. Talk about reinforcing the Romney brand. Oops.

Maybe the Obama Campaign should send Vice President Joe Biden to Tampa  to lead the Truth Squad in Tampa. That will be fun.

Close the Forward Hatch POTUS!

President Barack Obama has spent over $100 Million in political ads so far to gain re-election.  Some wonks wondered if one of the ads featured the President strolling by some columns, which could have been the Colonnade  by the Rose Garden in the White House. This scene had been the site for many images from President George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign.   Obama’s Forward walk  image was brief file footage and the complaint seemed somewhat picayune.

Apparently, the prospective Republican nominee former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) scored a hit with his ad which featured small businessmen reacting to candidate Obama’s bluster that entrepreneurs did not build their own businesses.  In fact, the Romney campaign has been using the gaffe as a means to sell “I Build This Business, Mr. President” t-shirts as campaign fundraisers.



Thus the Obama campaign rushed out a political ad to respond to what they contend is a misrepresentations by Mitt.  An informed voter can watch the Obama Roanoke clip and decide for yourself if lack of teleprompters was to blame, if it was merely inelegant utterances on the stump or if Obama’s opponents are distorting the record.  The problem is the setting for Mr. Obama’s video response.




Unfortunately, the Obama’s “Always” ad, was recorded in the West Wing.  Jake Tapper recognized that Mr. Obama was seated in his Chief of Staff Jacob Lew’s office.  White House officials confirm the setting.

This would seem to be a de facto violation of the 1939 Hatch Act which, in part, prohibits partisan political activity in government offices.  This would include using official authority to interfere with an election or engage in political activity in a government office.  Congressmen routinely vacate their offices on Capitol Hill to Democrat or Republican Clubs to make campaign calls.

A close viewing of Obama’s “Always” ad begins with a hard cut “Those ads”.  Perhaps editors realized that by naming Romney it would have been an overt violation of the Hatch Act.

Obama supporters have made excuses for their candidate’s actions.  Some cite the fact that the White House is government housing so there is not an easily accessible safe place for candidate Obama to make partisan retorts.  Obama officials noted that prior  Presidents, including Ford, Carter, Reagan and Clinton had shots of them in the Oval Office when proffering partisan propaganda.  Melenie Sloan from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government gives Obama’s actions approbation as it did not involve solicitation, but she noted that Americans like to think of the White House as being sacrosanct and above partisan politics.

Between the politization of the Holder Department of Justice for suing states on Voter ID laws on the flimsiest of grounds and not prosecuting aspects of DOMA or Immigration Law which do not strike their political fancy and this flaunting of the spirit of the Hatch Act, it is hard to avoid an impression that in the Obama regime, there is a blending of partisan politics and governance.

As a political animal who supports the rule of law, I urge Mr. Obama to close the Hatch and adhere to the laws on the books.