6/14/2006

And Another Piece of Plagiarism in Ann Coulter's Godless:
Honestly, Ann, this is getting so easy, it's embarassing both of us.

From page 37 of Coulter's "book" (a phrase that's becoming less and less true), regarding the murder of a young girl, Tiffany Eunick, by the adolescent Lionel Tate, who claimed he was imitating pro-wrestlers on TV: "[T]he judge called it 'inconceivable' that Tiffany's injuries were caused by wrestling moves. After the trial, Tate's new lawyers admitted that the 'wrestling defense' was 'bogus.'"

From the Parents Television Council's retraction to World Wrestling Entertainment for statements made against the WWE, from July 2002: "[T]he presiding Judge said that it was 'inconceivable' that Tiffany Eunick’s injuries were caused by Lionel Tate mimicking wrestling moves. Indeed, since the trial ended, Lionel Tate’s new lawyers have filed court papers in which they admit that the 'wrestling defense' was, in their words, 'bogus.'"

Much the same wording and the same quoted words and phrases. And, of course, there's not only no citation for the PTC's retraction (written by L. Brent Bozell, no stranger to crazed conservative statements himself), there's no source for any of Coulter's information on the Tate case. (This is not to mention that Coulter says the murder occurred in 2001. Actually, Tate killed Eunick in 1999.)

At some point, can this get a quarter of the attention that, say, Doris Kearns Goodwin's plagiarism allegations got from the mainstream media? Or does Coulter get a pass? More, as they say, tomorrow.

Remember: Raw Story's on the case, too.