XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: orkin12@outlook.com   
      
   Aren't all Democrats mentally ill?   
      
   Montana’s newly appointed Democratic senator plagiarized at   
   least one third of the final thesis that earned him a master’s   
   degree at the United States Army War College, according to   
   multiple news reports Wednesday.   
      
   Sen. John E. Walsh, an Iraq war veteran who also is running to   
   complete the term of former Sen. Max Baucus, has made his   
   service a main selling point on the campaign trail this year,   
   but his degree at the War College, one of his highest   
   achievements, appears to have been improperly attained, The New   
   York Times first reported Wednesday afternoon.   
      
   An examination of the 14-page paper, titled “The Case for   
   Democracy as a Long Term National Strategy” and posted online by   
   The Times, revealed that about a third of Mr. Walsh’s 2007 paper   
   consisted of verbatim language and extremely similar passages to   
   other sources, without any kind of attribution.   
      
   “Another third is attributed to sources through footnotes but   
   uses other authors’ exact — or almost exact — language without   
   quotation marks,” The Times said.   
      
   Among the pieces plagiarized or uncited are work by Thomas   
   Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace;   
   Sean Lynn-Jones of Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and   
   International Affairs; and former Soviet dissident Natan   
   Sharansky, co-written with Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to   
   the U.S.   
      
   In addition, the paper ends with six recommendations that are   
   nearly identical to ideas presented in a paper by four Carnegie   
   scholars, including Mr. Carothers, only without any attribution.   
      
   Mr. Walsh, 53, denied accusations of plagiarism when he was   
   confronted outside Capitol Hill on Tuesday.   
      
   “I didn’t do anything intentional here,” he said. Asked directly   
   if he had plagiarized, he responded, “I don’t believe I did, no.”   
      
   But after The Times published its article, Mr. Walsh gave an   
   interview to The Associated Press in which he blamed it in part   
   on post-traumatic stress disorder, related medication and stress   
   from a fellow veteran’s suicide.   
      
   “I don’t want to blame my mistake on PTSD, but I do want to say   
   it may have been a factor,” he said. “My head was not in a place   
   very conducive to a classroom and an academic environment.”   
      
   The War College’s student handbook states that discoveries of   
   plagiarism have led to degrees being rescinded.   
      
   Mr. Walsh was named to the Montana seat in February after   
   President Obama picked Mr. Baucus as ambassador to China,   
   forcing the Democratic lawmaker to resign the 11 months left in   
   his term. Mr. Walsh is running against Rep. Steve Daines, a   
   Republican, for a fresh six-year term.   
      
   A Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman denounced   
   The New York Times report, which was quickly picked up by   
   multiple news outlets, as “smears” and “attacks” designed to   
   denigrate Mr. Walsh’s war hero status.   
      
   “John Walsh is a decorated war hero, and it’s disgusting that   
   Steve Daines and Washington Republicans are going to try   
   denigrate John’s distinguished service after multiple polls show   
   him gaining,” said spokesman Justin Barasky. “Steve Daines   
   should immediately denounce these latest smears and call for an   
   end to all attacks on John Walsh’s record protecting Montana and   
   serving his country.”   
      
   However, when AP contacted Alee Lockman, a Daines spokeswoman,   
   she said she had only just seen the Times story and had no   
   immediate comment.   
      
   http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/23/democratic-sen-   
   john-walsh-plagiarized-masters-thes/   
      
       
      
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