Compare And Contrast Photos Of The Day - NSC Edition

Though we believe you shouldn't "judge a book by its cover," we are making an exception in the case of the membership of the re- shuffled National Security Council.

Here is the newest member, empowered to attend all "principals committee" meetings:

(White nationalist Trump advisor Steve Bannon)

Here is the member disempowered to attend only those NSC meetings "relevant to his portfolio":

(Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, USMC, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff)

Really gives you an enhanced sense of ... national security, doesn't it?

Oops, She Did It Again!

Neo- fascist useful idiot Donald "Rump" Trump's choice for National Security Council communications director, Monica "Who The (Bleep) Did I Just Plagiarize" Crowley, has apparently been caught in another cut- and paste scandal.  This time it's "Dr." Crowley's "PhD" dissertation:

An examination of the dissertation and the sources it cites identified around more than a dozen sections of text that have been lifted, with little to no changes, from other scholarly works without proper attribution. In some instances, Crowley footnoted her source but did not identify with quotation marks the text she was copying directly. In other instances, she copied text or heavily paraphrased with no attribution at all. [snip]

By checking passages in the document against the sources Crowley cites, focusing on paragraphs that come before and after footnotes of key sources in her bibliography, we found numerous structural and syntactic similarities. She lifted passages from her footnoted texts, occasionally making slight wording changes but rarely using quotation marks. Sometimes she didn’t footnote at all. 

Parts of Crowley's dissertation appear to violate Columbia's definition of "Unintentional Plagiarism" for "failure to 'quote' or block quote author's exact words, even if documented" or "failure to paraphrase in your own words, even if documented." In other cases, her writing appears to violate types I and II of Columbia's definition of "Intentional Plagiarism," which are, respectively, "direct copy and paste" and "small modification by word switch," "without quotation or reference to the source."  (our emphasis)

Politico's piece contains side- by- side comparisons of Crowley's dissertation with plagiarized texts. As with the plagiarized segments of Crowley's 2012 opus dopus "What The (Bleep) Just Happened," it's clearly not coincidental word- shifting. What's also not coincidental is the lack of ethics that goes along with being a Republican hack or office holder these days, beginning at the top with Cheeto Benito. While Crowley's position is not subject to Senate confirmation, the passel of plutocrats, fraudsters, racists and dimbulbs whose nominations Republicans are eager to bum- rush through confirmation without thorough ethics vetting make clear what Paul Krugman forecast earlier this month:

As I said, we are entering an era of epic corruption.  https://t.co/nXMSyOiYfR

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) January 3, 2017

(Photo: Serial plagiarist Monica Crowley, cut and pasted from another website -- again.)

Trump's Pick For National Security Council Position A Plagiarist

Before there was Melania Trump, there was neo- fascist Putin poodle Donald "Rump" Trump's choice for senior director of strategic plagiarism communications for the National Security Council, Monica "Who The (Bleep) Did I Just Plagiarize" Crowley:

Conservative author and television personality Monica Crowley, whom Donald Trump has tapped for a top national security communications role, plagiarized large sections of her 2012 book, a CNN KFile review has found. 

The review of Crowley’s June 2012 book, "What The (Bleep) Just Happened," found upwards of 50 examples of plagiarism from numerous sources, including the copying with minor changes of news articles, other columnists, think tanks, and Wikipedia. The New York Times bestseller, published by the HarperCollins imprint Broadside Books, contains no notes or bibliography. [snip] 

In the book, Crowley lifted an entire section on Keynesian economics from the IAC-owned website Investopedia. 

In one instance, Crowley lists a variety of so-called "pork" items she claimed were part of the 2009 stimulus package. Many of the instances were copied wholesale from a conservative list of pork barrel spending, with some items dating back to the 1990s. Most of the copied instances were listed on a website for a podiatrist dating back to 2004. (our emphasis)

She's plagiarized sh*t from a podiatrist's website?  (Insert any foot- in mouth- type pun here, e.g., "You've got to be pretty low to do that.")

CNN KFile's Andrew Kaczynski discovered the staggering level of plagiarism in the book, and provides a comprehensive side- by- side comparison of Crowley's cut- and- paste expertise at the link above. Kaczynski also notes that it's not the first time that Crowley's been caught plagiarizing:

Crowley has been accused of plagiarism before. In 1999, Slate reported a column by Crowley in the Wall Street Journal mirrored a 1988 article in Commentary, the neoconservative magazine. 

"Had we known of the parallels, we would not have published the article," a Journal editor’s note said at the time. Crowley denied the charge at the time, saying, "I did not, nor would I ever, use material from a source without citing it."

Riiight!

(Photo: Serial plagiarist Monica Crowley, cut and pasted from another website.)