Maureen must be a graduate of the Doris Kearns Goodwin School of Sloppy Notetaking. You don't copy that many words that directly on purpose. Of course being incompetent isn't much of a defense against being a thief.
@Ouimet: Does she always include verbatim, unattributed suggestions from her friends in her column? I mean, that's no huge deal, I guess. Editors mangle beyond all recognition rewrite whole sections of long pieces all the time, much less a (thankfully) space constricted column. But a buddy just feeding her whole paragraphs like this, without her even embellishing it like it were an original thought? Sheeeiit.
So, yeah, that's plagiarizing. She usually insulates herself from such things by using a brand of witless sarcasm and insufferable nicknames unique to her. Surely, Rosenthal will give her a hearty verbose slap on the wrist and don't you ever, ever, ever do it again now let's go to Waverly Inn and have a drink and forget about all that, shall we?
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[www.nytpick.com]
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Now you've got three commenters correcting a post that's not even two lines long :)
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Yay! Singapore Slings for everyone!
Also, sorry about that smarmy emoticon. Meant to convey that my comment was written in a friendly spirit, not with a gleeful smirk.
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[tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com]
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