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1. Why do these people protect Doug Wilson so self-destructively? Does Doug really have so much dirt on Randy Booth that Randy will throw himself on any grenade no matter the outcome?

   It’s astonishing to behold. You’d almost think they’ve killed people together and buried the bodies in Randy’s backyard, or something equally egregious and deplorable. I can’t imagine anything less that would turn someone into such a ball-less, soulless puppet of a man as Randy Booth.

   1. Dash, FYI, I believe the plagiarism, at least that major portion WAS Randy. Observe: http://web.archive.org/web/20090824073405/http://www.gcov.org/articles/shimei.pdf

      Doug’s responsibility in this is slightly more complicated although very real as he himself has said about people publishing things with their names on them, elsewhere.

   2. Wilson’s role was not complicated. He was complicit. Read this post called A Filter for Gunk.com. He deployed Booth to help him silence criticism & dissent, in his pre-#FreeSpeechApocalypse days.

2. I did a little googling this morning to determine whether the publisher holds any responsibility for publishing plagiarized material, rather than just the editor. It appears to be the case, but I cannot say with certainty. Maybe a brighter mind than mine can say?

   1. Well, in issues of libel, the publisher is as responsible as the actual libeler. For example, if a newspaper prints a libelous letter to the editor, the paper may be liable although no staff person committed the libel. You are responsible for what appears in your publication. Usually, since publishers have deeper pockets and better insurance than most writers, it is also (or additionally) the publisher who gets sued. Litigants tend to follow the money.

      I don’t know if plagiarism issues follow the exact same rules. However, I do know that for inadvertent plagiarism, as for libel, inadvertency is not a defense. Professionals are required to use the due diligence that upholds professional standards.

   2. I do not think plagiarism will be like libel in that regard. Libel is written words that harms the good name of someone – when I write something terrible about Famous Actor, his name is not harmed yet. But when Big Magazine publishes it, his name is harmed, and Big Magazine would have known the moment they read my story it would harm his name.

      Plagiarism is not that obvious to a publisher, he won’t know at first glance it is plagiarized.

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