Re “Candidate Abrams Responds to Accusation of Plagiarism”
The following is a reprint of the two most flagrant passages that City Council candidate Gary Abrams says he “borrowed or just repeated” because he liked their sentiment and how it was expressed.
The blue text is from Tarek M. Baydoun’s original text (that appeared last March in the Dearborn (MI) Patch (http://dearborn.patch.com/groups/tarek-m-baydouns-blog/p/bp–text-of-march-7-speech-at-dearborn-city-council-c62930ef30b). The statements in red are what Mr. Abrams originally indicated were his very own.
Putting Dearborn first means transcending personal bias and relegating…
Putting Culver City first means transcending personal biases and relegating…
…personal interest in favor the greater good. Dearborn First means we help our neighbors because it’s the right thing to do.
…personal interests in favor the greater good and helping our neighbors because it’s the right thing to do.
Putting Dearborn First requires that our elected officials and public servants set aside ideological or personal differences to attend to the service of the residents.
Putting Culver City first requires that our elected officials and public servants set aside ideological or personal differences to attend to the service of the residents.
We are challenged to make decisions on how and where to allocate our City’s diminished resources while the needs of our residents continue to increase,
We are challenged to make decisions on how and where to allocate our city’s diminished resources while the needs of our residents continue to increase.
But these challenges have never defined Dearborn. Dearborn has been defined by its unique ability to leverage the honest and studious character of its residents to overcome those challenges.
But these challenges should not have to ever define Culver City. Culver City should be defined by its unique ability to leverage the honest, studious character of its residents to overcome these challenges.
Tracking His Logic
Mr. Abrams tries to take us down his seemingly own convoluted path of what he thinks is right and wrong by mashing the two distinct acts of plagiarism and lying together to lessen his breach of credibility. He thinks by linking these two acts he can rationalize and say he didn't plagiarize someone else’s work because he didn't lie about it afterwards. Plagiarizing and lying about it are two distinct acts, not two parts of one unethical act.
Right in His Mind
He did own up to plagiarism. After reading the previous almost verbatim passages, do you think he had any other choice? In his own unique moral code, he suggests that since he didn't lie about it afterwards, it makes his original act of plagiarism somehow more acceptable, possibly null and void. Let’s forget about it.
Greetings
Now about the greeting card scenario he used as justification for his word piracy. A big difference exists between buying a commercially printed greeting card being publicly offered for sale and lifting someone else’s words from the internet and publishing them as if they were yours. The recipient of a store-bought card never would assume the printed sentiments were the sender’s original words because cards usually have the company’s name, logo and copyright protection printed on the back. Readers of thefrontpageonline.com had no such inkling.
One or the Other
No doubt Mr. Abrams was seeking to impress potential voters or maybe just himself when sought to pass off someone’s well-written work as his own.
His Greatest Form of Flattery
Mr. Abrams wants us to believe his plagiarism was his way of “borrowing” and not outright piracy. Or that he merely repeated what someone else had written, as if the words had been printed in a greeting card. Or that his imitation was his way of showing the greatest form of flattery to Mr. Tarek M. Baydoun.
Greetings from Gary Abrams
As the City Council campaign progresses, I suggest voters be on the lookout unusual campaign literature in their mail. Mr. Abrams’ campaign might be buying commercial greetings cards and sending them out as campaign flyers.
Loss of Credibility
Mr. Abrams said politicians lie. So why is he running? Does he want to become one, too?
Can we, as a community, truly believe anything Mr. Abrams says without wondering where he got it?
Mr. Laase may be contacted at GMLaase@aol.com
