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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Memories of `Biden's Disease'

Click here for a discussion of how many times Biden used the word "literally" in his speech in Springfield. The column below was published nearly 21 years ago, on Sept. 18, 1987, when the Joe Biden plagiarism scandal was raging. In light of today's selection of Biden as Barack Obama's running mate I thought readers might find it interesting:

'Tis a far, far better thing that Joe Biden -- no, scratch that.

When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, Joe Biden -- no, sorry, I'll start again.

The thought I'm groping to express here is that Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware has just learned himself a valuable little lesson about plagiarism that all of us, after having extracted our full measure of glee from watching him squirm, can learn from ourselves.

Biden evidently succumbed to that most alluring of sirens, the well-turned phrase. Last month, in a closing speech at a debate at the Iowa State Fair, Biden reportedly borrowed whole passages as well as gestures from a recent TV commercial for British politician Neil Kinnock.

    "Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university?" began Kinnock's speech.

"Why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university?" said Biden.

    Then it came to light that when Biden said, "Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation," when speaking to a California convention in February, he was echoing almost exactly a 1967 speech of Robert F. Kennedy's.

    You get the idea. Biden "owes a heavy debt to other sources," as my freshman English teacher once said in a different context.

    He was speaking to me about my work when I, too, had suffered an outbreak of Biden's Disease. Almost anyone who ever does much writing and who cares about and loves words is susceptible to this malady, and has to recognize that it must be fought actively.

In my case I was writing a college term paper concerning imagery in one of those turgid William Faulkner stories that seem to have been composed for the sole purpose of torturing 19-year-olds. 

With innocent zeal, I had gone to the library and checked out numerous volumes of Faulkner criticism written by tremendously nimble thinkers. Their expressions crystalized the thoughts and impressions that had, I flattered myself to imagine, been drifting around in my own head.

    I copied some of the punchier sentences directly into the notes I was assembling for my term paper. And when I sat down to write, the very best parts of these sentences, three and four words at a time, went brazenly into my work as though they were my own.

    It's hard to explain to someone who does not write what an innocent, well-meaning act this kind of plagiarism really can be. The writer almost never thinks, "this is wrong, but no one will know," or, "I hope no one catches me," or even "ain't this easy?"

The writer simply finds himself enthralled with the beauty and perfect aptness of an expression or a thought that is not his own.

Or, rather, it is his own. This is the difficulty. The plagiarist so loves the words and is so convinced and overpowered and moved by them that he succumbs to them absolutely.

He begins to think whatever is expressed by the words with the same conviction as if he had composed the words himself.

Great writing does this, almost by definition. Great writing puts into words thoughts that a reader always had but couldn't quite define. Great writing often makes a reader think, "I wish I'd written that."

And from that thought it is not as long a step as you might think to the actual theft of words, phrases and expressions.

Proof lies in the dismayingly long list of very intelligent, skilled writers and orators who have been detected borrowing heavily from the work of others.

The impenetrable William Faulkner, as far as we know, was a total original. My paper on him was not. My English teacher found me out because the person who had written the Monarch Notes outline on Faulkner's stories had also read the same criticism I had read, and he had included in his work some of the more trenchant passages, fully footnoted.

I failed the paper,* did poorly in the class and failed even to enjoy the irony that a full professor was having to read Monarch Notes in order to teach. I protested as Biden's staff is protesting to the press now and as virtually every apprehended plagiarist protests:

The theft was inadvertent. The words were contained in some other notes. Anyone would have come up with those phrases.

    I didn't feel like a lazy cheat and, in fact, I wasn't. I was sick. I had the disease that poor Joe Biden has. And I still have it. To this day when I see wonderful passages, perfect adjectives and tightly spun metaphors I cringe with envy, longing and some despair that I have not written them.

Recently, for instance, I sat down to write a newspaper article about Spuds MacKenzie, the bull terrier that appears in Bud Light beer ads. I recalled having read a short, extremely pointed description of Spuds in the New Republic, but I couldn't remember the exact words.

    Just to be sure, I checked with the library: "Ugly and charmless," said the New Republic. And I made a note to myself in big letters, "Ugly and charmless, New Republic," so that I would be sure not to let those words  slip, however consciously or unconsciously, into my article.

    I was on my guard, as I have always been on guard since I was lucky  enough to learn my lesson at age 19 in a small classroom, when even big mistakes are still private matters.

    Joe Biden is having to learn his lesson at age 44 in front of everybody,  when no excuse, really, is good enough. Imagine how ugly and charmless he must feel.

*My former prof saw this column and wrote to say he believed that I'd merely gotten a C- on the paper; in retrospect, though, I'm lucky not to have failed the class and even been kicked out of the university. Those were gentler times.



Eric -- Do you think the plagarism thing will hurt Biden and Obama in the election? Many people think it's old news, but it was the first thing I thought of when Biden's name came up as a potential running mate. (I'd forgotten the other stuff about padding his resume and saying he was a top student when he was in the bottom 10. Those are related issues.)

Just wondering if you think plagiarism is a hanging offense, so to speak, or if only writers and people who love writing, and words, will care.

ZORN REPLY -- I think the statute of scandal limitations is almost run on that, though it certainly will invite a rejoinder about McCain's old problems -- Keating Five, cheating on his injured first wife and so on. Maybe that was the idea? Lure the GOP into dredging up 20-plus-year-old issues, then clearing their throats and saying, "Well, now that you mention the 1980s..."

Biden — the perfect foil for Palin!

Didn't Biden use that Kinnock language in earlier speeches -- and attribute it as such?


I read something this morning - come to think of it in the Tribune - that recounted this episode (Biden's - not yours!), stating in part that Biden had credited Kinnock in other instances of the speech at other locations. Since we now have plenty of hindsight with which to view this momentous circumstance, we might as well use it.

On another tack, let me quote the venerable Michel de Montaigne, who said (my translatio):

“I hide my thefts, and disguise them. These other authors put them on parade and on account; thus they have better credit with the law than I. Like those who steal horses, I paint them mane and tail, and sometimes poke out an eye; if their first master used them as amblers, I put them to trot, and to the pack-saddle if they served for the riding-saddle.”

I guess Biden's downfall was that he didn't paint up his borrowings and disguise them better. In the end, every writer/artist/composer borrows and transmutes models, often causing what Harold Bloom called the "anxiety of influence." If one is not worried about being original, though, one probably feels no anxiety.

I think Biden is a BIG mistake if Obama is going for independents. Joe Biden decided it was more important to give more ammo to credit card companies and pushed for a rewriting of the Bankruptcy Bill, which hurts consumers trying to get a fresh start. It left a seriously bitter taste in my mouth.

Add that to Plastic Joe's support of the Iraq War (and THIS guy is supposed to be an EXPERT on international affairs?), and I am thinking I am voting for Bob Barr, or simply not voting.

A shame, too, because I thought that Obama was supposed to represent "change".

ZORN COMMENT -- One strike like THAT JLE and you're out, forever shunted into the spam filter. Go call people names on other blogs.
Good day.

Didn't Obama use a speech from some east coast governor? Can't remember too much about it, but I do remember Obama said it was OK because they were friends.

ZORN REPLY -- Not a speech, no, a tagline or refrain....from the Gov. of Mass., Deval Patrick. Google "Just words"

I always thought the problem wasn't that he just copied Neil Kinnock's words, but that he adopted Neil Kinnock's life story in that Iowa speech as his own. I recall this made Biden seem like a real phony.

I also recall that this was just after C-SPAN captured Biden verbally attacking someone on the campaign trail....

Remember when Biden said "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy ... I mean, that's a storybook, man." Forget about plagiarism. Think about those words and what they reveal about Joe Biden.

I believe Sen. Obama's pick for VP candidate was a poor one. Jim Kaine , in my opinion, would have been a wiser one. Kaine would have given so called Reagan democrats pause in voting republican. The democrats disinfranchised many catholics with their pro choice stance and Kaine would have showed them a little light at the end of the tunnel.I have been unable to find your response regarding Obama's so called block of the winkle amendment.

ZORN REPLY -- Scroll down, John, scroll down.

My support of Obama has been dealt a serious blow.
A freshman senator running for president picks a stalwart veteran of the congressional body as his running mate. Shades of the equivocating John Kerry!

The coolness of my antipathy for members of the legislature and the body as a whole must be measured using the Kelvin scale.

The Democrats only hope is that McCain picks Joe Liebermann as his running mate.

I've not yet voted for a Republican in a presidential election, but I'm beginning to entertain the possibility of voting for Mad Dog Mac, depending upon his choice for the office of V.P., and even though he, too, is a Senator with a well-polished (read "phony") persona.



Same here.... thats what I wondered if it was him. - Eric, seems like thats what you remember first thing?

Should have chosen Chuck Norris.

Sorry Eric - had to say it.

This is such utter baloney. Biden's main boo-boo was to forget to attribute to Neil Kinnock on one occasion in what was becoming a stump speech -- when he had attributed Kinnock every previous time he made the speech. And he got crucified for it, by shallow people in the media like Mr. Zorn. His other boo-boo was to cave in and drop out. He's never made that mistake again in the face of media BS like this.

There are actually remarkable parallels between the Kinnock life-story and the Biden one. They were both the first in their families to go to college. They both had working-class fathers laboring in Rust Belt industries. They both made their respective national legislatures before they were 30. But in the American mainstream media, the scribblings and catty remarks of people like Zorn are proof of how the press celebrates inheritance and belittles self-made people.

Doesn't look like a great pick to me. I am not sure why Obama would pick another Washington insider especially with some major failings. i.e. likes to copy things. Anti trade. Pro credit card companies. It is not doing Obama any good at the real-time poll at http://www.bop-o-rama.com. The "Biden Bounce" seems not to be working on the other guy. Maybe Obama needs to start texting his base when they are all awake. Zorn, at least you got a C-.

If McCain's handlers are smart, they'll pick Oprah or Ellen as his choice for running mate.

Doesn't anyone remember what Biden said about Obama during the primary?


As I recall, this was a big factor for the wind going out of Biden's sails! Sheesh.

Does this mean that Joe Biden is no longer a racist? And does it also mean that late night comedians will no longer find anything funny about Joe Biden?

Dear Eric,

The late historian/author Stephen Ambrose was accused of plagiarism in several of his books. The author Doris Kearns Goodwin was caught lifting whole passages of another author's work and not giving proper attribution. She was sued and settled out of court.
You learned your lesson about plagiarism at an early age (19) and you're still a writer. Joe Biden had to wait a little longer age (44) for his lesson. I assume you both are more careful now.

Plagurism twenty years ago, compared to the war in Iraq, our economy, every Bush " I'm going to make this country proud of our government again" or "Mission Accomplished" statement or worse, action, seems to pale in comparision.

I think its a great choice. To those who are not so sure, "I" say:

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well you might find
You get what you need (1)

(1) M. Jagger/K Richard

Poor grades and more plagiarism according to the NY Times:





Well, McSame might make some hay with the plagiarism stuff. Doubt it goes very far. Vote for Obama or Clinton or WHOMEVER ENDS UP AS THE CANDIDATE AFTER DENVER,
but next time, REMEMBER how the DEMS failed US, and in the meantime WORK HARD LOCALLY for the instant runoff/second choice ballot:

Tell BARACK OBAMA or if it ends up being Hillary after Denver, TELL HILLARY---
(EITHER OF WHICH COULD SUPPLY ALL OF OUR Electric needs for each year.)

Plagiarism was only one of Biden's problems. He borrowed Kinnock's life story, saying "My ancestors who worked in the coal mines of northeast Pennsylvania and would come after 12 hours and play football for four hours? It's because they didn't have a platform on which to stand." Those were Kinnock's ancestors who worked the mines, not Biden's.

Gee, Eric, weren't you within the last year wanting the heads of a couple of Illinois Universities that you accused of plagiarism? Now you say Biden's plagiarism is no big deal. What happened to your "moral compass"? Oh, I know, liberals are immune from criticism when they comply with your left wing leanings.

ZORN REPLY -- Actually, I didn't offer comment at all about the problems of the former Democratic gubernatorial nominee when he was caught having plagiarized in a n academic/school paper many years ago. I thought the statute of limitations had expired.

Plagiarism is a quaint offense these days. Compare the firestorm that hit Biden in 1987 vs. the solid chorus of 'meh's that hit Glen Poshard last year.

Plagiarism, like purchasing/doing cocaine, is not an offense in my book. Who among us has not committed these two offenses? And by committing them, both Obama and Biden seem more real, more human to me.

With all the media attention to Biden's and Obama's occasional re-use of other people's words, I'm surprised how little we hear about one of John McCain's most famous utterances being directly lifted from somebody else. The now-infamous "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" thing (to the tune of "Barbara Ann") was first done way back during the Carter administration by Chicago's own Steve Dahl and the Insane Coho Lips. But the press seems to give Mr. McCain a complete pass on this little bit of plagiarism. Is plagiarism OK if you're a Republican? Or maybe it's OK if the words you've swiped are an embarrassment to yourself and your party? Enquiring minds want to know...

cheers anthony!
you have it right and thank you for making me sing that song in my head for the rest of the day!

Consider Illiniois, a state where we elect the same crooks and incompetents time after time. Do you really think anyone is going to care about Biden's past transgressions?

Mr. Zorn, I don't really care about Biden's plagiarism, but what I find interesting is that Biden ran for president twice and failed in both attempts, badly. If Biden couldn't convince people to vote for him as president then, how is Obama going to convince people to vote for Biden as VP (which only a step away from the presidency)? In addition, Biden is from Delaware, the state with a population of 843,524, which ranks it 45 out of 50 states (OK, maybe 57 states sounds better). The selection of Biden, in my opinion, is just another blunder on Obama part.


Posted by: Jake | Aug 23, 2008 2:25:36 PM

Now that Jake has brought up college grades (to paraphrase an earlier comment on this string), we now can revisit how John McCain graduated from Annapolis 894th in his class of 899. And ask whether or not his father, the Navy Admiral, pulled strings to get an undeserving son admitted.

That's the problem with "gotcha" political attacks. We waste time and energy not dealing with real problems and issues that affect our lives. And no politician is a vestal virgin, above all imperfection.

Sadly, Karl Rove tactics seem to work. Shame on the practitioners. Even more, shame on us for being morally and intellectually lazy. That enables the mud throwing thugs and their bad behavior.

Al Strauts, many of us felt the same way in 2000,after watching the vice-presidential debate, two adults sitting down and talking over issues in a respectful manner. Why weren't those guys at the top of their tickets, instead of Al Gore, a fountain of facts and if he didn't have one handy, he'd make one up, and Dubya?

By the way, your caps lock is stuck.

He said this two years ago--which was not plagiarized:


He said this too, around the same time:


Are you serious? Biden makes an attribution error once after how many times he'd done it right? And it's an issue? And it was 20 years ago? Are you serious? You think this is "interesting?" Really? And if you listen to BIden's remarks about Obama, about his being articulate, you hear what he meant--simple praise of Obama, not racist BS. This is all empty nothing. But thanks for bringing it up again--this has become the major media's role in American life: debasing it with empty nothings. Job well done. (OK, the "articulate" thing was not you, Mr Zorn--sorry for lumping you in with your respondents. But this replay is little better).

The plagiarism charge won't go anywhere, but & it's a BIG BUT, Biden is boring!
He suffers from long-time senator disease, which is that he can't answer a question with a simple answer, he just goes on & on. Always uses a few dozen words when just a few will do.
And don't bring the one time he was short, he was asked if his answers were too long, he replied "No".
Which comes back to the plagiarism charge since that was ripped off from Coolidge 80 years earlier.
He asks questions at Senate hearing that are so long the witness has no idea of what he was asked.

This is a terrible choice, Obama really must want to lose in November!

How come media people like yourself, who always are so quick to condemn and who always have the right answers to every one of society’s problems, never run for office??? At least the candidates have the guts to try. You apparently don't.

I think Obama may have made a mistake. Biden might even make a good VP but his big problem is that he is gaffe-prone. He is going to do a lot of talking over the next 2+ months and is almost sure to stick his foot in his mouth at least once.

It is not a gaffe but the "literally" thing was a bad start. After 35 years of running for office, he does not know better than that in a big speech?

You almost have to wonder what compromising pictures of Obama Jon Stewart has in a safe somewhere. Biden is not made for the Daily Show the way Bush was but he is going to fill some airtime.

Biden is a product of the Strom Thurman disease--staying in the senate so long that he believes half the stuff he says but still says all of it--he will add nothing to the ticket regardless of how it is spinned-there were much better choices but Obama let his wife's need for attention make the final pick---

Garry, so how many words do you think Biden will have to use to answer the following question:
Senator, you said earlier in this campaign that Obama is inexperienced and that the presidency is no place for on-the-job training. Senator, what has Senator Obama done since then that leads you to believe what you said then was not true?

Your protests about "innocent zeal" notwithstanding, there is no such thing as plagiarism as a "well meaning act." When it's not simply dishonest or criminal, the best it can be is sloppy, careless, hasty, or plain dumb.
The reason you find it so "hard to explain" to non-writers, is that there is no truth in your explanation.
Most writers never plagiarize, because their writerly instinct makes someone else's mode of expression feel like a burr inside their shirt collar. Their love of words and intimate familiarity with their own verbal fingerprint, makes them know instantly when something is not their own creation, even when they don't remember exactly whose it was.

JB: Biden will use at least a hundred words to obfuscate that by picking him [Biden], Obama has shown how he's grown & is now fully capable to be president.

And I'm a Democrat who thinks that this year's choices for president are a disaster & sometimes want a gun, to put to my own head, instead of choosing between these two fools& liars!

There's a good reason why that no senator has gone directly from the Senate to the White House since JFK, & he was the first since 1920. It's only going to happen this year since both candidates are in the Senate now.

The Senate rules allow senators to speak endlessly on anything & the do.

And then when they go outside they prattle on endlessly & nobody yells at them "STFU!

As a longtime supporter of Senator McCain, I'll say that folks can dredge up all the old stuff on Senator Biden all they want----but it's going to slide off him like an egg off Teflon. I agree with Senator McCain's assessment of the pick. On balance, it's a respectable choice---much like Governor Dukakis choosing Senator Bentsen in 1988. Didn't put the candidate over the top, though, just as no veep candidate does. For my part, I'm just giving a loud and long exhale (Whew!) that Senator Obama failed to see the value of choosing Governor Sebelius.

All I wanted was Bill Richardson as VP. Was that too much to ask? Put your lips together and whistle. We're in for a bumpy ride.

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. - Martin Luther King



"Whole lotta bendin' goin' on!" - Jerry Lee Lewis and me

The pen may indeed be mightier than the sword, and the meek may indeed inherit the earth, yet that's not what we want in our commander in chief.

Inadvertent plagiarism may be a hanging offense in academia and journalism, but we have bigger fish to fry in politics. Issues, and positions thereon, count more than who said what first.

Al Strauts was having a senior moment and confused 2008 with the 2000 and 2004 elections.

Posted by: Chuck | Aug 23, 2008 1:32:32 PM

I am not the first to bring this up but Geraldine Ferraro was vilified by the Obama campaign and had the letter "R" permanently branded on her forehead for making a remark that was less outrageous than this.

When all you have to discuss is the suspected integrity of a V.P. candidate, it shows how bankrupt the campaign is. These dolts running for office have no more idea what politics should be than hogs designing bikinis. There hasn't been an original idea uttered yet in this campaign and if one does pop up....better investigate and verify.

Obama puts months of thought into this process and it yields one of the great plagiarists of all time? Makes me wonder what his less important thought processes like running the country will yield.

ZORN REPLY -- "one of the great plagiarists of all time"??? Gee, have much of a perspective problem, there? A bit carried away by your Obama hatred?

EXCELLENT pick. Obama is an outsider advocating change and that's exactly what I like about him. BUT, in order to be effective, unlike our governor, he needs to also be effective. Biden is one of the very best of the "establishment" crowd and that crowd is a force that has to be worked with.

If anybody doubts that, just look at our governor. We don't just need to talk about change, we need some of it to actually happen.

Our High school held a 'contest' so to speak they asked the brightest of bright seniors to write a commencement speech then after all was turned in, they picked one and had a popular kid give the speech, then she at graduation did give the speech did she say she was reading another kid's speech? NO Did it say in the program that it was the other kid's speech? NO Did the kids no this? Yes they tried to protest and were told THEY would not be allowed to graduate if the did, and they would be excorted out of graduation! Lemont High school got away with it and according to my children have been getting away with and condone it since the beginning of time.........but no one cares, I wrote about it in news papers, ask anyone at graduation. Watch the tape, she never sites her work...and the superintendent wont' talk because it is 'over'...........so sweep it under the rug long enough and it will be ok is what Lemont High teaches........

I don't get what the big deal is - 99% of their speeches are written by staff writers anyway. What does it say about their character or ability to make decisions? They liked the "play" and they used it, is that so bad? when they are in the office, are they going to have to look for an original solution for every problem? they are not poets or writers who are on display for the originality of their work.

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