Letters to the Editor
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"because at work I often quote what you write here as something a friend told me"
Yes. You are not saying these are your own words. You are saying a friend said: "________________________."
See the difference. All Obama had to do to stay out of trouble was to credit his friend for those words. He did not. Now he should acknowledge that more completely. If he doesn't he will get into trouble. Big trouble. He will be seen as disingenuous and equivocating. Many of the people who are backing him so hard in the media may never say so outright, but they will quietly withdraw their support and it may be the beginning of the end of his rise. Because there are people in this country with much more power than I and a much bigger audience than these letter threads get who care about words and ethics. Now everything he says and everything he writes or has written will be examined in an entirely new light.
Writing is damned hard work. That is why most writers hate plagiarists.