More American Idols

By GAIL COLLINS
NYT

I have been thinking about the fact that Colorado Republicans rejected their front-running candidate for governor, Scott McInnis, apparently on the grounds that he committed plagiarism.

McInnis, a former congressman, was once paid $300,000 by a right-wing foundation to write a series of articles called “Musings on Water.” It turns out that he lifted large chunks of the final product from the work of a local judge.

This story raised many questions, most critically one about where the rest of us can find foundations that will pay us $300,000 to write some essays on water rights.

Also, would Coloradans find plagiarism so upsetting that they would actually vote for the only alternative to McInnis? This was Dan Maes, a political newcomer who recently claimed that Denver’s effort to encourage bike riding was a plot, probably inspired by the United Nations, to “threaten our personal freedoms.”

(More here.)