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But this kid was asking a question about what he was doing.

You actually buy his excuses? Good grief.

Surely a professor to a few clubs can be called upon to explain what is and is not an "inspired by" piece when a student is asking about it.

You actually think Mr. Domenech wasn't told, in grisly detail, what is and isn't plagiarism? Have you ever taken a college writing course, or worked at a newspaper, and not been told about this?

For the last 10 years I've maintained a web page on Martin Luther King's plagiarism. It's gotten me an incredible amount of abuse (though Michael Savage also mentions it on his radio show every so often, so that's kewl). But, having roasted a liberal icon for plagiairizing his writing, think I'm going to let a conservative flame-thrower off the hook for the same thing?

Maybe you are being way too hard on this college kid, and maybe I am being way too soft, and maybe the truth is somewhere in-between.

Or, maybe I'm right. I don't know his teachers or what he was taught or not taught. Or what he thought or didn't think.

But, to compare plagiarism of Martin Luther King, as you claim exists, with a college newspaper article written by a college student, who checked with his fellow college student editors, seems to me a comparison that is a bit off, to say the least.

But here is something I do believe, which may go to the Doe Eye post: The Washington Post can surely fire any non-union employee it wants, for any reason or no reason, and their motives for firing could include, I would guess, public statements of its non-union employees.

However, it seems to me those public statements of a new employee should have been part of the interview process if they were so easily found by others so quickly.

And what I think the Washington Post had on its mind, more than doing its job in the interview and hiring process, was this: Its own bottom line.

That newspaper seems to me it was so eager to say: Hey, everyone, look at us! A newspaper with a YOUNG blogger on board! We're hip! We're cool! OTHER NEWSPAPERS MAY BE AT DEATH'S DOOR -- BUT NOT US! WE'RE THE TALK OF THE BLOGOSHPERE NOW!

In a way, it's the same motivation and overzealous attitude that led Arianna Huffington to recently get George Clooney on her blog even though she didn't actually get him to blog.

The Washington Post seems to have tossed out its usual procedures to get this young kid, too.

Maybe next time the Washington Post will spend more time looking at what is already out there before they hire. And if it doesn't matter, then tell people at the onset: We read this kid's college writings, and concluded he made some mistakes, but, he's now a political blogger and we're going to see where this new road goes.

But the Washington Post did not think to do that. The blogosphere did all the background checking that adults employed by the Post didn't. And, of course, as is characteristic of the blogosphere, added their own comments.

Maybe some of those comments were correct. But maybe not.

A little off topic, but it goes to somewhat prove your point at even a much younger age.

When my son was in the 4th grade, he had to write a paper on the Irish Wolfhound. He came out of his bedroom one night, and said "Mom, what exactly is plagiarism?" Trying to explain it on his level, I said, "Well it basically means you cannot copy someone elses work, and claim it as your own" I told him that he must alway give credit, through foot notes etc., to the original source, I must have also told him about the use of quotation marks to further the point, but that part obviously didn't get all the way through. After about 1/2 hour, my FOURTH GRADE son comes out with his masterpiece of a report.......

"English literature abounds with references to the Irish Wolfhound"

I promptly went on to explain to him that what he just produced was PLAGERISM!!!

He thought that if he used the quotation marks, then he could copy it word for word. We still laugh at my obviously poor explanation. But yet back to the matter at hand, he knew from me, and his teachers, in fourth grade, that plagiarism was wrong.