Friday, June 04, 2004

Lessons from the Cook'd Ship Lollypop

Remember in fourth grade when your teacher scolded that if you didn't put your name on your assignment, then Mr. Nobody would get the credit for your work? Apparently Mr. Nobody got elected Chairman to the Orange County School Board.

Ketih Cook's excuse for his recent plagiarism of a Donna Shalala commencement speech is that he "didn't know it belonged to anybody." First, he's full of it. I cannot find an unattributed copy of that speech online, though perhaps by now Cook has posted one somewhere.

Second (and more to the point) it brings to mind an image of Cook finding someone else's homework assignment on the teacher's desk, seeing no name on it and signing his own. His not knowing whose it was is utterly irrelevent. He knows it wasn't his.

Can it get worse? Sure. Cook says that this situtation is now blown out of proportion by his detractors: From the 6-4-04 News & Observer:

"It started out with a little fire, and people threw wood on it, and now you have flames ablazing one more time in Orange County Schools, and it is not good for anybody," he said. "It is chilling to feel and hear how vindictive some people are, to know that people could forget so easily."

Now that he's compounded his offense by lying more and adding an attempt at victimhood for good measure, yes Cook has clearly demonstrated that he's a candidate for the "I don't get it" hall of fame.

Thankfully, next month the voters will explain it to him with a math lesson.

No comments: