Friday, March 18, 2005
Lesson For Bobby Eberle On The Proper Use of Quotation Marks
Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. I would think that since you ran a "news organization" you would know a little bit about the proper use of quotation marks.
There's a rhyme and a reason to when a "journalist" makes use of those tiny little vertical dashes. You see, Bobby, real journalists use quotation marks to mark the exact quote that they pulled from whatever source that they use for their article.
For example. Say I were to quote Nathan Hale for some reason, as in, Nathan Hale once said "I regret that I have but one life to give to my country."
Simple, right. Those were Nathan's words and I wouldn't want anyone to think that I came up with any of those words myself. Now if you wrote Nathan Hale once said I regret that I have but "one life to give to my country" some of your readers might mistakenly believe that Bobby Eberle helped write Nathan Hale's famous line. But, of course, you didn't. That was an awful long time ago, way before Talon News or GOPUSA came about.
The reason why I think you might need a lesson in the proper use of quotation marks, Bobby (I'm sorry Bobby but I can't call you Doctor if your education is so lacking), is because of an article you wrote in December of 2004 (not that long ago, but long after you started your plagiarism/propaganda empire) which was - for the most part - copy-and-pasted from a Congressman's Press Release.
"Congressman Mocks Parrot Arrests" appeared on December 22, 2004 at the GOPUSA Website, though of course it's been scrubbed since along with everything else that came from Talon News. Fortunately your "articles" travelled all across the Web so everything that you guys "wrote" is easily findable: Freeper Link. This "article" that you "wrote" appeared a day after Congressman Tom Tancredo released this press release: "Immigration Enforcement Prevents Mexican Parrots From Illegally Immigrating to the U.S. Apparently There Are No Jobs Available That American Parrots Won’t Do" link.
Bobby Eberle: Under the headline "Apparently There Are No Jobs Available That American Parrots Won't Do," Tancredo said he was surprised to learn of the "incredible success that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers enjoyed in apprehending smugglers attempting to illegally smuggle 150 Lilac Crowned and Mexican Redhead Amazon Parrots into the United States."
Tancredo: Congressman Tom Tancredo (CO-06) today was surprised to learn of the incredible success that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers enjoyed in apprehending smugglers attempting to illegally smuggle 150 Lilac Crowned and Mexican Redhead Amazon Parrots into the United States.
Oops, Bobby. Wrong use of quotation marks in that paragraph. You should've moved the first mark right before the word, surprised, because that's where the quote really began. I know you're a bright guy, Bobby, and you could've come up with "surprised to learn of the" all by yourself but, too bad, Tancredo beat you to it.
Bobby Eberle: "It's nice to see that ICE has their priorities in order," quipped Tancredo, head of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. "Now that we appear able to successfully identify and apprehend parrots attempting to enter the U.S. illegally, perhaps doing the same with people is just around the corner."
Tancredo: “It’s nice to see that ICE has their priorities in order,” quipped Tancredo, head of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. “Now that we appear able to successfully identify and apprehend parrots attempting to enter the U.S. illegally, perhaps doing the same with people is just around the corner.”
Oops, again, Bobby. You didn't come up with the quipped Tancredo part yourself. You should have put the whole paragraph in quotes. I'm really surprised at your lack of understanding of the concept of quotation marks. What would your readers think?
Bobby Eberle: The statement points out that ICE, however, has not had the same luck in preventing an estimated 3 million illegal alien human beings from swarming into the U.S. annually unchecked.
Tancredo: ICE, however, has not had the same luck in preventing an estimated 3 million illegal alien human beings from swarming into the U.S. annually unchecked.
Oh, Bobby. This time you left out the quotation marks entirely. How could you? Your readers might think that you were paraphrasing as opposed to copy-and-pasting the Talon News way. Your quotation marks should have started before the word, ICE, and finished at the end of the sentence. But perhaps it was just a printer's error and I'm being unfair. Ha.
Bobby Eberle: Tancredo, who supports some form of guest worker program but who has been a vocal critic of the administration's efforts to increase border security and stop illegal immigration, noted in his press release that an international environmental organization called WildAid congratulated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and ICE for "foiling the diabolical plot of the sinister bird-smugglers in San Diego earlier this year, and 'deporting' the parrots to Mexican wildlife authorities."
Tancredo: In a release by an international environmental organization called WildAid, the group congratulates the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and ICE for foiling the diabolical plot of the sinister bird-smugglers in San Diego earlier this year, and “deporting” the parrots to Mexican wildlife authorities today.
Bobby, did you even do a Google search for that press release. I doubt that you did because you just "copy-and-pasted" what Congressman Tancredo wrote about it. Your quotation marks should have started at "an international environmental" and continued to the end of the sentence. Oh. I don't want to take anything away from the work that you did do in this article, Bobby. You changed "congratulates" into "congratulated." That was some contribution that you made to the "article" and you deserve to get credit for it. Only, you should have written congratulated like this: congratulate[d]. That tells us that you added the "d" but the rest was someone else's words.
Bobby Eberle: "Better yet," added Tancredo, "Perhaps we should explore the possibility of moving the Fish and Wildlife Service from the Interior Department over into Homeland Security."
Tancredo: “Better yet,” added Tancredo, “Perhaps we should explore the possibility of moving the Fish and Wildlife Service from the Interior Department over into Homeland Security.”
Oh, Bobby. Again you took credit for something you didn't write. You should have put the whole sentence in quotation marks because you know damn well that you didn't come up with "added Tancredo" all by your lonesome. Though you probably could've if Tancredo didn't write the press release first. But then your "story" was based on that press release so the point is moot.
Bobby Eberle, just so you know, improper use of quotation marks, as any third grade English teacher will tell you, constitutes as plagiarism. In other words, you could say "I regret that I have" nothing but plagiarism and propaganda "to give to my country."
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