Claudine Gay’s “Oh, you shouldn’t have” pose when she was offered the presidency of Harvard
Spencer Brown | January 03, 2024 – Townhall.com
It’s as unsurprising as the sun rising in the morning, yet the Associated Press’ attempt at covering for Harvard President Claudine Gay as she resigns in disgrace amid multiple scandals is one for the record books.
Let’s begin with the story’s headline: “Harvard president’s resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: plagiarism” Oh? Oh.
Harvard president’s resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: plagiarism https://t.co/GiVkT3LgUo— The Associated Press (@AP) January 3, 2024
You see, it was those dastardly conservatives who schemed — potentially with the assistance of a time machine, or something — to have Claudine Gay (allegedly) plagiarize the works of other scholars in order to write barely one dozen pieces of her own. These conservatives knew exactly what they were doing, and then they returned to the present and used their “weapon” to force her out of her job! How remarkable.
Unsurprisingly, AP’s post on X got ratio’d into oblivion AND there’s a health pile of Community Notes being added.
.@AP get epically ratioed for one of the most ridiculous headlines in history in light of Claudine Gay’s resignation pic.twitter.com/ACtX1f5nON— James Jinnette (@james_jinnette1) January 3, 2024
And, once again, @CommunityNotes for the win.
Gay repeatedly violated Harvard’s rules against plagiarism. Source: Harvard.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3, 2024
After being soundly mocked for the headline, AP updated it to “Plagiarism charges downed Harvard’s president. A conservative attack helped to fan the outrage,” though that’s barely better. All the revised header did was further implicate the Harvard Corporation’s sloppy and rushed review of Gay’s work before elevating her to the presidency, followed up by its equally unserious review of some allegations against Gay that declared there’s “nothing to see, here.”
If you thought the headline was absurd, just wait until you get to the copy of this “report” from supposedly authoritative AP. Take this paragraph, for example, that also had to be updated after publication because of its laughable attempt to warp reality and human history into a fitting vessel for AP’s biased reporting.
As initially published, AP’s report stated:
Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist who helped orchestrate the effort, celebrated her departure as a win in his campaign against elite institutions of higher education. On X, formerly Twitter, he wrote “SCALPED,” as if Gay was a trophy of violence, invoking a gruesome practice taken up by white colonists who sought to eradicate Native Americans.
The story was later updated to add “…and also used by some tribes against their enemies.” to the end of that thought, but without an editor’s note disclosing the addition.
What AP’s zeal for attacking conservatives failed to check was when and from whom scalping originated. Just a cursory Google turns up this entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica:
Archaeological evidence for such practices in North America dates to at least the early 14th century; a mass grave from that period, containing nearly 500 victims (some with evidence of scalping), was found near present-day Crow Creek, South Dakota (U.S.)… Native Americans in the Southeast took scalps to achieve the status of warrior and to placate the spirits of the dead, while most members of Northeastern tribes valued the taking of captives over scalps. Among Plains Indians scalps were taken for war honours, often from live victims. As a challenge to their enemies, some Native Americans shaved their heads. The scalp was sometimes offered as a ritual sacrifice or preserved and carried by women in a triumphal scalp dance, later to be retained as a pendant by the warrior, used as tribal medicine, or discarded.
Ah yes, those pesky “white colonists” of the… 14th century? Who used scalps for ritual sacrifices and triumphal scalp dances?
The AP’s best efforts to make the scandal about conservatives and white colonists is par for the course, laughable, and a damming indictment of mainstream media bias. But the scrambling by AP to rush an inaccurate and inane story, then stealth-edit the piece after getting rightly mocked for its absurd assertions shows that conservatives do have a good bit of power.
After all, Gay wouldn’t have resigned and the AP wouldn’t be running around with its proverbial hair on fire if conservatives were powerless in situations such as these.
As Chris Rufo pointed out on Wednesday, everything is progressing as planned, and this “is how the game is won.”
It’s glorious: Academics defending plagiarism. Journalists opposing journalism. Newswires attributing scalping to “white colonists.” Everyone focusing on the frame we set. That is how the game is won.— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) January 3, 2024
Readers’ comments
And we know that if anybody ever found any plagiarism by Donald Trump or Clarence Thomas, the AP would be yapping about it in banner headlines.
Barbara Beautiful/clever5 hours ago
LOL….. whatever…no one in their right mind considers plagiarism as a fine and noble thing. That we have to endure a POTUS who is also a plagiarist is bad enough without the ever more irrelevant AP trying to weaponize is as some conservative issue only. Surely democrats have railed against plagiarism at some point. I remember when democrats simply had a slightly different POV but still had some moral standing.
- arbrucesrBarbara Beautiful/clever4 hours ago “.no one in their right mind considers plagiarism as a fine and noble thing. “But apparently, those in their left minds do….
- MikeBarbara Beautiful/clever3 hours ago Barbara, as a veteran teacher in a management school, I can assure you that cheating (a form of plagiarism) is alive and well. Many students don’t think it’s cheating unless they get caught. And as I learned last semester, when they are caught, they deny deny deny. It’s pretty sickening.
AP: Asinine Pinheads
The AP is incapable of releasing a story without spinning it left first.
Speaking purely mathematically, are double-standards twice as good as standards or only half as good? Or isn’t it governed by a linear relationship in the first place?
- Bobby Cheekyanon-3cq33 hours ago That’s the thing… leftists heard that standards were, like, um, good or something…. so, umm… like… double standards must be, like, twice as good!
As a commenter here at TH rightly pointed out to me in another story, what is won depends on who they replace her with. I’m sure it will be yet another diversity hire.
Well, Always Pravda is right in that the lies and cheating of the fascist left should be constantly weaponized by conservatives.
Not a surprise that a propaganda organ like AP would boost plagiarism.
“The AP’s best efforts to make the scandal about conservatives and white colonists is par for the course, laughable, and a damming indictment of mainstream media bias.”
A “damming” indictment indeed – considering just how busy are the woke beavers of the AP~!!!
anon-ausz4 hours ago edited
The AP, like Reuters, Bloomberg and other wire services, has been taken over by a radical collection of self-righteous young journalists of the hard Left. You can tell their views just by their profiles. Think of a phrase like “a passion for social justice.” I guarantee you, that’s the mark of someone who wishes whites would disappear from public life.
Gay benefited from someone else’s words that were better than her own and hasn’t denied that she did so .
At its core none of this is controversial …. but you know how people talk .
The AP, Always Pathetic.
Well, when the truth is “Admin Who Was Only Hired Due to Skin Color and Favorable Ideology (to the progressive left) Tenders Resignation After Objective Academic Review Reveals Plagiarism,” the AP had to find a different way to frame the story.
They could never openly say that the racist “diversity hire” was underqualified and was only hired to check the box that “made history” (i.e., first black female president of Harvard).
Meanwhile, blaming “white colonists” for scalping, when they were first victims of the practice by Native Americans is just revisionist history and a lie perpetuated to support the false narrative that Gay was pushed out because she is black. No, she was pushed out because she’s a partisan hack (e.g., cannot condemn genocide against Jews, but will discipline students for “misgendering” someone) and an academic cheat. The fact that she’s black is the main reason the LEFT hired her.
Based on that, which side is racist?
They conveniently omitted the original issue. Her response to Congress to protect antisemitism on campus.
What are they shoddy workmanship is all right for blacks. Look she did this knowing it was ring. She took shortcuts to rise. She has smeared all blacks of accomplishment. It is also interesting to note that her committee failed to catch this. Diversity is about providing entrance, not providing cover when you cheat. The AP idiots seem to indicate that because she is black it is ok to cheat, it isn’t and thought process is in and of itself racist because you are saying because she was black she was incapable of doing it right. This the sentiment of the left, oh without me you would nothing, no my dear you shouldn’t have but we know you couldn’t do any better. These AP writers were never challenged in school, never had any moral training worth anything. The AP has been a lying outfit since it lost competition.
AP discovers new conservative weapon against leftism: the truth. AP should be worried about the truth since they pedal so many lies.
This is hillarious! Everyone knows so called conservative leaders couldn’t coordinate a shoe lace tying symposium.
Leave it to the Assine Press to rush into the breach with insanity.
Barbara Beautiful/clever5 hours ago
And once again, what IS THIS HARVARD CORPORATION we keep hearing about? Harvard is an educational institution, not a business producing widgets.
- OnceBittenBarbara Beautiful/clever5 hours ago Harvard Corporation is in the business of producing educated idgets.
- Chauncey GardnerOnceBitten4 hours agoHarvard Corporation is in the business of producing
educatedindoctrinated idgets.Fixed it for you. If they aren’t taught critical thinking, they aren’t educated.- anon-m19cChauncey Gardner4 hours ago I like to watch…d-bags get their comeuppance ;-}
- anon-m19cChauncey Gardner4 hours ago I like to watch…d-bags get their comeuppance ;-}
- Chauncey GardnerOnceBitten4 hours agoHarvard Corporation is in the business of producing
- anon-hr3x Barbara Beautiful/clever 3 hours ago Harvard is actually a monster hedge fund that escapes taxes for all the pigs who eat at its trough! Education is an aside, an afterthought.
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