Cut-and-paste creationism?
Yesterday I pointed readers to a column attacking evolution by Jack Kemp on the web site Town Hall. Today a sharp-eyed commenter pointed out that it is almost entirely identical to a column from Phyllis Schlafly from August 16 on the Eagle Forum. I don’t know if these pages are going to be pulled down or otherwise altered if word gets out, so here’s a screengrab of Kemp and of Schlafly. It looks pretty much word for word identical to me. You be the judge…
Update 2:50 pm: I wonder if Town Hall got its columnists jumbled. This page lists Kemp’s column and a piece by Schlafly right next to one another on Monday.
Update: 3:20 pm: What’s also funny is that several commenters on Town Hall have pointed out this eerie similarity as well, but apparently to no avail…
Update: 4:00 pm: Like a radioactive tracer flowing through the bloodstream, Kemp’s column spreads now to David Horowitz’s Frontpage. [Hat tip: Darwin Central blog.)
Update: 4:20 pm: MYSTERY SOLVED. “Chris,” who calls himself “Team Lead” at Town Hall informs us that:
FYI: This is not some conspiracy. Jack Kemp’s syndicators were substituting a column by Schafly because he is on vacation. Our system received the column by Schafly under Kemp’s name automatically, and the editor who marked the column live didn’t catch that it was a guest column.
Now the column appears under Schlafly’s name. Direct your critique of the column to her.
Originally published August 24, 2006. Copyright 2006 Carl Zimmer.