L.A. TIMES: Was that plagiarism in Obama’s State of the Union? Maybe Joe Biden helped. . . .

More here. “Had the president submitted the text of his second State of the Union Address in the form of a college term paper, he would have been sent forthwith to the nearest academic dean. Once again, our public affairs are such that we have one standard for presidents and another for undergraduates.”

Given the vapid quality of the speech, I think the same defense offered for Joe Biden — “at worst, Biden purloined piffle” — applies to this case, too.

Meanwhile, this chapter from The Appearance of Impropriety: How the Ethics Wars Have Undermined American Government, Business, and Society — a book that’s always timely, alas — has more on plagiarism, political and otherwise.