Writer not speaking with own voice?

In the March 16 Fence Post section of this paper, Roger Dauchy of Wheaton lays claim to an argument attacking Vice President Joe Biden for some comments made about Iraq on a national television program.

His arguments seemed familiar to me, so after a few minutes on the Internet I found that his letter really was taken in large part from the opinion page of the Feb. 18 Wall Street Journal, Page A17, in a piece called "Joe Biden's Iraq 'Achievement'" by Omar Fadhil Al-Nidawi and Austin Bay. It appears that Mr. Dauchy basically took someone else's article, changed a few words, added a sentence or two and submitted it as his letter. To anyone interested to look it up, the similarities of their wording and argument structure are phenomenal.

I know that the Republican Party wants its members to speak with "one voice," but somehow, I don't think this is what they had in mind. Mr. Dauchy should learn to think for himself and also not take credit for writing which isn't his own.

Scott Johnson

Wheaton