My heart goes out to Tim Goeglein and his family. Goeglein resigned from his job at White House today after a blogger documented plagiarism in a column he wrote for his hometown newspaper in Indiana. More evidence turned up throughout the day; the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel said 20 columns from Goeglein included plagiarized material.
When I first learned of the news this afternoon, I was shocked. As someone who has known Goeglein for several years, the whole situation was extremely disappointing — a good man lost his job over something so foolish and our country lost a dedicated defender of first principles at the White House.
Like all scandals, this will come to pass. Goeglein is hardly the first person forced out of a job over plagiarism. He has made many friends in his time at the White House since 2001, and before that as a Bush campaign aide in 2000. Prior to his resignation, he was a special assistant to President Bush and deputy director of public liaison, often attending conservative gatherings such as Grover Norquist’s Wednesday meeting, and lobbying for events like Bush’s speech at Heritage in November. When I was at Human Events, I remember him saying how Vice President Cheney kept a copy of our newspaper on his coffee table.
The next few days and weeks won’t be easy for Goeglein, but I wish him well. I’m sure he’ll land on his feet after he pays the price for this stupid mistake.
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