WEAK

Senator Claims PTSD as Plagiarism Excuse

John Walsh of Montana.

Decorated veteran John Walsh, who was appointed by Montana to be its U.S. senator in February, plagiarized his 2007 thesis paper for his master’s degree from the United States Army War College. The New York Times broke the blockbuster story Wednesday. Walsh is now claiming the plagiarism was a result of post-traumatic stress disorder. “I don’t want to blame my mistake on PTSD, but I do want to say it may have been a factor,” he told the Associated Press. “My head was not in a place very conducive to a classroom and an academic environment.” When initially presented with evidence of his plagiarism, the Democrat said, “I didn’t do anything intentional here.” When asked if he plagiarized, he said, “I don’t believe I did, no.” In at least a quarter of his paper, Walsh, who had a 33-year military career, took from Middle East experts without attribution. His 14-page paper, “The Case for Democracy as a Long Term National Strategy,” concludes with six recommendations that are a near-verbatim copy of a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace document.