Barnicle Pans Kirk Apology: Maybe Mark Should Use Mike's

June 30th, 2010 8:33 AM

I blog often about Mike Barnicle, and while referring to him as a former Boston Globe columnist, am not in the habit of mentioning his ignominious departure from the newspaper under a cloud of plagiarism.  But Barnicle today forces my hand . . .

Mark Kirk has gotten himself into a mess of trouble.  The Republican candidate for US Senate from Illinois has been caught out misrepresenting his record of service both in the military and as a school teacher.

Morning Joe today aired a clip of Kirk's apology, and Mike Barnicle found it wanting. In truth, Kirk's statement was was not an exemplar of the genre. But of all people to criticize its lack of authenticity . . . Mike Barnicle?  Might Mike be happier if Kirk were to use the lame language Barnicle himself offered up when confronted with the evidence of his unattributed borrowing from the works of others?

Here was Barnicle this morning . . . 

MIKE BARNICLE: I find it continually surprising over the past five or six years, how these politicians, with their embroiderments, become so tediously the same in their apologies and explanations.

Here's how the American Journalism Review reported  Barnicle's apology the time:

Barnicle refused to go quietly, arguing his case on every media outlet from Don Imus' radio show to NBC's ``Today." ``You can accuse me of sloppiness and I plead guilty," he said. ``Intellectual laziness. I plead guilty. Plagiarism. No."

It does have a certain ring.  A classic non-apology apology.  Maybe Kirk should give it a go--giving full credit to its original author, of course. At least Mark would, presumably, get Mike off his back.