Brendan Nyhan

Will and Krauthammer are pro-recycling

Back in 2006, I caught the Washington Post’s Charles Krauthammer recycling the same World War II quote to denounce supposed appeasement in 1989, 1994, and 2006:

Consider Charles Krauthammer, an influential Washington Post — and TIME magazine — columnist and administration ally. He is the probable source of Rumsfeld’s quote, having used it in his August 11 newspaper column about Iran. In doing so, he joined what writer Ross Douthat calls the growing number of conservatives who see “Iran’s march toward nuclear power” as “the equivalent of Hitler’s 1930s brinkmanship.” And a Nexis search reveals that Krauthammer tends to see Hitler analogies everywhere — he trotted out the same Borah quote to denounce the alleged appeasement of China in 1989 and North Korea in 1994.

Now Brad Johnson of Think Progress has caught George Will, another Post columnist, engaging in far more extensive recycling (via Chris Mooney) of quotes, arguments, and almost verbatim passages from previous columns in 1992, 1999, 2004 (here and here) and 2006. Will anyone notice? It’s time to bring some accountability to the pundit class…