Rep. Brown staffer lifts words from blogger, reporter writes about it

So, to pick up on the meme that Drudge and Atrios have covered, Rep. Brown wrote an open letter to Sen. DeWine regarding Judge Alito's anti-worker sentiments.

The language of the letter was, however, mostly from blog NathanNewman.org. So, Stephen Koff of Cleveland's Plain Dealer wrote an article claiming plagiarism.

Nathan Newman's response to in his words, 'Becoming Part of Sherrod Brown Campaign Story' takes issue with the reporter's failure to ask him about it:

...they created a bullshit meta-story that was of such supposed breaking news value that they couldn't wait for me to get back from my mini-honeymoon to get my reaction.

So, I decided to do the extra work and call Mr. Stephen Koff.

He answered the call himself and spoke pleasantly with me for a few minutes. Asking why he chose to write the story on an elected official using a blogger's words rather than taking issue with Alito's poor record, he said, paraphrasing, 'if he has an anti-worker record, that needs to be explored, too. But we're in November, and the hearings are in January and we have plenty of time for that. ...and I hope it is examined.'

Then, for the best part: He claims he would have covered the story if any elected official lifted someone else's words. To, again, paraphrase Mr. Koff: 'If the elected official is lifting a bloggers words, then let's get the blogger on the ballot.'

The question, here is, are you in, Nathan?