Rocky editor to Drunkablog: Would you believe . . .

In a comment on Rocky Mountain News editor John Temple's blog the other day I mentioned how gratified I was to have taught him at least one thing about blogging, to never ever ever feed the trolls.

Well, I was way off. They're lining up for Happy Meals under every bridge in town as John responds to this question on the same post (sorry, no permalink):

Is it just an oversight, Mr. Temple, that your blog post contains no link to the editorial that contained the plagiarism? Apparently not, since the editorial itself seems to have disappeared from the Rocky altogether.

Awful writer, but Temple responds:

This is a question posted on my earlier blog item on the Joe Wilson's howlers editorial . . . .

Actually, the reason I didn't link to the editorial is I couldn't find it on our site. I had to ask our librarian for help. He found it easily. Editorials expire from our Web site after two months. Here's the link to the editorial, which has been available on our site ever since it was published.

My response to this bizarreness:

John,

[Y]our explanation is bizarre. [Forthright, ain't I?--ed.]

You say, first, that you didn't link to the editorial because you "couldn't find it." Oh, okay. So why didn't you ask the librarian to find it for you right then, instead of in response to my comment?

Then, when you finally did ask the librarian, he/she found it "easily," you say. I'm sure it's gratifying to have such a competent staff, but this says nothing about the fact that neither one of us could find the editorial. And we're not the only ones. Another blogger, Stygius, noticed the same thing (tho he's since updated to include this post with its link to the editorial).

We all probably did the normal search process several times, too, am I right?

So the question is not really whether the editorial has been "available on our site ever since it was published" (I'm sure it has), but rather whether it was stashed in some dungeon where only librarians who knew the Ancient and Secret Hand Symbols could find it.

That's tellin' 'im. And not a word of swearing in it.

Update: Nice to see that ad for Dealin' f--in' Doug every page view too, John. (Okay, one swear word.)

Update II: Stygius adds the link to the original Rocky editorial here, not here, where actually he asks what should happen next in the Rocky case, and concludes that all the work of Thom Beal, the writer who plagiarized in the Wilson editorial, needs to be examined; plagiarists tend to have done the dirty deed many times before they're caught.

We'll see. Doesn't always happen. Did CBS check out Mary Mapes' work from before the forged memos?