Why write your own material when others have done it for you? Don't worry about being caught. If you have to apologize, just say, 'An error was made.' Nobody cares.
Roger Rosenblatt
Brigham Young University Commencement 1998, 1998
A história por trás desta citação
This was Rosenblatt's entry for 'Plagiarist' in his mock job listing — and it captured his broader critique of a culture in which accountability had become optional. The passive construction 'an error was made' parodied the evasive language of politicians and public figures who refused to take responsibility. Beneath the comedy was Rosenblatt's real argument: that the culture of the late 1990s had devalued authenticity, effort, and consequence. Each joke-job in his list — Expert Expert, Media Critic, Publishing Giant — described a real phenomenon in American public life where success had been decoupled from competence. The speech was a commencement address that worked by inversion: instead of telling graduates what to do, it showed them — through laughter — what not to become.