Obama Echoes Deval Patrick…Again

What do I think? I think Barack Obama is the next Democratic president of the United States. All that’s left for Democrats to decide is whether they want that to happen in 2008, or 2012.

Who cares they were powerful words before that helped us to think and personally they make me think again.GO Obama lets make it happen

What experience does Clinton really have. A back water first lady when Bill was gov. of Arkansas, first lady in the white house, wandering around unable to catch Bill diddling the hired help. We have had 8 years of Clinton, 12 years of the Bush gang. Apparently experience is not what it is cracked up to be. We find ourselves in quite a mess from those folks that have “experience”.
I have tried my best to like Hillary – bent over backwards but I can’t – she is not real, not genuinue – one has to follow their instinct and sixth sense, I can’t shake the feeling of bad things if Bill is wandering around Hillary’s White House with nothing to do for at least 4 years.

Why does he always use other people’s words? Use his own if he is that creative. You are making him a saint. This happened in China in 1967. Mao ZeDong liked to borrow from ancients, too. Be very afraid. Hope similar thing will not happen here in America.

Keep trying ABC find a real story.

I am surprised that he keeps shamelessly repeating the same lie that McCain wants a hundred year war, yet the media does not call him on it. The man is a shameless liar and the media is his accomplice.
No Obama in ’08.

Clinton will not be president of this country. I am a lifelong Democrat and I believe that a 3rd term for the Clintons would be a disaster. The GOP, all Indies, and half of Dems view a vote for Clinton as a step backwards, a step in the wrong direction. The bottom line: McCain vs. Clinton – McCain wins. McCain vs. Obama – Obama wins. No brainer as far as I’m concerned.

LOOK PEOPLE: it does not matter if these WORDS echo from candidates PAST; CAN WE BAN PHRASES FROM FUTURE USE??? I have never voted Democrat in my life, and would consider it the DARKEST DAY in American History if Billery Klinton got elected. BUT I really am starting to be impressed with Obama, I WOULD VOTE FOR HIM TODAY. Why not?? I shudder at the idea of Klinton in our White House. GIVE OBAMA HIS CHANCE. He reminds me a LOT OF JFK.

Civil Rights Lawyer at that!!!

All I can say is that Hillary must think Obama is good enough to copy. She has been imitating him for awhile now.
She tried to adapt his speaking style…slow down…long pause after your point is made…try some humor…Yes We Will…. Good grief. I’m waiting for her to say Bill boiled all the hope out of her.
I might add none of the above tactics work for Hillary at all. She is still a screaching, cackling shrew with no sense of humor.
Heard somewhere copying is the greatest form of flattery. For me, Obama has many original thoughts and messages that drive right to the core of what’s important to me. They seem to resonate pretty well among many Americans right now too and that’s what really counts.

CHJ,
Do you know the meaning of plagiarism? It means copying others statements or written literature and not their own. SO please do some study and then comment. Listen to Obama and think. What he is saying this not about the change, its not about the words and policies, its about who can make it happen. Its always good to say so many things but its difficult to do it. He is the only one who can work with bipartisan and get all the policies passed. Clinton cant do it. She is the most polarizing figure and even though she has many good policies she can not make it happen and its given fact. Conservatives dont like her, she has 43% disliking ratings so thats the answer. NO clinton anymore, GO OBAMA

Looking at those two video is really funny, the both of them are so alike, thanks ABC for that insight just goes to show Obama has no substance at all, he is a copy cat and a flip flopper, keep it coming ABC, time to let us see this guy for who he really is.

funny…the governor is backing obama…maybe he suggested to obama to use it….
go governor
go kerry
go kennedy…BEAT HILLARY
the obama TEAM WORK@

Maybe Patrick should be running for President since Obama just loves taking the man lines

Larry – it has all been said before, Greece copied the Etruscans, the Romans copied the Greeks, the US founding fathers copied the Romans and on and on.
I don’t love Obama. If he has copied someone I’ve not heard anybody complain. I see all these wacky website with conspiracy drivel. Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter would be proud.

HIllary Clinton…
Someone who will bring about the changes we need….without the chanCes we don’t.
As for you Obama-ites, be careful what you wish for.

There are many copysist out there…
There should be substinance behind the slogans; and there should be facts such as ‘numbers,’ ‘figures,’ and other variables.

That is not plagerism at all. That is one intelligent person being influenced by the ideas of another. Wouldn’t Obama look to Deval Patrick as an inispiration given that they are both black leaders facing racism in the early 21st century?
Plagerism involves writing– and claiming that the words are your own. Obama never did that. Obama also quoted Martin Luther King– everyine knows that was a reference and not plagerism, thn he quotes Deval Patrick in the same paragraph– the fact that he is refeencing should be implicity obvious.
I am a McCain supporter but still I find this article to be a little ridiculous.

Many people, not just Obama, use words they’ve heard or seen in print. Why? Because words they’ve heard or seen in print are the only words they know. Don’t believe me? Tell me one single solitary word that YOU know that you haven’t seen in print or heard?
The idiots who keep proclaiming that Obama is Musim apparently can’t read very well. His father was Muslim, to be sure, and Obama had to grapple with that all the years he was growing up.
The idiots who keep proclaiming that Clinton will win may be right… but only if she convinces the DNC to rescind its order that the states of Florida and Michican be stripped of their delegates. Clinton might win then because the DNC flip-flopped – just to prove that it’s endemic to the Democrats.

well those who say Obama has ideas,, of course he does he borrowed a few from
Clinton but its ok to plageris its Obama but ask him what in details he can provide he has to get to his, writers first,, plagerism is in no candidate needs to know the issue as he has proven, so as long as a speech has substance and can deliver voters,, thats all that matters,,

Man, I am glad there are other people out there who see what I have been seeing all along about Obama since ’04. First of all he is making false statements (which he already admitted yet doesn’t stop) calling himself a “Hope monger” which none of the candidates running in the Rep. of Dem. side have called him. So why does he call himself that over and over? He states that someone said “Words don’t matter.” Well, no one in this election has said that. It’s like he’s using a strategy for a play that hasn’t been made…..I have been saying that Obama’s campaign is cut paste of everyone else’s ideas and words. I said it before; he is a superficial mimic. Usually when you have your own philosophy, words come easy. Quotes are memorable and unique. “It takes a Clinton to clean up after a Bush!” “(Hillary) can and she will.”

if ya are going to quote it right, Abraham was a Hebrew the father of the Hebrew nation, Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar who was a Egyptian which is where the Arab part came in, Not from Abraham, and the verse says that the sons of Ishmael would be wild men,

Flash!!
I just read on the Internet where Hannibal rallied his troops and convinced them to take the elephants across the Alps in the dead of winter.
The troops said “no way, we can’t do it”. Hannibal said “yes we can”. I hope his relatives don’t get wind of this and sue the Obama compaign

We in Illinois were seduced by the words and the fact that Alan Keyes was such a loser into believing that Obama would work tirelessly for us. We were mistaken. He had no intention of performing as a senator. this was a necessary stopgap on the road to somewhere else. As for championing those who need help. He is only for those who need help getting their checkbooks from their pockets. His staff is rude and demeaning when you call his office and they go so far as to put it in writing – sending emails from nonofficial mail providers to escape scrutiny. We had another great speaker in Reagan and I don’t want another empty suit who delivers words without following through wiht action. At least we know he watches TV with his kids occassionally. Yes, we can comes from Bob the Builder on PBS….

Hey John, Copyright? No, probably not. Obama gets to be the “cool guy” who doesn’t really have a stance on anything, then walks up to a friend to copy the assignment he didn’t do himself. I know that is okay with some of you. But it’s not okay when other people really believe in doing something and have plenty of words and actions to back up their philosophy yet get criticized by the guy who didn’t do the work. No biggy.

*******MCCAIN SAY’S NO NEW TAXES********
I BET THAT IS ONE THING YOU WONT HERE OUT OF OBAMA’S MOUTH!!!!!!

What was Obama supposed to say when Clinton attacks him saying speeches don’t matter action matters. His response seems completely in line with the content of the attack.

All good orators use words of others. What is so wrong about that? From the clips I’ve heard, Obama hasn’t taken credit for putting the words together for the first time.
Does anyone really believe any candidate writes their own speeches? That is the reason for speechwriters. Surely, the members here can’t be that naive.

plagerism in Obamas case is the word,, take from others famous quotes and pass it as u believe in your America, a man who does not pledge allegiance or salutes the flag,, what an American,, true heart and passion for the America he will call his country,,

I wonder why the writer of this story uses words that have been used before and I also wonder why Clinton continue to talk when she considers words to be cheap. It would make a huge difference if those who criticize others for what they themselves do, would act on themselves first.

its his idea , well i wouldnt know he has failed to show real substance, and creditbility why beat hillary to the pulp if you can see what knocks on the back door,, the point its not his ideas only utilizing the speech is,,,,

Deep-Thought – Hannibal was exiled, are you trying to say the same will happen to Obama?

Plagiarism took down Biden’s campaign in 1980. Are we going to give Obama special treatment because we like him? Not I.
Obama supporters should feel betrayed.

Hey, Obama supporters. Buy a house and send your kids to city schools. And give me reasons why you won’t.

Here’s the difference between Hillary and Obama:
Hillary is for Hillary.
Obama is for everybody.
What good is a whole bunch of experience if you only use it for your own personal gain? FL and MI shouldn’t count – unless it makes the difference between Hillary winning or not, right? That’s typical Hillary.
You can’t argue that Obama has done a lot, as he doesn’t have much experience. But Hillary, with all her experience, hasn’t done anything either!
And with all her experience, Hillary still thought the Iraq war was a good idea. Obama, with no experience, still knew the Iraq war was a bad idea. Experience isn’t everything, if you’re not wise enough to make good decisions.
I’m glad I’ll at least get to vote for Obama or McCain. They’d both be fine, honorable Presidents.

Plagiarism is the theft of intellectual property of any words, work like maps, or ideas. It doesn’t matter if it’s intentional or not. If you don’t cite your sources, you are guilty. It doesn’t matter how famous or identifiable the words; it doesn’t even matter if it’s your old speech and you conveniently forgot to mention that to everyone. It’s stealing–period. We expect someone standing on a national stage touting “change” in the status quo to do the right thing. Or maybe some of you accept such behavior. If it’s true, I don’t. And I won’t vote for someone who is a plagiarist.

Leadership is about vision and motivation. Words are the mechanism to communication the vision and motivate listener. Is the leader of the US a technician, or someone to articulate and sell a common vision? We need a leader who brings us together and motivates us to achieve more than we thought was possible. Not the person firmly grasps the technical details and provides no vision. Hilliary has great grasp of the issues, would be excellent in the cabinet, Obama will lead us to a better vision. The choice is easy. Words matter and Obama’s ability to lift us with those words is essential to building a better country.

Well, I guess this means the press is going to start attacking Obama now that he is the front runner. OK, but if this is the best (or worst) they can do. I’m prett damn confident that I made the right choice in supporting Obama.

I wonder how many times an ABC site link uses a title line like Obama… plagiarism? Or, Obama…is his language sexist? As a way to get people talking. They are questions, spurious suggestions. For those who never make it to actually reading the articles (even though that is what the catchy titles are designed to make people do, no doubt), I wonder how much more uninformed people, and wrong information will circulate out there.

Rose:
Do you then “accept such behavior” from Hillary when she does the same thing?

Hillary recently used John Kerry’s “Help is on the way.” Hillary is stealing a line from someone, steal from someone who had some success with it.

It’s all part of one movement, so calling it plagiarism is disingenuous imo. Of course they riff off each other – that’s how progress has always been made. One person has an idea, another improves it, or clarifies it, or expands it. Sometimes it’s just restating it in a different way so some other group ‘gets it’.
For example, Martin Luther King said:
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
Obama quoted that, and then added:
“Here’s the thing, young people, it doesn’t bend on its own, it bends because you put your hand on that arc and you bend it in the direction of justice.”
Now THAT is one terrific riff! MLK was saying “don’t lose faith”, which is important, but you can’t stop there. Obama is reminding people that doesn’t mean wait for someone else to do the work – democracy is not a spectator sport.
Now that’s being restated in the “we are the people we’ve been waiting for” meme. People are busy tracing it to Maria Shriver or Tom Hayden or the Hopi Indians – as if that’s the point. It’s actually a much, much older and a much, much more universal message. The point isn’t its history, but its truth.
People who ‘get it’, and there are more every day, aren’t just supporting Obama, but getting involved in politics in all sorts of ways. They’re also insisting on an end to lies, spin and innuendo in both politics and government. That’s the movement, and that’s what Team Clinton doesn’t understand. They can’t see the forest for the trees, I guess.

Slow news day ABC?

Hey I hear that Obama is going to deliver his “I Have A Dream Speech” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, right after he delivers his address at Gettysburg.

well unfortunatly i will be the first to say im democrat and i dont see any white upper class even black or any other race purchasing a home in the lowest part of a black neighborhood,, no people dont like Hillary but atleast she tells you she will fight for middleclass, and not promise and compromise with the republicans on whats best for us,,,, mmm Bush repeat i see he can bring togetherness he hs passed no bills or even co wrote any ,, unless im wrong but thos Obama backers please enlighten me,,,,

Obama….the copycat fake!

I say it´s communist tactic used in China 1917. I think you must be careful.

Jake Trapper is now one of my FAVORITE JOURNALISTS.

is it hypocritical for one to rail against “old-style politics” when one has engaged in “old-style politics”?

let’s play, GUESS WHO THE CANDIDATE IS! ….ok, this candidate had a shady character support their burgeoning political career, and this shady character also was committing unethical acts against this candidate’s constituents……later on, this same candidate compromised the harsh tone of a bill that directly affected a corporation whose officials are big donors of the candidate……now, WHO IS THIS CANDIDATE?

Any clinton/macain supporter here tell me why Obama is low on substance! Just because he can’t fill excel sheets in his speaches, doesn’t mean he is empty! What the hell do you want, talking walking thesis!
For what it’s worth, given me a mainstream topic where he has not sounded off? Where he lacks specifics?

playing well since Obama is fresh behind the ears and passed nothing, like someothers i suppose its hillary,, and they say shes done nothing,, mmm or is that what they say Obama has done

playing well since Obama is fresh behind the ears and passed nothing, like someothers i suppose its hillary,, and they say shes done nothing,, mmm or is that what they say Obama has done

Try 2016, maybe against Romney. Repeat after me – Obama can’t win where it counts, Obama can’t win where it counts. You think that VA, ID, NE, ND, SD, MN, SC are gonna matter? No, they won’t. This election will be historic alright. It will be historic for the fact that BHO will deliver CA to the republicans for the first time since 1984.
DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE.

This is in fact VERY IMPORTANT.
Deval Patrick’s poor performance as Massachusetts governor is well recognized. MA’s primary results showed it, despite heavy Obama promotion by Patrick, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry. Massachusetts voters have seen the before and after of this type of “words”

…Up until now black people said “white people hate us because we are black”…,.,that’s what they said.. racist’s..prejudice.. ignorance……But the President of the United States is fair game…everyone complains about the President “it is our right..it is our duty” to complain …so now what are they going to accuse us of when we hate President Obama… after all what can they say.. everyone always says things about a President… ….

after his aarogant decision to run for president after 2 years in the senate, and his horribly dividing campaign he has waged, he would have to drastically change his tune before I would ever vote for the guy. I will vote republican if hillary doesnt win the nomination.

“All hat and no cattle” is Obama

I cannot believe that Obama had the chutzpah to ask for John Edwards endorsement. Edwards has been the patron saint of the working man and the unions while Michelle Obama has been the driving force behind busting the unions at the University of Chicago Hospitals. The unions there have been neutered and Americans replaced with foreign temp visa workers. If his wife is so anti-american worker, can we really expect much from him for us poor wage=earners not on the salmon and champaigne circuit? His senatorial campaign should have been a tipoff…The radical chic who flocked to “Norman Mailer cocktail parties” were solidly behind him.

Good words, and Obama chose them well. They perfectly answer the Clinton’s attempt to paint Obama as “too hopeful.” I’m sorry to see ABC participate in mud-slinging, shame on you.

To:
Posted by: Rose | Feb 17, 2008 6:28:24 PM
Rose, Rose, you were never going to vote for him. You’re not that enlightened. Don’t try to fool us!

Has anyone on this forum ever actually given a speech? Most of you have no clue. And very few of you could get up in front of the audiences that Hillary and Obama and John face every day.
Just look at our current president – he gave perhaps one good bordering on great speech in his life and like all political speeches, it was written by others then personalized before he went live.

Hor ridiculously bitter the Clinton campaign is getting…and how intriguing that the media is also reflecting that. Is she paying you guys off, too?
Most Obama supporters are among the most educated in the country- check the polls. We recognize substance from corrupt, anything-goes-to-get-elected promises. We’ve had 20 years of Bushes and Clintons…shouldn’t we have learned by now?
OBAMA 2008!

Friends who study together can’t submit papers, that have these type of identical phrases. They would fail because they should use their own words, or give credit to the person they are quoting. That’s not so hard to do. Doesn’t Obama have speechwriters that can give him a fresh approach? There are different ways to express yourself, and many words in the English language to accomplish this.

By the way- everyone knows the Clintons lie. So, why don’t you write something on that? It would likely encompass more than just one column.

WORDS DO MATTER. And when they are not your own, you should credit where or from whom you got them. For all of Obama’s talk of a new kind of politics, this reminds me of old politics. Every word he says is poll tested and carefully scruitinized — he’s using Deval Patrick’s words because they helped get Deval Patrick elected gov. in Massachusetts. He should credit Deval Patrick. Split hairs if you want to about speechwriters and sharing quotes, but this is Plagarism. Words DO matter.

Pathetic this is what the media thinks it important news. Surely there must be something of more significance to report on.

Obomba ’08 can and will be stopped. HIs lack of actual experience and skills required to be President will be exposed in the coming months.
People that believe he has what it takes, not that Bush had it either, are oblivious.

Of course “words” matter. This country was founded on great words — the Consitution and the Bill of Rights. All of the great movements and revolutions of the world were begun and finished with words (e.g. Martin Luther King and Thomas Paine). Hillary is naive and ignorant to dismiss the importance of the written and spoken word in politics. Her problem is that she knows she does not have the gift of words so she tries to diminish their importance. Pathetic.

Excellent reporting, Jake Tapper. Readers should not be intimated by the truth. Isn’t that what Obama wants to bring to Washington?

How many speeches have you given, Two-cats? Do you think any of the candidates actually draft their own speeches?
And are you aware of the difference between historical reference and plagiarism?

Wow, Nathan. You must have a serious perception problem if you think that any media outlet is biased toward Hillary. Ridiculous.

The real story is that ABC is again trying to help Hillary with its biased reporting. Pathetic.

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself”
“Speak softly and carry a big stick”
“This is a day that will live in infamy”
“Four score and seven years ago…”
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union…”
Uh-oh, I didn’t cite my sources…I’M A PLAGIARIST!!!!!

Hillary is an intelligent, strong woman and she knows her policy but she is not a charismatic leader. She is unable to inspire with hers or anyone else words. She is a flat, boring and at times irritating speaker. That’s a big weakness when compared to Barack Obama or even to her own husband.

Yes, Obama should also admit “Si se puede” and “yes we can” are not original. Thanks Jake for making this such an important issue.

Hillary is an intelligent, strong woman and she knows her policy but she is not a charismatic leader. She is unable to inspire with hers or anyone else words. She is a flat, boring and at times irritating speaker. That’s a big weakness when compared to Barack Obama or even to her own husband.
Posted by: Bob, DC | Feb 17, 2008 8:27:09 PM
That’s because neither Bill or Obama cries for the camera. The first thing you mother teaches you is not to cry, whether it’s your brothers or your co-workers. It just makes the torment worst.

“I am a white male democrat and every time this thing opens his mouth, it cements my conviction to vote John McCain.”
Harville Hendricks stated once, and I paraphrase, that a group of cannibals would dehumanize their prey before killing them. I would hope that we would be careful not to influence such dehumanizing perspectives in our discussions. No matter who we are supporting, I believe Americans, both republican, democratic or independent/uncommitted, are making a statement with their votes. The divisiveness, often depicted in these blogs, doesn’t seem to be representative of the ostensible effort of numerous voters to vote for candidates who are inclusive and courageous enough to be independent thinkers – even if they draw on great thinkers of the past to support the strength of their values and ideas. Once Hillary Clinton finds – and uses – her own voice, the one many of her supporters heard more of years ago, stops the negative campaigning, and focuses on the substantive issues she says her opponent lacks in his campaigning, she would soar. If it doesn’t work, then maybe it just isn’t her time. At least, with this strategy, she wouldn’t lose the support of many of us who are no longer as confident she knows who she is. By taking charge again, which I believe she is now trying to do but is using the only thing Washington says works (negative campaigning) she may have a chance to consider Barack Obama as a running-mate (instead, she is isolating him with the negative attacks – her self-professed friend whose picture of him and his family she has in her office) or have him consider her as vice president. This would have been a considerable strategic move. I think he would have a difficult time asking this of her if he won the nomination; how can you trust someone as your running-mate/vice president who has no trouble fabricating what turns out to be non-issues with further research. America is done with this, not only in politics, but want to send a message about this kind of interaction with others in general; we’ve had enough and want to create inertia in a different direction.

I believe Obama’s reference to “hope” is also plagerized from someone, not sure who though.

Argh, I shouldn’t have read this article. What a waste of time.
Hillary is getting oddish, because she is also talking. Talking is used to communicate Concepts and Ideas.
Obama is action too and even more than Hillary:
During the first eight years of Senator Obama’s elected service he sponsored over 820 bills.
He introduced:
233 regarding healthcare reform,
125 on poverty and public assistance,
112 crime fighting bills,
97 economic bills,
60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills,
21 ethics reform bills,
15 gun control,
6 veterans affairs and many others.
His first year in the U.S. Senate, he authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. These included:
- the Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 (became law),
- The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act, (became law),
- The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, passed the Senate,
- The 2007 Government Ethics Bill, (became law),
- The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill, (In committee)

We need someone who has enough experience to run the government and Obama AIN’T THAT PERSON! The guy is a flim-flam artist with a resume that would not fill up a postage stamp.

Hate to say it but the Republicans are going to chew the Demos up and spit them out in the election this fall. Hillary is hated by the conservatives, independents. Obama lacks experience and has no record of accomplishing any thing.The Republican hit squad will blow either one of them out of the water!!!!

“What goes up(Obama)must come down”

Ken, Hillary people in the Great State of TEXAS aren’t stupid enough to vote for obama-loser even a FIRST TIME……get real……

Now, we have the snake oil saleman Obama using someone else’s words. Suprise, Suprise!

No man exists in a bubble, and there are no rules saying public speakers can’t borrow themes from other speakers. Barack has his own message. Many people quote famous speakers such as Dr. King and President Lincoln. It’s not a sign of weakness.
At the very least, Obama has remained CONSISTENT in his message throughout his campaign while Hillary and McCain have BOTH “plagiarized” Obama by trying to use his slogans such as “yes we can.” It’s sad to watch. Borrowing from politicians who have used ideas in the past is quite a bit different from borrowing your current opponent’s campaign slogans in a desperate attempt to keep pace.
I wish Hillary good luck in trying to figure out what the heck her message actually is.

I am embarrassed to be a democrat when I read some of the things people are writing in these blogs.
We have two fine candidates to chose from. There are many reliable resources out there for each one of us to review and study that will help us decide who best represents us. I am so tired of people who seem to insist on making these important choices based on non-issues…things that have really nothing to do with anything.
One thing I have noticed is that more intelligent, thoughtful comments about this campaign seem to be coming from the Obama side. The petty, childish remarks and name-calling are coming from the Clinton camp.
And any true democrat that claims that they will vote for McCain if the candidate of their choice is not the democratic nominee? Shame on you. If you have children 10 years of age and older, stop and think about whether you want them to face the possibility of going to Iraq when they are 18. Is it important to you that we change our health care system? It won’t change with a republican in office. Do you like the No Child Left Behind program? Your kids learning the fine art of test-taking and nothing else? Great, lets leave the republicans in office while the rest of the world surpasses us in quality education for our children. Let’s continue to see the middle class pay the biggest percentage of their incomes in taxes. That would be just great.
All the trash talk divides the party. This is essentially how Bush got elected not once, but twice. There are a lot of independents,undecideds and republican cross-over voters who might vote Democrat if they think that is the best option for our nation. Lets not screw that up by spreading lies, rumors and innuendos about either candidate.

Jake is so right to point out some politicians are so obsessed with slogans in their campaigns and often get themselves straying in the path of reality and truth. Unknowingly they swing to hollow rhetoric and mythical idea and perspective; subsequently drive themselves into some kind of political black-hole in which he will have no control even though when the campaign is over.
The American democrats have to be very careful this time in picking their representative for the presidential election. It would be disaster if making the same mistake as the Republicans in 2000 : They chose a callow , cowboy-like, words with no substance , arrogant , gloatingly eye-winking for fun and pranks, slow in learning and blunt in speech and talking, like repeating senseless and rude expressions in speech or just talk in the media public.
Deep down in their mind , a great great majority of common Republicans feel disgraced, embarrassed by this so called decider who had brought so many troubles to the world and had even done some irreparable damages to the order of the world community.

This is a story about plagarism. Regardless of the speaker, students learn to give attribution of sources. If they don’t, they are stealing. What’s sad is that while many of us know who made those statements, some won’t. Years later they will wrongly attribute, if any is given at all. I heard his speeches for awhile now, and part of his speeches are sincere, but I have a hard time now. Cite your source when the words are not yours. It’s plain and simple. This is going to make a great lesson when my students begin their research project.

You know what I just realized? ROTFLMAO – the point that isn’t being reported is that both Obama and Patrick’s responses were similar because the charge was similar.
Hillary Clinton probably fed this piece of oppositional research to the media who on a lazy Sunday just ran with it – but if a similar idea and similar words are to them an indication of ‘plagiarism’ then isn’t Hillary Clinton plagiarizing Kerry Healey?
Come on ABC – let’s hear where you got the research for this piece . . . is the free press still free or just mouthpiece for the Clintons living in their glass house throwing stones?

What’s worse than Obama giving other people’s speeches while saying he’s the agent of change is the fact that his speechwriter is Ben Rhodes, brother of Fox News VP David Rhodes. Fox has been associated with the Bush-Cheney camp and neocons in general since its inception in 1996. And Rhodes has worked there all that time. The G.O.P. is also turning out massive numbers of Republicans to vote for Obama in the Democratic primaries. To read an article I’ve posted about this, click on my screen name above.

This is why I love to go to Church, you get out of politics

The issue here is not plagiarism. Barack and Deval are close friends and share the same campaign strategist, David Axelrod. Barack would have come up with an effective response to negate Hilary’s “words” attack! But he had a template in Deval’s response to a Hillary like opponent.
What Hilary and her staff don’t understand is that Words are the most powerful tools in our society. They determine who we vote for, what we believe in, what we buy. Why do companies spend billions on advertising $? Additionally, words move us to love, to hate, even to sacrifice our lives.
Even the ancient Greeks used words to persuade. When the ancient Greeks compared Pericles to Demosthenes, Pericles was perceptive enough to know the difference. “When Pericles speaks, the people say, “How well he speaks.” When Demosthenes speaks, they say, “Let us March.”
Hilary read this and apply it to your campaign. Maybe instead of lying so much, you could start winning again!

Obama needs to inject variety into his speech. Thr speech ought to decline from the inspirational to the policy specific. Meaning that in each speech there ought to be elements of both.
His speechwriters need to vary the template. That being said the question you ask is; how much can be said in a 20 minute address. And what needs to be said as a priority. The priority remains the inspirational. People will be moved by that and hardly recall the details of the technical.
Watch how Hillary, who ought to have taken a course in rhetoric, is moulting on the podium. Changes in both rythm and style of presentation. She needs a new speechwriter nd coach.
The plagiarism thing is unimportant. Speechwriters borrow off each other and pic up the resonance of past talks all the time.

If this is such a nothing story, why are Obama’s fans getting so upset. Could it be that it tells the American people that Obama is not quite the fresh breath of air he claims to be… That perhaps his great oratory is something of a fraud!

Refresh me again on exactly what experience HRC has? Particularly in Healthcare? And regarding Iraq?
Don’t confuse the East Wing with the West Wing…

I feel the truth is going to start rearing its ugly head about “the man, the movement, Barack Obama. I’m an African-American woman who is a college professor, and I have yet to be moved by all of the rhetoric coming out of his mouth. The plagiarism that appears here, is the mere fact that he gave the same identical speech, word for word, not straying from it or invoking his own ideas. I’m deeply bothered by this, because many people are falling for this “messiah” as the pundits are calling him, and are not at all concerned whether or not he is capable of running this great country. It’s ok to invoke lines or quotes from great orators in our history, but to do a speech where your words, dynamics in tone, and candor are identical, to me is shameless. Many people are looking to this man for hope and inspiration. Ironically, the only thing he is capable of doing is giving great speeches and biting off the substantive issues from Hillary Clinton. I say, “Buyer Beware.” I think the free pass that he has gotten from the media is over. I support Hillary Clinton, because she knows what she is doing and has the experience to fix the problems that America will face when she gets in office. She won’t have to bite off of or plagiarize someone else’s speeches or policies. One thing about it, she is smart enough to create her own ideas and policies. So much so, that you’ll keep hearing Barack Obama state in debates, “I agree with Hillary!!!!”

You know what? I don’t think Hillary’s negativity is going to pay off.
There’s a real arrogance and dismissiveness that runs through not just Hillary’s attacks but her supporters. Only THEY work hard, only THEY have solutions, only THEY see through people . . . the funny thing is that any time you actually try to engage any of her supporters in discussions of the issues and the theory behind the policies complete with the possible implications they all disappear. I’m sure Obama supporters all across the country have had that same experience.
Just because certain people fancy themselves to be a certain way does not in reality make that true. If Hillary supporters look at Obama and see ‘just talk’ I think that says more about them then about Obama . . . and I think the majority in this country would agree . . .

You are seriously supporting Hillary’s healthcare plan????
Go back and look at what happened when Bill delegated this to her in his first term. If she’d been able to do anything – ANYTHING – right, we wouldn’t be in this healthcare mess today.
Puhleeze…

Actually Sarah, it wasn’t Hillary that was first to come out with her economic plan it was Obama. Hillary just claims that she was first. Just like she claims she was never in favor of NAFTA. Just like she claims she didn’t know the Iraq War Resolution was not a vote to go to war. Just like it’s all a vast right-wing conspiracy.
And technically no plagiarism isn’t about giving credit, it’s about ownership of a proprietary right. If Barack and his friend either explicitly or impliedly agreed to share ideas then neither has to publicly credit the other.
I’m assuming that’s why Hillary didn’t credit Kerry Healey when she plagiarized her attack of ‘just words’, wouldn’t you agree?

“Don’t
“Stop
“Thinking about tomorrow..”
I’m just lovin this…

OK SO HE CAN GIVE A SPEECH, Obama needs to walk the talk. obama is renigging on his stances, like lobby money, who is he kidding????????? all lobby is comming in thru the back door. Do i like the fact that canadates are backed by lobbyists ?????? a resounding NO. At least clinton has hers posted and is not hiding their content. oh and those superdelegates look up HOPE FUND center of responsive politics, obama has given over $695,000 to superdelegates. So if you can’t be honest about that , what else is he not being honest about. Rezko, friends for over 20 years and he didn’t know his friend was a crook??????? hope doesn’t buy groceries and change doesn’t pay the mortgage. Apathetic voter in florida.

I can just imagine the oppositional research against McCain if Hillary were to get the nominee . . . we’re going to have daily exposes of his ‘poor’ health, his use of medications, etc – all designed to make him look like a geezer. Shoot the Clintons aren’t even above trying to ‘swiftboat’ him to drag his well-earned reputation through the mud.
omg – as a Democrat, I really don’t want to win back the Whitehouse in this way . . . it doesn’t have to be like this . . .

Where is his originality when he repeats what someone else puts out. You can tell the way he copies Clinton policies.

I’m a racist? How dare you, you don’t know anything about me. I will support whoever is more qualified.
Simple fact, if anyone came to do my job (physicist at a national laboratory) with a bachelor’s and 2 years experience, vs. a ph.d with 10, I would pick the ph.d (given all else is equal). And that is how I see Obama and Hillary. He will make a fine candidate with some experience.
I don’t care that he did drugs, I don’t care about any of that (tell that to the Republicans come the fall). It is simply a matter of experience.
And how dare YOU pull the race card. That is pathetic and shows your ignorance and your desperation.

You know Jessica, I am deeply, deeply offended by your comment. Because I think Hillary would make a better president, I am racist? What exactly did I say that was racist?
This is why the media can slam Hillary left and right but Obama gets a pass most of the time.
Why can I not say “I think he is will make a great candidate in 8 years or so after he gains some experience.”
Why is that racist?
Is this what we’ve come down to people? You can’t say you are against him without it turning into race?
I am so disappointed by this!!! Are we not beyond this???

Sarah – classic example of how all you Hillary supporters think they’re SO much smarter and more able to ‘see through’ other people.
Yet you just admitted what gives Hillary the edge over Obama in your eyes is her claim of ‘experience’ – are you defining this as her extra term in the Senate, her time as First Lady, or her time spent on the corporate board of Walmart? Because Obama actually has more legislative experience than Hillary.
You may have a PhD, but so what? You studied something like nuclear fission for 10 years and somehow that makes your judgment better than the rest of ours? Actually somebody with good judgment doesn’t vote for wars based on trust of somebody who’s already proven to be corrupt. And somebody with good judgment would have known that there were no wmd’s.

The democratic race is polorizing the electorate to the point where the division will cause the democrats to lose in nov. The rehtoric coming from constituates on both sides is getting more ugly as time passes, young vs. older, black vs. white and male vs. female. Observing all posts, the younger voter is polorizing the electorate the most and this is not the unity I was expecting in this election. Now racial inuendos are appearing in the posts and this will only further divide the party, as well as cause race issues to escalate. I am fast becoming disenfranchised with my own party for the first time in all my years of voting and so are a lot of others. I don’t think people realize on both sides how fractured the party is becoming and this will cause some to not even vote in the general election or vote the other side. If this race comes down to the super delegates determining the winner, we will surely lose the election. I for one, have already went down to the department of motor vehicles and have already changed my affiliation from Democrat to Independent and I urge all the Obama Democrats to do the same. Most of these “Super Delegates” (which Bill is worth 12 just by himself!) are enter-twined with The Clinton crime family. They are either paying back favors or they like politics the way they are and are speaking with their own greed instead of the will of the people the are “suppose to” represent. If we all unite under the independent party we not only can get rid of Hillary once and for all but we can also get rid of all these “Super delegates” that sold us out!

Hillary’s resume according to the NY Times: “During those two terms in the White House, Mrs. Clinton did not hold a security clearance. She did not attend National Security Council meetings. She was not given a copy of the president’s daily intelligence briefing. She did not assert herself on the crises in Somalia, Haiti and Rwanda. And during one of President Bill Clinton’s major tests on terrorism, whether to bomb Afghanistan and Sudan in 1998, Mrs. Clinton was barely speaking to her husband, let alone advising him, as the Lewinsky scandal sizzled. In seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, Mrs. Clinton lays claim to two traits nearly every day: strength and experience. But as the junior senator from New York, she has few significant legislative accomplishments to her name. She has cast herself, instead, as a first lady like no other: a full partner to her husband in his administration, and, she says, all the stronger and more experienced for her “eight years with a front-row seat on history.”

Democrats are now fighting amongst themselves. This bickering will lead the Republicans to another win. We cannot afford the fiscal irresponsibility of another Republican administration in the White House. It will be more of the same. YES, I WANT CHANGE! CHANGE that will RETURN AMERICA to the PROVEN prosperity of the Clinton years over a lofty PROMISE of “hope” or dismal McCain 100 year commitment to Iraq. SUPPORT CLINTON FOR A RETURN TO PROSPERITY!

Great points LoriePeck – all that information is out there, so there’s clearly something else at play when people claim that they’re voting for Hillary because of her ‘experience’.
Probably it’s that she offers better child care but it’s too embarassing to admit that they’re taking the bait (?)

Clever is an adjective you have to use for the Clintons. They have managed you to donate your money while they loaned their money to her campaign. If you are a Hillary supporter, look at the following facts and think about it. “The 35 years of experience” donot mean a squat! – The only president ever impeached on grounds of personal malfeasance – Most number of convictions and guilty pleas by friends and associates* – Most number of cabinet officials to come under criminal investigation – Most number of witnesses to flee country or refuse to testify – Most number of witnesses to die suddenly – First president sued for sexual harassment. – First president accused of rape. – First first lady to come under criminal investigation- Largest criminal plea agreement in an illegal campaign contribution case- First president to establish a legal defense fund.- First president to be held in contempt of court- Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions – Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions from abroad- First president disbarred from the US Supreme Court and a state court

Obama himself was unsure about running. He knew he may not be ready. An advisor told him to.
He should come back in 8 years. I’ll reconsider. We don’t have time to make mistakes with a person who has not got the experience we need.
Please people, let’s just clean up some stuff first. Get Hillary in there to fix all this stuff.

LOL! – I can see it now – Hillary and Barack Hussein are going to battle it out tooth and nail until the Convention in August. Then we will have a convention that will make the Chicago tear gas convention look like a food fight.
Are Abby Hoffman, Seales, and the Chjicago seven still alive?
In the mean time, McCain just gets a 4 month head start on the campaign trail, while the democrats are playing blood sport.

Obama has more experience in a legislature than Hillary. And Hillary had no experience as “wife” of the President. Even the NY Times admitted her resume was thin on experience. She grossly exaggerated her experience and credentials.
Hillary’s health care plan will provide medical care for everyone – even the illegal aliens – and if we disagree with it, she promises to garnishee your wages. This is exactly her ill-thought out reasoning that caused the last health insurance debacle.
Yes, Hillary is right. She is not all talk. She did the Rose Law Firm, White Water, Travel Gate, Vincent Foster, …etc. Oh, yes she can – she wasted millions of dollars of tax payers’ money when she tried to pass health care reform when Bill was President. Oh, did I forget to mention that the Congress were occupied by the Dems then? Why failed? – she was too divisive that she couldn’t have Dems to vote for it. Yes, she is not all talks – even as the Clintons were leaving the White House she took furniture and china in excess of $200,000.00 that she had to reimburse the cost to avoid a national disgrace.

There has been alot of research and the Clintons are still there. Hillary still stands strong. That has to tell you that she can manage the job.
Obama is shy about a debate. He will be chewed up if he delt with the REAL run for President.
He is too fresh. This is not a good choice for a President. Come back in 10 years.
President Hillary Clinton ’08

There is power in words, haven’t you wanted to say something and could not find the words only to find the words in someone else to say exactly what you were feeling or thinking? Does that make us all plagerizers? Come on people. I have not decided who I am voting for but when I read petty crap like this it makes me want to vote for Obama. Is this the worse that they can come up with to discredit this canidate?
Who do I believe when he/her speaks? I do not care where he/she got his/her words, I just care that he is true to them.

It’s a breath of fresh air to see an article that actually casts light on the deception of the Barak Hussein Obama campaign. This is man is all talk, no action; I find it very offensive that he consider’s the public to be so dumb that they fall for smooth words and fair speeches. Unfortunately, many have been duped. I did notice that now that we are getting into OH, TX, PA where there is less of a black constituency and the voters are more issue-oriented, he suddenly is talking more about issues. But when he does, he has to read off of a card. He loses his “eloquence” and seems like a fish out of water. Issues aren’t his forte.
I hope that voters wake up in time. At this point, the media has played him up so much that the only place he can go is down. And thank God for that. I really think that Obama’s “momentum” is coming to an end fast. It’s getting very old.

Upon graduating from Wellesley, Hillary made a commencement speech that moved her audience. She went immediately to Yale Law School. Following Yale, and a year in Washington, Rodham flunked the DC bar exam twice which has a 60% pass rate. She moved to Arkansas and passed their bar exam which has an 80% pass rate, and married Bill Clinton. She taught at the University of Arkansas and joined the Rose law firm which is a corporate law firm. Clinton established a legal aid clinic at the university. She taught law for two years. As first lady of Arkansas, and of the U.S., Clinton served on many boards including Wal-mart. She chaired only one: the Task Force on National Health Care Reform, which failed, accomplishing only political traction for Republicans and a setback for her husband. She fended off prosecution involving the White House Travel Office and her investments with Whitewater. A year after Clinton became a Senator, she secured $20 billion for New York City in the wake of 9/11. Among other funding measures she directed toward her state, she prevented the closing of a military base there. Although she is considered to be one of the most influential Democrats in the Senate, most of her sponsored legislation has been symbolic — naming two post offices, two courthouses, honoring and congratulating sports teams and historic figures from New York. And in 6 years on Wal-mart board, she sat mute while the company fought against unions and the advancement of women. She has a reputation of being the queen of earmarks and recently secured a 1.5 million dollar earmark awarded to a Harlem minister who endorsed her candidacy for President. She also has accepted more corporate donations than any of the Republican candidates. NOT AN EXAMPLE OF A GOOD LEADER.

“make us all plagerizers? Come on people. I have not decided who I am voting for but when I read petty crap like this it makes me want to vote for Obama. Is this the worse that they can come up with to discredit this canidate?”
An emotional response..proves what people are saying about some voters..Obama has tapped into that.

This is in response to CT.
It was due to Hillary’s effort in the 90′s that 6 million children got health care. May be in your books, speeches are more important than accomplishment like that.

So, SO, do you think we have a good healthcare system today? Six million kids may be better off, but what about the 47 million or so without coverage today. Believe me, because I was there, HRC had a real chance to make a significant change in the totally flawed healthcare system we currently have.
She blew it, because she had no experience in how to get things done.
Even though she knew exactly what to do, right from the beginning.

SO, Hillary has taken credit for being responsible for that, but insiders say she out on tour promoting her book when the bulk of that law was passed.
I tend to believe that’s true because she’s never elaborated on the skill set she employed to make children’s healthcare a reality – did she craft the law after consulting with all the parties? Did she negotiate with the special interests? Did she take on big pharma and big insurance?
It’s generally accepted that after her attempt to push through universal healthcare failed, she kept a very hands-off approach. So it seems highly unlikely that she’d have been entrusted to work with these same groups again . . .

Come on people! Politicians are all the same, even Obama! He’s now backing off from his word on public-financing, you really think he’s so much better than Hillary?
I don’t like ANY of them, I just want someone to restore our standing in the world and clean up this mess!
Don’t get sucked in by all of this, read the histories, read the facts, take out the likability factor, just do your homework. If you’re still for Obama (or for Hillary) then great, you are an educated voter. But goodness gracious don’t vote for him because he gives a good speech!

Sarah, you believe people are picking on you because you have a PhD? Both my parents have a PhD, I have a JD and I ranked first in my state on the state bar – the FIRST time around.
I’m just laughing at the fact that you think you’re somehow smarter and more savvy than the rest of us when haven’t proven either . . .

Count the number of negative Obama stories in January vs. number of negative Hillary, now do the same for the past few days. Clearly there were almost 3.6 times as many negative Hillary stories, and now I’ve seen a rash of negative Obama stories since he has been declared the “front-runner”.
Do you think the media does this deliberately to make it a good show for as long as possible? Keep the race close?
Just a thought…

SARAH-your facts are wrong for this site. most of the articles on this site is proclintion and antiobama.

gtreenlee2: I didn’t say this site. I said “media”, particularly CNN but I didn’t want to call them out because I only visit abc, nbc, fox, cnn and realclearpolitics

Douglas Gordon: Wow, so eloquent!
I too hated the Clintons – yes I voted for Bush sr., but then I too had to admit, things were pretty darn good in the 90s! We were respected world-wide, our economy ROCKED, there were the kinds of compromises that Obama talks of doing but the Clintons actually did – they are definitely more moderates and worked across the aisle. Hillary has done that splendidly in her term as a senate.

After reading the posting here on this site, I am truly dissapointed in a lot of you for your statements and your lack of patriotism. As American citizen’s we have a duty to always stay loyal to this country, but when it comes to politic’s people look more for the idiosyncrasy of a person which down plays their true intentions. In 1787; James Madison said. “In framing a system which we wish to last for ages, we should not lose site of the “CHANGE” which ages will produce.” We have reached that time, and now the time has come for a much needed change in America, and in it’s political parties. In times such as these we ought to band together for the greater cause, and relinquish ourselves of those who are running for office merely for their own personal satifaction, and look at the whole picture of why a canidate is interested in becoming our next Chief Executive. Here in America, there is a calling for change. This change will bring the dreams to an awakening reality; that our forefather’s had invisioned about equality in this Great Nation. Not only will we feel the spirit of change, but the world will feel it’s meaning, and this message of change will echo throughout the world; that a brighter day has come forth. And with this change we will feel an emotional empact of unity, by weeding out all forms of segreation and racial tentions; the poison that has hindered this nation for far to long. This change is not about black or white, no; this change is not about man or women, this change is about the greater good for us all who believe that our freedom is at risk and a change is needed to bring this nation together once and for all. I feel that Obama’s quest for this change is a message that we should embrace, because it is time to use the Nonviolence Act of 1955 thru 1964, to create this change that is needed in our White House. No more talk, action is needed at the polls to make this happen.

Regardless, her campaign pitch on Experience and Solutions is fundamentally flawed, as she has neither. You’ll notice no examples during her rhetoric. Not a good strategy to play, and I’m no genius.
Why are these her slogans, who is running this campaign?
Out of touch in ’08 sounds like a better mantra to me.
Her campaign is a failure so would her term in office…

SARAH-please answer these questions for me. list all of hillary’s 35 years of experience. why hasn’t miriam wright edelman from the children defense fund supported her campaign? what has edelman stated about clinton’s policies? what is her response to NAFTA? what have economists stated about her freezing mortgages? how many medical related lobbyists are supporting her? how does her voting record differ from her lobbyist support? how will u change health care when your campaign is supported by medical lobbyists?

SARAH-need to be a little more precise in your comments. r u sure about fox?

New Yorker: What is your issue?
By “heart” do you mean the part of your brain (the frog-brain part that hasn’t evolved much over the past 100,000 years or so) that connects to an individual based on their looks and ability to “woo”, because that is what politicians do, right?
I suggest that we evolve beyond this basic flaw in our character (it hasn’t been selected against yet!) and act on reason and rationality alone.
And we REALLY don’t want to get into a discussion about why we fall in love or are drawn to our friends, do we? Because that is a whole other blog.
Onto Hillary’s experience on the next
Why are you people attacking me? Sheesh, I actually LIKE Obama! (reference back to brain above)

Just a little more information about St. Obama. Don’t be too disappointed children.
For a man who claims to be above “Washington Politics”, BO sure is doling out the cash to the superdelegates. He’s also taken more money from the drug companies, but who’s looking, right?!? He’s ranked the “most” liberal of 100 senators, but again, who’s looking, right!?!? For a junior senator with little time to make his mark in the US Senate, he managed to acquire 91 million in earmarks, but who’s looking, right?!?! It’s hard to believe, but “You Tube” is a big decider in this nominating process. God Help Us!!Obama, who narrowly leads in the count of pledged, “non-super” delegates, has doled out more than $698,200 to superdelegates from his political action committee, Hope Fund, or campaign committee since 2005. Of the 82 elected officials who had announced as of Feb. 12 that their superdelegate votes would go to the Illinois senator, 35, or 43 percent of this group, have received campaign contributions from him in the 2006 or 2008 election cycles, totaling $232,200. In addition, Obama has been endorsed by 52 superdelegates who haven’t held elected office recently and, therefore, didn’t receive campaign contributions from him.Clinton does not appear to have been as openhanded. Her PAC, HILLPAC, and campaign committee appear to have distributed $205,500 to superdelegates. Only 12 percent of her elected superdelegates, or 13 of 109 who have said they will back her, have received campaign contributions, totaling about $95,000 since 2005. An additional 128 unelected superdelegates support Clinton, according to a blog tracking superdelegates and their endorsements, 2008 Democratic Convention Watch.

PETER-your argument is flawed b/c of NAFTA a Clinton’s legacy. How does hillary have more experience on this issue? do you think she is going to repeal nafta so it can help american workers?

to bob in dc:
the word “hope” comes from one of Bill Clintons slogan when he ran for President..”A place called Hope.”
Here are some other interesting slogans from past presidents that seem to be echoed by Obama:
1)Walter Mondale 1984
“America needs a change.”
2)Bill Clinton 1992 & 1996
“Building a bridge to the 21st century”
“Putting people first”
3)George Bush 2004(best one yet)
“Yes, america can.”
Sounds like another bush to me here.
So much for being original..hes copying is opponents husbands for “hope” and “21st century”, walter mondales “change”, and president bushs “Yes, we can” promise. Take a long look at him obamabots, and you will see he is nothing but a robot himself, spouting words of the “past”; the “past” he clearly states he wants no part of, and a future he has no idea how to handle. The remote is slowly losing its charge on him, so I suggest you either get a new TV, or you put new batteries into the right candidate, Hillary..

I think the article is off point. Right now I’m leaning towards McCain; but when I heard the charge from Clinton that all Obama was about was speeches and they are just words… I myself came up with many of the same quotes that I would use in a rebuttal for that charge. Perhaps a few others too… One that comes to mind: “Ask not what you your nation can do for you; as what you can do for your nation” JFK
So, was it plagiarism – or just the knowledge that there are a number of very well known word segments from past speaches that show that words can be much more than just words… I propose that most Americans – could have come up with the same or a very similar list – independently.

greenlee2: Fox, yes absolutely on CNN and FOX there has been an anti-Clinton, pro-Obama bias (they have admitted it). Not so sure about realclear, abc, nbc (though NBC’s recent scuffle speaks volumes).
Experience:
1) Efforts to make adoption easier (plus for me because my niece is adopted)
2) Expanded child care and pre-schools (plus for me because I have two girls in daycare)
3) helped create Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997
4) Tried but failed at universal health care. Why do I cite this? Because goodness knows I’ve tried and failed at tons of things (getting into Cal Tech) and you sure do find your strengths and weaknesses when you fail
5) State Children’s Health Insurance Program
6) Was instrumental in getting New York up and working after 9/11 (compensation to families of victims, questioned the safety of the air etc.)
7) Has served on Senate Armed Services Committee (first New Yorker ever)
8) tons of legislation: here’s a few
8a) tie congressional salary increase to increase in minimum wage
8b) middle-class tax cut (i am middle class)
8c) marriage penalty relief
8d) property tax relief
8e) created jobs in struggling communities: Renewal Communities program
8f) broadband internet access to rural america to help strengthen economy and small businesses
okay i’m tired of typing

Question for everyone:
Would you support either Hillary or Obama in November if they were up against McCain?
I can absolutely say yes, much as you people seem to jump all over me for being a racist, Hillary supporter.

If Obama steals his words from others than it goes to reason he will need to steal his ideas to lead this great country . again like Bush we will get an empty headed president ( if he was elected). Our country is in a fight for its life . We need someone with true leadership and our time of need . It is not Obama . I have lost all respect for him . I will vote for Clinton she is intelligent and in command of the facts.She will lead with knowledge and conviction . A man ( Obama ) that can’t find his own words has no true convictions because he lacks his own thoughts and ideas . I will vote McCain if Obama gets the nomination .

Hillary loves to bring up Obama and Rezko, how about Norman Hsu and the $850,000 he contributed to Hillary.
Who was Hsu…a 15 year fugitive under arrest by the FBI…supported totally by Bill and Hillary, until they found out about his sordid past. Oh well, thats not fair.

please tell me someone didnt just say to go to obamas website to LEARN about him.
by the way, could I interest you in a bridge in new york i wanna sell…cheap??

One more thing about good old honest Obama. All the dem candidates said they would not campaign in Michigan or Florida because we dared to schedule our primaries before Feb 5. Obama takes his name off the ballot in Michigan. So how did he get around this. He had newpaper, radio, and television ads telling his supporters to vote “uncommitted”. Now Clinton didn’t come into the state at all. Clinton did not run any ads. Clinton did not contact her supporters or give them directions. After the vote the results were Clinton 50% and uncommitted 40%. And then St. Obama and his supporters have the gall to challenge seating the Michigan delegates. St. Obama is the one that cheated. Not Clinton. But of course I don’t hear anyone calling for St. Obama to be penalized for it.

I gotta give Obama credit. He’s got good judgement because the speeches he (plagiarized?) were excellent ones. If he quoted lousy speeches, then I wouldn’t think much of his ability to rationalize.

New Yorker: You guys turned it personal, read the blog, for goodness sake. People were after me because I said I was a PhD (and the only reason I did it was because my demographic typically goes to Obama, or so the pollsters tell me). And I am not so entwined in my political views to not be able to separate the two.
My posts are a reaction to the masses (those who voted Bush in office based on the fact that they “liked the guy”). I stipulate that if you know all of Obama’s and Hillary’s positions, then you are an educated voter, and that’s fine, I have no issue there. But more often than not what I’m reading on here and in other blogs is that people just like Obama, darn it, and that’s that and yes we can and blah blah blah just take it and shut up. And that scares me!
That to me is unacceptable.
I dearly love my daughters and would do anything for them. Clinically I know why that is, they are my offspring and evolution dictates that for me to pass on my beliefs, my thoughts, etc. that I do everything for them. That’s Biology 101. We all KNOW this, it doesn’t make it any less real when I start crying when they tell me they love me. But I can place myself above it and know why we are so bonded.
This is who we are as a species, but that doesn’t mean we can’t dig deep down and extract our cerebral selves out of this.
This is just politics! They are ALL THE SAME and anyone who doesn’t believe this is, I’m sorry, uneducated.

Sarah, half of those ‘accomplishments’ of Hillary’s got passed by executive order when her husband was in power.
The 9/11 help had 100% bipartisan support.
And how much of the legislation you cited actually PASSED. Anybody can draft a bill – to get one with opposition to pass, you have to have bipartisan support. How may that actually passed were in the face of partisan opposition?
Please also take note of what others have posted about Barack being instrumental in getting children’s health insurance legislation passed in Illinois . . .

hmmm Sarah,
did she really do all of this? please give me the name of the legislation. you also make it clear that she is only concerned with the middle class and that is why you probably failed to answer my question about edelman. she loves to state children defense fund – blah, blah, blah.. who supported her to get that telecommunication bill through? i am quite sure it was her rural supporters. again, you answered one of my questions with this reply. how has she differed in creating policy that goes against her lobbyist support? you will find she doesn’t. keep searching so u can be more informed about your candidate.

There is a finite amount of words in the English language, especially those that inspire change, or in this case a NATION! They are bound to be reused, get over it.
I stole that from an older post. But it made so much sense that it deserved to be repeated. Hmmm.

Is this really plagiarism or is it just riffing on lines from someone else’s speech that covers similar ideas? Seems like the latter, really, and nothing to get into a huff about. Did anyone really harp on Bob Dylan when he appropriated lines from other sources and stuck them in his songs? Or when a rhetorical flourish in a good bit of writing references another work in order to be clever, ironic, or simply to add a familiar flavor to line for those in the know?
Very odd that people would invest any energy in turning this issue into a legitimate smear.

Posted by: Sarah | Feb 17, 2008 11:49:55 PM
Sarah, considering the dilapidated state of America’s educational system, a lot of what pass off for ‘educated’ unfortunately is really mis-educated, even up to the so-called PhD level.
The mass of Americans (and especially college students) were NEVER going agog over Bush.
Obviously many can recognize the CLEAR distinction between Bush and Bama; you just can’t.
And if you see all politicians as being the same, then it only means that you are responding to your own mind that has been conditioned to observe only the bad down the years.
You will need a ‘clear mind’ to be able to do an objective analysis of humans; because there is a clear distinction between the reflection from an oppressive mind and from a ‘clear mind’.
They will BOTH present a world view; but they WILL NOT both be correct.

Lori Peck:
Whoever told you that Bill Clinton is worth 12 votes because he is a superdelegate misled you.
Each superdelegate only counts as one vote. The reason they are called superdelegates is because superdelegates are seated automatically, based solely on their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials. They are free to support any candidate for the nomination.
So please stop this misinformation. It helps no one and hurts both candidates.

Sarah, you mean she voted for it . . . LMAO. Wow that’s presidential material . . .

I did the research Sarah, it looks like you did yours at HillaryClinton.com and then embellished. If you look through her senate record as I did, I assure you there are no bills she’s personally sponsored which passed which have anything to do with middle-class tax cuts, congressional salaries tied to the minimum wage, etc.
Some co-sponsored bills have as many as half the senate sponsoring them . . .

Watch out folks. Obama paid a visit to Edwards today. Pretty soon we will be hearing Edward’s populist themes or speeches in Obama’s rhetoric.
His supporters of course will not know the difference. They eat every word he says even though it is all plagiarized.

It’s time we started paying heed to the cynics.
If the message is inspiring or hopeful, then it must be a pack of lies, or perhaps the words were plagarized.
It’s time now for us to bury our heads in the sand and prepare to die!
Hope is for children or naive fools. Reality is for adults.

I have a dream… that someday people will wake up from “their” dream and approach the world and this life (and politics)from a more objective conciousness. No longer will we be slave to external conditioning and the lower instincts, but the rational mind will rule as king…

As I go through all the supporters of HRC I CAN NOT find the answer to the following questions:
ON DAY ONE WILL SHE REPEAL NAFTA?
WILL SHE ADMIT THAT IT WAS AN IDIOTIC POLICY?
ON DAY ONE HOW WILL SHE BRING THE JOBS BACK, THAT HER HUSBAND CAUSED US TO LOOSE DUE TO THE SIGNING OF NAFTA?
WILL SHE RELEASE HER FINANCIAL STATEMENTS?
ONLY ANSWER THE QUESTIONS…PLEASE

omg – I’m going to be sick to my stomach if all the morons who support Hillary feel sorry for her and decide to give her a ‘boost’ on Tuesday.
You give her an inch and soon she’ll have all the superdelegates bought and paid for and living in her back pocket.
Next think you know she’ll be turning war-hero-icon John McCain into a ‘swiftboated’ ‘murderer’ . . . I gonna barf!

Why is this important? Political speeches aren’t academic papers, people borrow phrases all the time.

Hubert V:
This is the Last Gasp of a Desperate
campaign! Pretty soon the Tears(crocodile of course) will come flowing
down again! Do we really want a President who’s ready to cry her eyes
out ON DAY ONE? Bye Bye Hillary and take
Bill with you! UGH!

I sure hope voters in upcoming primaries take not of these very disturbing developments. Mr Obama’s words are meaningless – and now we see they are not even his!!! I am sick and tired of mainstream media (jack tapper being the exception) giving Obama a FREE RIDE. It’s so blatantly obvious that he does not have the experience, courage or skill to take on the presidential role. Copied policies, copied speeches, false promises, refusals to debate with his opponent, long associations with special interests, shady dealings with indicted real estate developer…what more do we need? WAKE UP AMERICA!

The update and explanation provided from the Obama campaign is as embaressing as the original incident. I think part of the problem with Obama’s campaign is that he has obviously signed up some incredibly devious and deceptive individuals and now the wheels are falling off! THERE IS NO ESCAPING THIS FACT – THE 2 SPEECHES ARE IDENTICAL. THERE IS NO DEFENSE. DO NO TRY TO DECEIVE PEOPLE WITH PROPAGANDA AND LIES.

I have four university degrees. This idea that only the uneducated are following Clinton is complete nonsense and more propaganda peddled by the Obama campaign. Anyone with any intelligence and any capacity to think critically would know the Obama campaign is founded on an premise to deceive and fool people through charisma and WORDS! Well you didn’t fool me and I am so angry that the Obama campaign continues to try and deceive innocent members of the public. Especially disturbing is the irresponsibility the Obama campaign has shown in seducing young people into the voting process knowing full well that the promises being peddled were completely ridicilous. WAKE UP AMERICA! I feel sorry for people who have fallen for this man. WAKE UP.

I did not hear complaints of plagiarism when Hillary Clinton was re-using so much staff that Barack used to mention in his speak.
I wonder why that is !!!!!!

I did not hear complaints of plagiarism when Hillary Clinton was re-using words (like mentioning “carrots and sticks” in reference to Iran,etc.) that Barack used to mention in his speeches and debates.
I wonder why that is !!!!!!!!!

and who was devals campaign manager none other than mr axlerod oops

It’s always fun to read the comments of an article that exposes yet another Obama flaw.
Watching all of the Obama sheeple comment and cry about how this isn’t relevant or about how “everyone does this” is better than cable.
Yes, people borrow phrases, but the borrowed phrases shouldn’t be the bulk of the speech. I think it’s perfectly okay to mix in the words of some inspiring people of the past, but your entire speech shouldn’t be a tapestry of references. If you’re going to base your speeches on mostly rhetoric (whether or not you think he’s inspirational is irrelevant; his speeches fail to get in-depth into the issues, don’t try to deny it) you better be able to bring new ideas to the table. Rhetoric isn’t necessarily a bad thing when you bring new words to the table, but it is when you have nothing but an arsenal of statements from past speeches.
You all said the same thing about Rezko. You all said the same thing about his “periodical” comment. Now you’re saying the same thing about this. How many things against him have to be revealed before all of you give up? I swear, if Obama killed someone, you’d all come on and say “oh, that’s no big deal, just look at how inspirational he is!”.
You all know that if Hillary delivered a speech that was this similar to another one given in the past by a “close friend” with the same speechwriter, you’d all act like this was a crime of the highest order.
All I can say beyond that (I know there’s no convincing all of you, I’m just bored and having a little fun) is that, in a democracy, the people deserve exactly who they vote for, and a president like McCain is certainly deserved to a country which lets a phony like Obama get anywhere in this nomination process, and that’s exactly what that country will get if Obama wins the nomination. Enjoy.

“It does seem to me that this issue may also be one between Obama and his supporters, not just Obama and Patrick.”
-your own article points out there is no issue between Patrick and Obama.
“Thousands, if not millions, of Americans are inspired by Obama’s words.” – As they should be.
“They do not think they are ‘just words.’ But many of them also likely think they are at least somewhat original.”
-Hey, Jack, please don’t try to speak for me. I don’t care where the words came from — it was a perfect response.

The ignorance, speculation, and jagged-edged opinions from supporters of all candidates in these comments are strong reasons why political thinking is best handled by people who put rationality before their emotions.
Have a little respect for people who disagree with you, and take a moment to consider that none of the candidates, whether Democratic, Republican, or Independent, are stupid or deceitful.
Having a discussion on the internet is no excuse for poor tact. But then again, if most of the commentators on these stories actually thought about what they were saying, there would be far fewer comments.
Good luck.

Finally a story by one of the national media that actually critically analyzes Obama. Until he’s been scrutinized as much as any other candidate for President of the most powerful country in the world, how can voters adequately assess the candidates? The media has not been doing voters any favors thus far in the campaign, but I hope that this is just the beginning.

AND THE CLINTON WAR MACHINE RUMBLES FORTH……THIS JUST IN…..OBAMA SAYS “THANK YOU” TO CROWD IN WISCONSIN!!!! LIFTED FROM SOMEONE IN 1795.

Loved your column, Jake. I just wish we Dems could move beyond this stupid banter and realize that we want to win the November. Both Obama and Hillary have their detractors to be sure, but none as bad a McCain/Bush3. As an Edwards supporter, I would hope that we can agree on an Hillary/Obama ticket. Women first as I was taught in grade school.

So Hillary copies a speech accusing Obama of being “Just words” and Obama’s speech writer who had written the original speech reuses some material that he had initially written for a previous campaign and it is Obama who has plagiarized?
Of course we can simply overlook Hillary’s copying but Obama’s approved legal copying can’t be?
It is truly pathetic how hypocritical people can be and if you are changing your vote over something this silly you are truly a fical person. The fact that Hillary steals a lot of ideas from Obama doesn’t matter. Her watching him to see if he stands or sits during the “State of the Union Address” and copying him doesn’t matter. That she has padded her resume to the hilt in an obviously false manner doesn’t matter. That she approved of NAFTA and sent all your jobs to Mexico and China while Chinese officials slept in the Lincoln bedroom doesn’t matter, especially now that she has flip flopped on her support for political expedience.
The only thing of importance here is not Hillary’s corporate lobbying money, her deceptions, her problems…NOPE, the only issue here is whether Obama can be a valid presidential candidate when his speech writers reuse speeches they originally wrote for friends of Obama.

I think ALL of this is a joke! A speech is a speech. Bits and pieces CAN be used together to get across the general idea of ones thoughts and views about a subject matter. The use of similar words for slogans is part of the campaign strategy. Even some of the most influential speakers have used strategic sentences, words or phrases from other successful role models to get across a general idea about certain subjects.
Are people so simple minded or fearful that you begin to pick at the irrelevant? If so, then condemn ALL the candidates! Lets try a “TOTAL RECALL.” When Bill Clinton ran for president he campaigned on the element of “change” while George W. Bush, Sr., pushed “experience.” Do “WE” remember what were some of the statements George W. Bush Sr used to define Bill Clintons approach to the presidency? I will let this be your history lesson. When you have obtained that data, compare it to much of the comments made by Bill Clinton today.
On end, if people are going to be as obscure, profound and bias to even TRY to judge Barack Obama, then you better be prepared as Americans to demonstrate your “fairness” to judge Bill and Hillary as they speak today! Because, they can easily be accused of using a lot of the approach tactics and words from the Bush vs. Clinton campaign back in the 1990’s!
America, open your ignorant, judging, condemning, bias eyes! I have NEVER seen a group of people that is SO eager to try to condemn a person that they HANG themselves! You CAN’T hang one without HANGING the other!

GW – We don’t have time to TRY a person for a while. Our Country needs a person who can take care of things now.
My vote goes for the confirmed person who we will not have to try, we will know that she can get the job done.
Protect, Provide and Create a positive future by repairing some issues.
Hillary Clinton for President

People are waking up to Obama. The man is a creation of Axelrod and the media. It scares the cr*ap out of me.

I love how many people talk about Obama and the kool-aid. Three months ago, it was the Clintonites who had all the Pep and the energy and said that our guy would fall in the first contest (While we were organizing). They ridiculed us for not jumping on the Inevitable band wagon and said if you’re not with us you are against us. They acted as if it was the Destiny of Hillary to be the first woman president, and if you disagreed, you must be threatened by women.
Now they find anything to hit with.
Of course, His speeches contain recycled material. We are not as stupid as Clinton wants you to believe.
It’s not what he is saying that is inspiring, its that we believe that he believes it.
When Hillary changed her tune and said she had been an agent and force for change, she didn’t say it like she meant it, only as if she needed us to pay attention to her.
We know that the Nomination is only the beginning. Obama told us when he wanted our support that it would take effort and support and work from us, Not to get him elected, but to change our lives and our government AFTER he was elected. We are not projecting anything except our expectation that he will fight for us without engaging in “first strike” Political tactics. We see the America that we can be and he promises to get us going in the right direction.
We are fighting for the very soul or our party and our country.
Hillary has promised more than what Obama has, but she asks for nothing but a vote in return.
We doubt her sincerity because we are supposed to trust her, before and after giving her a vote.
I trust more when the deal sounds real, not when it is too good to be true.

Please Wisconsin choose smart. Choose someone who will protect our wonderful Nation, Provide a beautiful future for all the souls and handle it with grace.
Hillary will not be out doing a bunch of speaches, she will be working to take care of the stuff that needs fixing. While we enjoy our bright future.
This is not a time to risk. We don’t have a chance to make a mistake. We need someone who believes and has had this plan for a long time.
Obama didn’t even want to run, he was talked into it by an advisor. This is not the best choice for President.
Americans must make the smart choice.
Wisconsin, we need your support and your vote. Trust your instinct.
Please vote for Hillary

Things change, the people will wake up.
Hillary Clinton is the smart choice.

A speech is a speech. Bits and pieces CAN be used together to get across the general idea of ones thoughts and views about a subject matter. The use of similar words for slogans is part of the campaign strategy. Even some of the most influential speakers have used strategic sentences, words or phrases from other successful role models to get across a general idea about certain subjects.
Are people so simple minded or fearful that you begin to pick at the irrelevant? If so, then condemn ALL the candidates! Lets try a “TOTAL RECALL.” When Bill Clinton ran for president he campaigned on the element of “change” while George W. Bush, Sr., pushed “experience.” Do “WE” remember what were some of the statements George W. Bush Sr used to define Bill Clintons approach to the presidency? I will let this be your history lesson. When you have obtained that data, compare it to much of the comments made by Bill Clinton today.
On end, if people are going to be as obscure, profound and bias to even TRY to judge Barack Obama, then you better be prepared as Americans to demonstrate your “fairness” to judge Bill and Hillary as they speak today! Because, they can easily be accused of using a lot of the approach tactics and words from the Bush vs. Clinton campaign back in the 1990’s!
America, open your ignorant, judging, condemning, bias eyes! I have NEVER seen a group of people that is SO eager to try to condemn a person that they HANG themselves! You CAN’T hang one without HANGING the other!
Even Linden Johnson recited what is considered famous or historical words from the late Martin Luther King, Jr in several public statements. I don’t see anyone rushing to dig up and hang his old bones! People, get over it…your getting a little TOO irrational..

GW – there is one big difference between Hillary Clinton and Obama that you fail to recognize. Clinton does not present herself as a holier-than-thou preacher. She can acknowledge her faults and can admit error. We all know her history. There are no secrets. In contrast, Mr Obama presents himself as the cleanest and most pure of all politicians when the truth is anything but that. He tries to decieve unthinking peole into believing he is “different”. What trite. If he just admitted he was a politican and all that goes with that, maybe he wouldn’t be so unbearable. But his constant protestations that he is “different” are just ridiculous. At least Hillary Clinton knows how this game works and knows how to wade through a complex political system. This is not play group, it’s American politics. I would rather have someone like Hillary Clinton who can play ball the hard way than a charlatan preacher who has nil capacity to be honest, upfront and REAL!!!! Thank you!

This is a non-issue. I use the samplings of other writers in speeches all the time. The truth is: I have been so turned off by the “politics of the Clintons” that if she gets the nomination…I will vote Republican for the first time in my life. I know many other Democrats who feel the same way. Now, that’s an issue.

Hey I hear that Obama is going to deliver his “I Have A Dream Speech” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, right after he delivers his address at Gettysburg.
What a cheat.

It is ironic that Hillary says words are cheap and then jumps on the question of where the words came from. A Hillary supporter above disses Obama and ends her post with Yes We Can.
If the original candidate gives permission, then it is not stealing. To put it in perspective: who has a court date on Thursday for criminal charges? It’s not Obama.

Precisely! Listen up kids.. If Hillary wins the primaries, the GOP will win the Election. It’s proven! Not only because Hillary is so polarizing, but not so many Obama supporters like Hillary. Plus DO NOT FORGET that the new generation that Obama is attracting assures a dominating Democrat party for years to come. Open your eyes Hilbil fans.. Obama the only one, in 08!

Hillary has been copying Barack lately, but there hasn’t been the attention brought to it that has been of Barack borrowing from a friend with permission. Which is worse?

You are absolutely right.. Black people should be called colorful people, because their skin has pigment/color,, and whites should be called colorless people for lack of pigment/color.. Can’t we all just get along,,, whether u r colorful or colorless? :)

I find this quite disturbing. Thanks Jake for bringing this to our attention. Talking about originality and fresh air…

Well I think people are missing the point no one has a problem with the words just the fact that he cant back them up.But damn they do sound good.But he is not experianced,nor does he have the skills or the time to learn them we need help now not later.With out the force to back the changes it makes the words empty and hollow.

Are we being fooled again, wake up America. Is Obama really real?
Think long hard about your vote. This election is too important.

Yet another reason why Obama is not the right choice for America. Why would we elect a candidate to run this great nation who is a plagiarist? How can words be inspirational when they are stolen from past contenders? Obama portrays himself to be magical and to be able to work magic for our country. I have seen many of his speeches; yes there inspiring but what is he going to do and change if elected to office. His slogan stands as “change we can believe in”, he cons unexpecting voters into believing in something not there. What good is change when there stands no plan of action for change? Hillary Clinton is the right choice for America. She is constantly speaking on the REAL changes she will make in office and the laid out plans that she has to accomplish them. She will do what is right for the people. For those Obama supporters whom believe she is the root of this post; you’re wrong, so stop blaming her for your candidates unoriginalities. The Clinton’s private life and Bill is not Hillary’s politics: think about it. Obama is inexperienced, proven to be a plagiarist, and is simply not ready to CHANGE America. Maybe in years to come. The only candidate ready to actually CHANGE America is Hillary Clinton; she’s got the experience and the plan to bring about REAL CHANGE. So, if your ready for REAL CHANGE then vote for Hillary in your state’s primaries and caucuses, and put a much needed, experienced, democrat back in office in 2008.

Actually, much of Obama’s message of hope, unity and love borrows from JFK, RFK, MLK, Mandella, Marley, Jesus, etc., in addition to his Axelrod colleague. Interesting that the author managed to ignore the fact that Obama’s “plagiarism” wouldn’t have been possible without Hillary’s “plagiarism” of the Healy attack on Patrick. Also ignored in these “nice speeches” attacks is that this was precisely the forte of Hillary’s husband in his successful campaign for the presidency. Finding nothing on Obama–not even in his trash dumpster–the aspiring co-president and her foot-soldiers now grope for anything they can find. This is the natural follow-up to the “you’re too positive” quip.
It is unfortunate that Obama couldn’t have responded in his own words (and there were dozens of effective responses to choose from). But being that his Democratic opponent has no trouble claiming authorship for a book she did not write (“It Takes A Village” was written by Barbara Feinman, according to the NYT, Simon & Shuster and Feinman herself… yet she wasn’t even mentioned in the book), and the GOP front-runner’s tele-prompted speeches come off as naturally as a middle-schooler’s oral report, Barack still waxes the poetry of others far better than anyone else. (Oh yeah, and that thing about his not changing his strategy every week, he’s got that going for him too.)

Your article is amazing nonsense!(Yes I”m showing my bias, but so are you…for you are making a point that has no point! You are wasting paper/internet space just to jog a receptive republican/Hillary audience, when this space could be used for more substantive issues……….move on to something else, please.) Obama to Patric to Obama…..illogical Spock!

Obama is not right for America. Sure he’s not changing his political strategy every week, because there’s nothing there. He has inspiration and the act of believing to his advantage, because that’s all he focuses on. We as Americans are too blinded to see that just because a candidate has inspiring words doesn’t mean that he is going to change America. We need a president who is going to lay it out there and say this what I’m going to do, and I will do anything to get it done for this country’s sake. That candidate is Hillary Clinton like it or not. Be smart vote for Hillary Clinton.

Hey… maybe that’s what that whole “green” tint is about !!! LOL !!!

Gov. Patrick: “Sen. Obama and I are long-time friends and allies. We often share ideas about politics, policy and language. The argument in question, on the value of words in the public square, is one about which he and I have spoken frequently before. Given the recent attacks from Sen. Clinton, I applaud him responding in just the way he did.”

Socialistic democracy is the best way to make sure that everyone can live and prosper in our country. This does mean that money will be taken from those with substantially more of it. But this keeps our government strong, our people safe, and programs available for those down on there luck. Steve, what if you lost your job, wouldn’t you want these programs available for you? Or would you want the rich to turn their back on you and leave you on the street.

Gov. Patrick: “Sen. Obama and I are long-time friends and allies. We often share ideas about politics, policy and language. The argument in question, on the value of words in the public square, is one about which he and I have spoken frequently before. Given the recent attacks from Sen. Clinton, I applaud him responding in just the way he did.”

So it’s the entitlements Eric? Don’t you think for entitlements to be sustainable though that they need to be able to provide returns?
Like wouldn’t you rather have that money invested in job training so that you would never have to worry about paying for heating oil ever again?
Or wouldn’t you rather hear that Barack doesn’t want to mandate healthcare because the reality which Hillary isn’t advertising is that it is NOT FREE, and therefore blue-collar workers and latinos will be the hardest hit and that she’s even willing to garnish their wages to make her plan happen?

Preacher here comes Obama Kids like him, butt they will vote for you if you put Paris Hilton , Brad pitt,Geroge cloony, infront of them.
I need a real President that has worked with other countries. Has a hands on with Healthcare the Economy,and even thinking green.Oh that would be Hillary Clinton.

Do all of you not get that mandated healthcare means you have to PAY for it – it is not free . . . you do realize that don’t you?
If you don’t buy it, Hillary will garnish your wages . . . if you can prove that you can’t feed your kids without government assistance then you will be eligible for some subsidy, but it’s essentially going to be like a tax – you aren’t going to be able to go on shopping sprees at Marshall’s and then try and claim that you can’t afford it because you have to feed or kids . . .

So, what is Barack Obama going to do if he is not willing to try at the things this country needs the most?
We need a president who has accomplished health care improvements in the past and has the experience being on those boards and dealing with those politicians to move things forward. Of course, Obama can’t do it, because he doesn’t have the experience.
Obama is all inspiration and talk; and no work!
Hillary Clinton for President

GW – post of the day! :)

Sure maybe you could consider that the first lady is not a presidential commitment. But, the fact is Hillary has the experience of getting things accomplished on the presidential level, no matter which way you twist the constitution.

Eric, for a family of 4 the average cost of a basic insurance plan is $4,400. Hillary has refused to be specific about how much of a government subsidy the average middle-class family will be eligible to receive. I’ve already done the math and for a family making $30,000 she isn’t going to be subsidizing the full amount . . .
Do you all realize Hillary is going to dock your wages a couple of thousand dollars a year if you don’t buy the insurance yourself? And that’s just for a really basic plan . . .

I’ve heard several political pundits state that one of the reasons Massachusetts residents voted against Obama was because Gov. Patrick, like Obama, lacked experience, but had a way with words. As it turns out, Patrick has turned out to be a flop as the current governor of Massachusetts. He was all rhetoric and has nothing to show for it to date. This is a wake up call my friends. Vote for experience and knowledge of the issues, because words are cheap if you don’t know what you are doing.
GO HILLARY 2008!!!

The song is getting old. HRC: he has no experience. FOX News: He has no experience. Mc Cain: He has no experience. This is a tired song. Everyone who says Obama has no experience has no experience themself. No one has experience before they get there, yes not even Lincoln had experience. Show me one president that had experience as president before becomming president. Please someone show me. First it was, Wow look at him go. Now that he is actually winning, panic has set in and now it’s time for america to see what we have allways seen for the last 45 years. Fox News and the like to Plan their attack to destroy their enemy. This time their enemy is Obama and they will do their best to destroy him using the same tactics used to destroy others. By polluting the minds of the american people before he reaches the presidential nominee. It will be very hard not to see this as an racial attack on Obama. We know that Fox News and others like you can’t stand the idea of a black man in the white house. We know that your programing is to teach hate and fear to the american people. I ask the american people to be wise and remember that we have seen this fear of change before. Remember that we have watched them change the minds of people by repeating the same negative thing over and over again until some of us start believing it. Don’t let their fear become your fear. Vote for Obama, vote for change. This country needs it bad. Let’s see something good in our life time.

Fact is, if the way the candidates are running their own campaigns is any indication of how they’d run the nation, Obama is the choice hands down.
Obama = same consistent message, same people in place, generating $ and spending it wisely
Clinton = different message every week, infighting & campaign leaders fired, $ squandered like a drunken sailor on shore leave
This is beyond dispute, even to the staunchest of hillary’s stepford wives supporters.

What a strange contest. We have a Senator from NY who was born in Illinois, and a Senator from Ilinois who was born in a manger.
(Actually Mitch McConnel came up with that, not me but I could have claimed it as my own and the Obama folks would think that was no prob. What’s a little plagiarism when your candidate is the Messiah)

Oh sure, Obama is real consistent he’s for CHANGE but change is no change without a plan for it. Your facts are broad and opinionated. Hillary’s campaign head wasn’t fired she stepped down simply because their was someone better suited for the job.
Hillary will bring REAL CHANGE.
Hillary Clinton for President.

Mr. Pressrelease:
This individual is making a valid point. Rather than listening to the “rumors” realize that the Constitution of the United States have an outline of the presidents duties. You may realize that it is so well written and the expectations are so in tune to the president as an individual that you would come to the realistic question, beyond Hillary’s Senator experience, how CAN she gain insight or experience from the president when he is already assigned staff positions(that he is at liberty to change) that doesn’t include his/her spouse? He would have had to deliberatly appoint Hillary to an important role. To my understanding he eventually did but, it was NOT directly associated with the immediate role of the President (such as his immediate staff).
If Hillary is referring to her experience as a Senator, then she is at no greater advantage to the Presidency than any other candidate. She’s going to “hit the ground running” and possibly run right into a brick wall! I don’t see any political advantages with Hillary. She was the “First Lady” not the President. It is obvious that Hillary expected to dominate the election on popularity. She should know that this out-of-date political strategy no longer works! I think Bill was the last of that kind. He got there with virtually no experience and a bunch of hype!

For those who feel Obama is lacking in experience…how is community organizing NOT an invaluable experience for the leader of our country to have? Or successfully sponsoring bipartisan bills in the Senate?

..Randolph…I am with you…African American..no such place…or maybe I should say I am a “Catholic.. Italian.. American.. with Mafia ties…Ha Ha!!!

This type of thing got Joe Biden booted from the 1988 campaign, but of course Obama is getting a pass. Unbelievable watching people lose their judgment when swept up in a mania like this.

Posted by: GW | Feb 18, 2008 4:00:17 AM
Another awesome post – you outdid yourself! :)

Someone told me Obama was only a community organizer for something like 6 months or so. To pad his resume is what he read.
And Hillary has done more in the senate than Obama ever dreamed off. He was only there around a year before he jumped ship. Obama has no experience. Period. He can always go back to the senate and do his job and gain some experience. I would like to know why Obama the up start is in such in a hurry to become president? Maybe he thought once his involvement with Rezko and Sinclair was made public there would be zero chance to ever run. He is right about that. The American people need all the facts about Obamas involvment with these two guys before Obama is allowed anywhere near the WH. They are both in court now.

SamTheCat
What do issues have to do with anything? Your voting for Obama.

actually beck, bush won election in ’04 based on a message of experience and being “battle-tested”…. sound familiar? obama’s lack of experience in the corrupt political system is an advantage. everyone has been clamouring for an outsider, but now they want one with experience in washington. kinda like the totally hot virgin sexpot every guy hopes to meet at the bar.
ya gotta admit, she’s one arrogant sob to call her years as the spouse of the governor and president “experience”. that and just having won only her second term in the senate–in a long-time democratic senate seat she inherited from daniel patrick moynahan when he retired, in oh-so-politically-convenient new york (where she didn’t even live till her campaign).
and she said with a straight face in the SC debate that she decided to run for president over christmas ’06? give me a break. she’s such a good liar i honestly think she believes it herself. the next book she should have someone ghost-write should be called “It Takes A Narcissist”.

We all know that Hillary’s “experience” is really Bill’s! And we know that she’s too ingrained in corrupt Washington to change anything. We know that she supports Bush’s foreign policy. We know that she is dishonest and deceitful. And we know that she made the most disastrous decision of our time by authorizing the invasion of Iraq. That’s what people want in the White House, more of the same? We don’t give Bush a pass on his terrible judgement, yet Hillary gets a pass? That’s dangerous! You have to ignore a lot of crap to support Hillary Clinton! Blind support is dangerous. Why are her supporters willing to sell their children’s future short? We can’t wait four years to move this country forward. We don’t have time for more partisanship and scandal! We can’t move forward by looking backwards! Hillary is not qualified to be President due to her disastrous judgement. It’s time to end this failed dynasty!

Hey lets all vote for the guy with the new message of hope, who is different from other politicans. He is so refreshing and new. oops wrong again, he is just another recycled politican repeating what he thinks people want to hear to get him voted.

I agree with DT
—-
Since when is quoting famous remarks from history comsidered “plagarism”– both Patrick and Obama were quoting Dr King, Lincoln and Sat night Obama quoted the constitution–whereas in this clip Patrick added JFK
“Just words”?
More like history-
I’ve used those words – no one has a copyright on history
Talk about a non issue –

People are confusing the issue. It is not the use of quoting poignant phrases from great speeches (JFK & MLK etc) that is plagarisim. These speeches are well known legendary in fact. Everybody knows where “I had a dream came from” It is the source of the balance of his speeches and the context in which he used these words. Pretending to be original and a great thinker.
The balance of his words coupled with these phrases were straight from speeches by Patrick. His idea/thought/statement/position therefore were not his original words (yes via speechwriters). Hence the plagarisim.
This is a man whose biggest selling point is his newness and originality.
Most importantly he purports to use HIS way with HIS words to identify who HE IS so as to inspire and unite. When the reality is he simply rehashes the successful campaign of another politican right down to his words.

MLK had a dream and we knew what that was. JFK had a plan and we knew what that was. Obama adopts MLK and JFK and we know not where this man is going. Not a clue. Obama has changed great inspiring “words” from great inspiring Americans into mere rhetoric that appears to serves his purpose which is to get elected, not to do something. That he steps on these great speeches and speakers to bolster a vapid plan to get elected is offensive to many who walked along side these leaders and many who were in fact inspired to work on specific changes. Obama is an empty suit. He says nothing that is his inspiration. I’m not impressed that he can quote inspiring Americans. Anyone with a team of speech writers can accomplish that. He’s more like the Wizard in Oz. Curtain please.

Obama has never had an original idea —– If he wants change so bad he should start with the dim bulb in his head. —- Obama ripped off “Yes We Can” from the 1960′s Democrats in Texas. Democrats have been using the “Yes We Can” “Si Se Puede” slogan in Texas for decades. Sí se puede (Spanish for “Yes, It can be done!”) is the motto of the United Farm Workers. it was originally coined in 1972, during Cesar Chavez’s 25 day fast. —————– Both Hillary and Bill Clinton used that slogan while registering Latino voters in the Rio Grande Valley as young Democrats. ———- Obama has never had an original idea —– If he wants change so bad he should start with the dim bulb in his head. ———————— Sí Hillary Puede !!

I voted for Deval Patrick. In my heart I knew he was not the best candidate but I was a good Democrat and voted for him anyway, partly on the basis of his speeches. Well, he has stumbled and bumbled his way along and generally been very ineffective. I will not make that mistake a second time.

It is amusing to watch the Obama supporters trying to turn this one around. Obama supporters pride themselves on their originality and authenticity and the fact that their candidate is the candidate of tomorrow and change. The fact is they have been given the old okie-doke. They’ve been hoodwinked. Like any customer who has been ripped off, they should demand their money back, and tell David Axelrod (the real presidential candidate) that he can keep the change.

All you Hillary lovers just remember that she is now plagarising using the Yes We Can and Fired Up in her recent speeches! Everyone just needs to take a chill pill! We all plagarise and use great ideas each and everyday! Yes I supported the Clintons but have come to realize they are the old guard and need to step aside I am tired of all their lies and scandals! This is the United States, did our ancestors not come from Europe to get away from the King’s and Queens ruling powers? I for one do not want the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton administrations again! Obama 08!

When reported that Obama had been stealing her economic plan in his speeches, Hillary had the best response this week while talking to workers at a plant in Ohio. She quipped that if he was going to start stealing her plans, she wanted him to steal her health care plan, so at least everyone would be covered. Now we hear that Obama steals speeches from Deval Patrick while reading from a teleprompter. Originality is not his strong suit. Do we really want another president who relies of advisors to fill his empty suit? Obama gets an A+ for interpretive reading and an F for plagiarism. Hillary has consistent support from the Democratic base because she believes in fighting for the middle and working class, and for the rights of women and children. Her words match the history of her many years of public service. She never reads from a teleprompter because she lives her words. Obama is pure Elmer Gantry fakery.

To Dennis In IA: — Obama ripped off “Yes We Can” from the 1960′s Democrats in Texas. Democrats have been using the “Yes We Can” “Si Se Puede” slogan in Texas for decades. Sí se puede (Spanish for “Yes, It can be done!”) is the motto of the United Farm Workers. it was originally coined in 1972, during Cesar Chavez’s 25 day fast. —————– Both Hillary and Bill Clinton used that slogan while registering Latino voters in the Rio Grande Valley as young Democrats. —– Obama has never had an original idea —– If he wants change so bad he should start with the dim bulb in his head.

Obama takes others words, slogans , and quotes. He takes from the candidates solutions to the Issues facing Americans. Does he have anything of his own? Oh! Yes, he was against the Iraq War ( as stated in 2002 at an ANTI-WAR rally) Sells cloud like platitudes, without substance, achievements or policy.

JFK, MLK, FDR, Lincoln, and Jefferson; their great speeches and writings did not invoke or use the words of others. They were original. Unlike Obama, who’s never had an original thought, and must copy the work of everyone including Hillary and even McCain. —- Lets just say goodbye to the phony baloney Obama.

Well, so much for the eloquence. It seems Obama is using the words written or suggested by his campaign. This is not change. This is more of the same.

This article is nothing more than a hatchet job against Mr. Obama. Since when do politicians or even sitting presidents write their own speeches? George Bush can’t put too good words together even with a speech writer! Tell the truth. Everyone has speech writers and policy advisors and they put together their candidates ideas with the ideas of others in their orginization. The words he quoted are so well known – he doesn’t have to give cedit to them and since Patrick and Obama have the same political stratigist it is no surprise that they use similiar material. The press knows this – you just want to stir up the race and gender issues again so you have something to write about. I would certainly rather have a president in the White House who can quote beautiful words, ideas and values and inspire us than the Clinton bunch who spent most of their time in the White House under investigation, subpoena or scandal, lied under oath to congress and barely escaped impeachment. I am old enough to remember the Clinton years – the democrats lost most of the governor slots, lost our majority in the house and senate big time to the obnoxous Newt Gingrich and his moral majority and the Contract with America. We don’t need to move backwards – we need to move forward. For a really good journalistic article (instead of the hatchet job done here) read Frank Rich’s piece today in the NY Times. The times have already changed the Clinton’s and their supporters just don’t know it yet.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
–Kahlil Gibran, Mirrors of the Soul, 1925

Lisa wrote: “It is amusing to watch the Obama supporters trying to turn this one around. Obama supporters pride themselves on their originality and authenticity and the fact that their candidate is the candidate of tomorrow and change. The fact is they have been given the old okie-doke. They’ve been hoodwinked. Like any customer who has been ripped off, they should demand their money back, and tell David Axelrod (the real presidential candidate) that he can keep the change.”
THAT is one of the most original, true, and not to mention hillarious responses I think I’ve ever read on these comments. Good job!

Something getting passed over in these comments – borrowing the phraseology or not, look at the history:
2004 – Yes we can – elected to state senate
2006 – Yes we can – elected to US senate
2008 – Yes we can – yet another election.
There is power in words, but apparently only to get him elected. Yes, he did get elected, and “we” did it, but what has come of it? Where are the brilliant ideas from 2004 and 2006? There aren’t any. Just more Just more for Obama, and the “we” still need to do for themselves.

Sarah wrote: “you forgot to mentioned bill’s involvement in buying off the superdelgates as well. please do all of your homework b/f you post half of the story. how do u think she got so many of those superdelegates in the first place?”
Maybe it’s just because many of the SD’s have actually worked with and know the woman’s record and work ethic, and have liked what they have seen. Think that could be a likely scenario as well, perhaps?

As a lifelong democrat, I have voted and supported democratic candidates: black, white, Asian, Hispanic, men and women, year in and year out, at every level, and for the first time in my life in a democratic primary I proudly cast a vote for what I hope will be the first female and next President of the United States. However, without a doubt, I’ll sit this Presidential election out if Hillary Clinton is not the Democratic candidate and I know many female democrats feel the same way as I do. The Obama narrative may be compelling but not any more compelling than the Hillary Clinton narrative. Shame on the old boy democrats like Kerry and Kennedy and the New Boy non-objective American media blowhards who have launched their propaganda campaign for Obama and have in the process divided the Party. And Hillary as a VP doesn’t work for me. It just would rub salt into a festering wound. Once more the most competent candidate who happens to be a woman is bypassed by the guy who lacks not just her qualifications but even the basic resume that one might expect for the next commander-in-chief and President of the United States. The liberal media which I use to admire and defend has the audacity to suggest that the female candidate’s daughter is pimping for her mother well I’m not pimping for the Democratic Party nominee if it happens to be the lightweight guy candidate. My pimping days are over for the Democratic Party, heretofore, only the most qualified candidates get my support and my vote.

Kate if you think this was a hit piece on Obama you haven’t been reading the articles on HRC. On Bills lying under oath an FBI official told me (recently)that it is not against the law to lie under oath, according to him it is not even against the law to commit perjury unless you are doing it for financial reason.

I beleive that Obama has 11 years of experience as an elected official. He said we needed to change the tone in Washington and what did he do? Worked across party aisles pass ethics reform. Hillary has talked about ethics reform but has not submitted a bill of her own with 35 years of experience. I’m still waiting on healthcare reform since the first Clinton administration (right now I put this into the same category as the abortion – pro-choice debate that never seems to go anywhere). He proposed and passed an energy bill which she praised and now criticizes as though she believes its a bad idea. Presidents are not supposed to come up with all the ideas themselves, but their are supposed to implement change from what is available based on research from study groups according to their beliefs. That’s where all presidential platforms come from as well as congressional platforms. George Bush actually took on the position of implementing ideas that went against study groups which is why we have Iraq when we should have been in Afghanistan. It’s the same reason we have a prescription drug benefit plan that does not benefit the people in need, but the drug companies by passing on the cost to the consumer (my mother is one of those people suffering as a senior not quite yet 65). What’s wrong with allowing college-aged adults to be covered until they are 25 by their parents health-care plan? What’s wrong with protecting children with healthcare, but letting responsible adults make the decision about their healthcare coverage without potential garnishing their wages and making it more affordable? A nuance about the healthcare plans is that it is well documented that Obama pays for his up front while Hillary does not. Which is usually cheaper and better, to finance a home or pay it off? Think about it. We already have FICA, Medicare, payroll tax, & state tax to pay without a choice. What’s wrong with having a living wage increase? Where’s Hillary’s stance on this? What’s wrong with the Global Poverty Act 2007 proposed by Obama? Where is Hillary’s legislation on poverty? Both ethics reform, standing against the war, and a fight against global poverty in since 2004. Why hasn’t Hillary been able to do these things since she’s been in the U.S. Senate? SCHIP , created in 1997, didn’t do my family much good when I was unemployed and I needed healthcare coverage for my 5 and 3 year old at the time. I was denied access because each state gets to determine the qualifications. In my mind that makes it a non-useful program in my time of need. I was out of work for 8 months in 2005 with no healthcare coverage for my girls. It was a low-income program that had no room for a virtually no-income family. Thankfully I finally found employment again but still continue to pay way too much for healthcare. I also consider with healthcare that Republicans will have a president at some point in the future. I’m not sure I want mandated healthcare tinkered with under their administration and there would be virtually no way in preventing that from happening in a program that is not paid for up front. Finally for everyone, you cannot listen to a surrogate on either side that supports one candidate or the other. If you evaluate the candidates, go look at their Senate websites not their campaign websites. Make sure all opinions from talking heads in the media are unbiased or accept only with a grain of salt. Oops!! I guess I could be accused of using someone else’s cliche.

BREAKING: Obama plagerizes “hope” and “change”!

Fool me once, shame on you, if you fool me, you can’t get fooled again. – George W. Bush

Barack Hussein Obama and his campaign has already divide America in black and white. if Hussein has to be the nominee of democratic party, black people of this country will trashed other immigrant for sure.
We are crucial time in the history, we need someone to unite all and to work for the best interest of America and Americans..not for Africa.
Vote for Hillary if you have not yet.

Will,
Go look up that marvelous “ethics” reform. They can not have a sit down dinner with lobbyists, but its okay if they stand and gorge from the same 150 offerings at a buffet, but that’s not eating toether? Please!
They can make as many reservations on planes as they want to get home for the weekends, without folliwng airline cancellation regulations. And who do you think the airlines are billing for all those empty no shows heading into the weekends?
Well business flyers are the most numerous, so Corporations just past the cost of increased tickets along to us, the poor suffering middle class. Of course you and I and everyone else pays more for a plane ticket to make up for those empty seats Congress leaves the airlines with.
Please Will, this doesn’t even come up to the ethics level of the average 9 year old kid! Or do you really buy all the B/S?

It’s just that Obama says he’s different and honest and candid. It’s not candid to use another person’s speech without saying that’s what you’re doing. It’s just that it differs from what Barack says he is and how he says he’s different from all the others. He’s not.

Obama using someone else’s words requires those people who are inspired by his words to question if they are now still inspired? The same words were used in another campaign by another politician.

“Our candidate for CHANGE” seems to be going back to the past to steal words. This doesn’t surprise me at all and just reaffirms that he doesn’t have an original thought in his head. He’s a “made-up”, fairy-tale, inexperienced actor, and I hope this country wakes up before we all get hood-winked again.

THOSE ARE RESPONSES TO HILLARY ACCUSATIONS OF JUST SPEECH!!!
OBAMA 08!!!!!!
HILLARY IS MORE FOCUSED ABOUT BRINGING THE OTHER PERSON DOWN THAN THE PEOPLE SHE CLAIM TO FIGHT FOR..

Jake…..Great Job! Expose Obama for who he really is…voters have a right to know! I am a black woman who didn’t fall for him.
Now investigate the Sinclair story and get back to us.

What a non-story. And ABC’s headline coyly suggests “is this PLAGIARISM?” How embarassing for the ABC news. We’ve really hit rock bottom when we’ll try to phrase everything in a scandalous light in order to get someone to read our story. This certainly isn’t the first time they’ve done this.. it won’t be the last.

i am very happy to finally see some national analysis on how Barak Obama is using the same playbook as Deval Patrick! I was sooo motivated for Deval to become governor and campaigned for him. Now that he is in office, it is a TOTALLY different story. He has become a major proponent of casino gambling and has not distinguished himself as the agent of CHANGE that is so misused in the democratic primary.
If it was not for the Deval Patrick perspective, I probably would be for Obama. Based on our experience here though, i want specifics and some basis on which to judge a candidate – simply more than rhetoric no matter how appealing. My vote is for HILLARY.

Hello, I’ve waited for the mainstream media to GET IT RIGHT about why African Americans are flocking to the polls to vote for Obama and they are totally lost and wrong, so let me shed a little light.
At the onset of this campaign, I would say most politically astute African American women felt if we voted blind in our polling and caucus stations it was a win win for us (woman president or African American president), so we knew we had to dig a little deeper into the character and issues of these candidates to make our best decision. After the MLK incident I felt Hillary’s damage recovery was weak, but needed to be done. However, after the SC incidents nothing was said by her or her campaign to the gash left in our hearts and souls. We waited for gauzes, Neosporin, band aides and the mother kiss at the end and never received it. She threw away our vote, took away my choice and said goodbye. In every injustice to a person or people there has to be a process to move forward (1. recognition, 2. apology, 3. healing). We have yet to receive any of the 3 steps. The icing on the cake for me was the injustice done to Chelsea. Her campaign and others trounced MSNBC regarding this injustice, which they should have. In the mean time…I’m still over here bleeding with the rest of the African American community. CAN SOMEONE HAND ME A BAND AIDE?
Let be bring an analogy to my statement. When I was young I remember Mrs. Thompson called my mother upset that my brother and his friends had broken her window. My mom immediately (“recognition”) took my brother in hand and marched down to Mrs. Thompson’s house to have him apologize, and she apologized as well. And she also had him pay for Mrs. Thompson window with his allowance. So what happened in this incident? Did my mother cause the injustice? NO. However, because my brother was her son, (guilt by association) set in, and she felt she owed Mrs. Thompson an “apology” aso that Mrs. Thompson would see that she wasn’t raising her son to behave in such a manner and to reclaim her respect with Mrs. Thompson. This also lead to the “healing” (allowance=window) process. Did Mrs. Thompson end up with the same window? Absolutely not. However she eventually received a “whole” new window and a lesson was learned.
Summary to the Clinton incident: Although Hillary did not make the statements, Bill Clinton is her husband (guilt by association), on her campaign, and has made subliminal negative statements towards the African American community. By Hillary and her campaign not addressing the injustice of these statements, the victim of the injustice is left to their own thoughts, opinions, feelings and …a broken window.
I would rather accept a $1 from someone who offers me no more than promised words and hasn’t given me a reason for doubt, than to accept $90,000 from someone who has.
Just my thoughts…Respectfully submitted.

Of course Obama has and does use many of his own words. Why is it when Hillary Clinton steals Obama’s words and cadence that does not make headlines? She has stolen his ‘change’ platform from the beginning, she has stolen his ‘dinner with Barack’ idea, she has stolen his ‘yes we can’, (meaning he used it first in this campaign then she copied), she has used his ideas based on dreams and must’ve said the word ‘dream’ 50 times in her speech at the Wisconsin dinner the other night. I think this is good that Obama and Deval Patrick trade off words, they do matter, like Obama told Hillary at a debate. Maybe they should say, however, “as — said,….”. But then again, you never know who might’ve said it first or ever.

Will.
And how does Misogyny work? I happen to be one of those woman who experienced it first hand.
As to this fallacious “Race Baiting” meme – give it up. I have students of all colors of the rainbow who live in my upper middle class house, in my upper middle class nieghborhood.
I could care less what a person’s color or religion are. I also don’t give a GD if its a purple 5 headed hydra with green stripes running for president, as long as its competent and honest.
Obama does not qualify on either count.
“Community Organizing” – Well if you look up his bio on Wikipedia you will find that he went to work for a Ralph Nader group which happened to have a branch in Chicago. And what did that group do at the time? Well Congress had passed legislation requiring the removal of asbestos from publicly owned buildings. Well guess what, my college had the same issue as they were public buildings and that is when I started taking students into my home. However there were a team of us, with different expertise, School Safety Requirements, The maintenance Department, some of us Professors who found housing off campus for students affected. Hmm maybe we should just add 5 Years of “Community Organizing” to our resumes and claim we can now run an entire country.
Oh, and then he was involved in lots of voter registration drives, and hiring Lobbyists to get bottle recycling bills through. Again, we did the same thing on campus. And we also intiated the first Earth Day programs. We also intitated a volunteer tutoring program for failing students in public libraries after school, which were free. So according to whatever specious logic you are using, there are a whole lot of us who are now qualified to be President of the United States, after all the “Community Organizing” we did?
But there is a letter that Obama wrote in 2003, accusing everyone of Race Baiting! Look up HPKCC, November 2003 letter from Obama. Is that his ace in the hole when the truth of his disingenuous lies hits him in the face?

The Hillary folks protest too much.
Seriously, this and debates are the issue?
Obama’s getting people by appealing to their better angels. The level of sacrifice necessary for any real change with health care or environment is sizable. Will Hillary really be able to get Americans to be patriotic and human enough to realize no one should be denied health care — and therefore life — based on income? Will McCain get Americans confident enough to support real reductions in fuel use and create some independence from oil-rich terror states?
I don’t see that. Usually it takes a 9/11 event to get people on board, this current prez used that goodwill for Iraq. I think the next president (Obama) can generate that goodwill simply through his “just words.” We’ll see.
P.S. Seriously though, a couple shared words and a debate-whine will not win anything. And McCain’s whoomping will be epic. America wants a change from the past — Bush and McCain are joined at the hip. The math isn’t there…
Like most superbowl years, the AFC Championship is the battle of the best teams, not the superbowl.

FINALLY A NEWS WRITER DARING TO CHALLENGE OBAMA! Good for you! GO HILLARY!

As an Obama supporter it troubles me he would use Patrick’s words so explicitly or even have to be encouraged to respond directly. Obama (and his campaign) are – or should be – smart enough to answer Clinton’s repudiation of rhetoric without using Patrick’s words. The WHOLE POINT of Obama’s argument for his Candidacy is that nothing significant in this country is accomplished without the American public demanding it, working for it. And how is the public brought to understanding and action – by WORDS! Legislation follows ONLY when it’s demanded. That’s the difference between Hillary and Obama – SHE does not understand that, sadly. Demand for change starts on the street – not in the halls of Congress.

This is ridiculous. How is this earth-shattering? Candidates don’t write all of their speeches. The two share Axelrod. Patrick supports it 100%. Where’s the problem here?
Hillary is using “ready on day one”, which is ripped from a George HW Bush presidential campaign.

Deval Patrick is a bottom feeder of Mitt Romney. Deval survives on the policies that Romney put in place before he left and has done nothing for Massachusetts since getting into office…except waste money. It seems Obama and Deval both have the problem of taking other peoples work and using it as their own.

Ruthie M,
The orginal “Change” Platform belonged to John Edwards. Can’t you people get any FACTS right?

Is this the BIGGEST problem any of you people can find with Obama????
Gov. Duval sez its not a problem. So why does it bother any of you???
This is a stupid “gotcha moment” for people desperately trying to find flaws in a man that is unflappable.
I know its VERY hard to swallow that not only 1…..but 2 black guys can be this classy and creative and work together.
And no, they are not entertainers or athletes. They are LEADERS.
Some of you are grasping at straws just like Hillary.

Empty rhetoric. Ad nauseum, he repeats the word, “change” over and over again. Now, he plagiarizes words of others. But, what else has he got? Experience? A record of accomplishment? Everyone, just stand back and watch him. You have common sense, so use it.

Anyone watch 60 Minutes last night on Denmark – you think universal healthcare is worth increasing your taxes to 50%?? Oh hell no! Drop that subject and move on .. it will never happen in this country – next subject!!

Anyone have any idea why Denmark, Sweden, etc etc have such a low crime rate and is considered a wonderful place to live?? What’s NOT there .. or at least not many of them? End of story ..

Give me a break. How many of Hillary’s speaches do you think she actually wrote? None! And she passes that off as her words all the time. Politicians borrow from others and it’s not plagiarism – it’s called talking points. And guess who else does it… The media. Now if he had published it without recognition that would be a different story.

its’ damage control time for the Obama campaign. You can only hiude the truth for so long.
This is really inspiring plagiarism. In college you get kicked out for plagiarism. This guy wants to be our president.
If Joe Biden could not get away with plagiarism a few years ago, why should Obama get away with this. This is not the first time either. It’s pathetic actually.
He cannot deliver on any promises because he plagiarized other people ideas and speeches. No wonder he would not debate the issues.

The Clinton’s are desperate, pure and simple.

Robert,
Obviously, you must have attended a college that alowed plagiarism. In my college, you get kicked out of school for this stuff.
Obama’s candidacy is based on his hot rhetoric and the ablity to inspire people who cannot read behind that hot rhetoric. You don’t think Obama should be held to any standard? Is this guy such a messiah that no matter what he says should not matter?
I think we are in trouble as a country if we cannot discern rhetoric from authenticity.
Your burble is bursted and you cannot stand it. You must one of those devouring every word that came from Obama’s mouth.
Wake up people! Wake up!

Obamas starting to lose his appeal, fads come and go. That is why choosing a president takes a more thought, and the test of time.

I want to hear some “WORDS” about Obama’s position on gun control. If he is indeed unafraid of the Washington political machine and intends, as he has stated, to take on the lobbyists, he can begin with the NRA. In light of the recent school shootings in which many young Americans, voters I might add, have lost their lives, I would think that a presidential hopeful would have a response. It’s time someone put a sock in Charelton Hestons mouth and stood up for the innocent people in this country that are being senselessly slaughtered.

Quote appearing in article by James Bennett (Green Valley News and Sun): “Napolitano’s great line, ‘Washington is a place where good ideas go to die,’ is perfect for Obama’s campaign.”
Is this true?

You cannot use religion as a way to discredit anyone. I have no problem with whether Obama is a muslim or Christian.
But I do have a problem with him because he is a plagiarizer and full of hot air. Can we as a Country afford to make a collosal mistake of making him our president?
He says he is a uniter, so was George Bush in 2000. He says he would reach across the isle to work with the Republicans and the Independents, so did Bush promise in 2000 to reach across the isle and work with Independents and Democrats.
Got the picture?
What are they teaching the young kids in college today? Why can’t they think anymore? It’s a sad commentary for the future.

Who cares who used such phrases first ??
The important issue is who is using it now and the perception that he is sincere committed to what he is saying.
Obama fits into this !!
caminito

WAKE UP AMERICA! BO is a commodity, a product which has been marketed and sold to people in a way which I believe is irresponsible and highly deceptive. This man is not fit for the job. Copied policies, copied speeches, refusals to debate his opponent, empty promises, inciting cult-like behavior from followers…It’s all looking very bad. It’s so obvious that Clinton is the more experienced, more qualified, more suitable candidate for this role and it’s exceptionally frustrating that the mainstream media consists in giving Mr. Obama a massively free ride. Thankfully Jack Tapper has been one of the few journalists willing to confront the entire fiascio of Obamamania head-on! People are free to have their fantasies and dreams, but please, discuss them at your cult meetings!

I wish Obama would stop conning us. When asked for a debate, he needs to show up. He goes and gives lofty speeches that are not even his own and wants to win an election. I know that Obama is the Messiah and leader of a large cult. He is a God to many, but not to many Americans who see through his stolen words.

It only matters that he had the intellectual thought to use the words retort a false claim. If you believe that he does not have a plan for healthcare, Iraq and so on…You have not made an informed decision and weighted the candidates as the democratic process allows you to do. Everyone on Capital Hill has a plan but who has the skills of leadership – the ability to affect human behavior so as to accomplish a mission designated by the leader, move a whole entire nation to action, though words of encouragement and inspiration!

I live in MA….Deval Patrick has done NOTHING for this state…he is leaning so hard on the casino game …trying to steal the opportunity of the Wampanoags …..no original ideas or action…so he is friends with Obama..good luck guys…you will all vote yourselves down the drain like you did with Bush…I had a funny feeling about him from day one and now I have the same about Obama…just NOT genuine!

Oh my god…Obama used someone else’s words. Wow. He used words from the Declaration of Independence and FDR too. Are those words suddenly empty? No. Obama is using this refrain because it gets his point across, thus he has a point and the words cannot be “empty.” I think he might have plagiarized the Bible during his campaign too. Oh no. It is a speech with similar campaign staff facing similar criticism. oooohhh aaaahhh. An empty suit who happened to be a constitutional law professor and the first black president of the harvard law review. I will take that empty suit.

Clinton is too fake to even compare herself with OBAMA.
She copies from him all the time. She needs all the help to slow the urgency of the American ppl.
OBAMA 08

In truth the words We Can Do It,comes from Osama, that is what he told the bomber right before they plowed into the twim towers,

Obama tried to tell us he was original, new and fresh. New ideas, a new way to run Washington. ———– Turns out he’s full of old stale ideas that he copied. ————- The hard core Obamaites won’t admit that their guy is not who he said he was, but the leaners finally know who the Obama really is, a Pretender. ———– Turn out the lights, Obamas party is over.

Clinton rips off Obama’s words…and fails to convince ANYONE she is a change agent. Obama and Patrick are friends, share tips and one or two key phrases.
Which is a problem? Sharing with a friend or stealing from someone who is kicking your ***?
Clinton is pathetic. She should bury her head in shame and crawl back into the hole she and her husband crawled out of.
We want change…change from the politics of slash and burn. Change from the Clintons’ doing and saying anything they think is necessary is grab and hold on to power for themselves.

Obama can’t come up with any original ideas or even any original words. This is plagiarism!
Obama has stolen Hillary’s economic plan and her plan for green Collar jobs. Next he’ll be saying that he came up with universal healthcare.
And “Yes We Can” comes from the United Farm Workers who coined back in 1973. They own the copyright.
Obama is rtying to “get over.” He hasn’t done the work required to prepare himself for the presidency.

Obama has clearly proven that he is “just Words”, and that too not his own.
I was an Obama supporter but I cannot stand the fact that he doesn’t want to debate. His excuse was the most silly thing I had ever heard. He is scared and that is not a good quality in a President.
I used to love Obama, but not more. He is not good for America.

Obama or Clinton? Hm…after having been watching these two CHILDREN slinging mud at each other over the last several days, THIS DEMOCRAT is going to VOTE MCCAIN (this is also my counter-vote for Ann Coulter who vowed to vote Clinton of Mccain got nominated).

What next “a chicken in every pot and a Lexus in every garage” speech? Come on guys, this guy is a total fraud. ANYBODY BUT OBAMA! EVEN A CLONED GOAT WOULD BE BETTER.

I don’t necessarily think Obama has done something outrageous. But I do think Obama comes out looking silly almost as much as President Bush can sometimes be. You expect your President to be smart, articulate and somewhat original. If i were to borrow those slogans or speeches, my peers would ridicule me. It’s time for Obama to tone down his empty rhetoric. How about offering some ideas on how people like me can provide affordable healthcare for my elderly parents?

The Clintons are desperate and grasping at anything but sound utterly ridiculous and jouvenile. Neither candidate has experiance, one talks out of both sides of her A– and the other needs others to tell him what to say. Pitiful display. MCCain is it- he is vested, experianced, & qualified. Period.

In academia such borrowing is treated as academic dishonesty and a student caught doing this is subject to disciplinary proceedings. It is too bad we don’t hold our leaders accountable to the same standards.

Obama is empty.. now even his inspiring words are not even his.. I knew he kept taking ideas from Clinton and Edwards.. now, even the words.. I will not vote for Obama… EVER…. Don’t be stupid America.. we’ve had an empty President for 7 1/2 years.. do we need four more???

Finally, the wheels of the Obama campaign are starting to fall off! But not before plenty of us already knew what was going on here. It’s called FANTASY, IDEALISM, OBAMAISM – fueled by the candidate, his campaign team and the media itself. And it’s very damaging. Read these 30+articles critiquing Obama fanatacism and aks yourself – “what is really going on here?” Don’t be a victim.

So it seems Obama is a Gov. Patrick’s clone after all. FAKE! FRAUD! FAKE!
1n 2006, Gov. Patrick won due to this inspirational message of hope – Yes, we can!
After a year and CHANGE the draperies for $12,000, people of Massachusetts shouted back No, we can’t!!!
That’s one of the reasons why Obama lost in Massachusetts. People already knew what type of CHANGE he is talking about.
I suggest Obama should start doing original speeches like ” I have a CON.”
NO Bama!!!

This is “much ado about nothing” (Lest I be accused of plagiarism, and for those who might be not be “culturally literate” [E.D. Hirsch], those words were originally written by William Shakespeare). Raymond Moley, not FDR, penned “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” So what? JFK didn’t come up with “Ask not what your country can do for you” all by himself. He had the help of speechwriter Ted Sorensen, and the inspiration of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes who wrote,”…it is now the moment … to recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for the country in return.”
Did JFK give credit to anyone for this brilliant line in his inaugural address? No. Did it make the speech any less moving? No. Does it take away from President Kennedy’s legacy knowing that one of the most inspiring inaugural addresses utilized ideas that were not wholly his own? No. That work has already been done by others.
Why are we so cynical that we try to tear down those who strive to challenge the “better angels of our nature?” (Abraham Lincoln) We can choose stirring rhetoric, or properly foot-noted dissertations, but it as is evident by this “modest proposal” [Jonathan Swift], it stifles the oratory to note every turn of phrase. After eight years of Elmer Fudd, I look forward to once again hearing a president whose words stir my soul. . . no matter whose ideas or words they may originally have been.

JRL – this is not a smear machine. I am an individual with my own free mind and will. I will say whatever I wish to say and I operate under no influence of Hillary Clinton. Your dismissive remark – “the clinton smear machine is on the loose” – is a pathetically weak attempt to deflect attention away from the real issue here – the inadequacies of your candidate, Mr. Obama. It is perfectly reasonable to draw attention to the pros and cons of a person applying for a job, in this case the presidency of the USA! We have heard much about Mr. Obama’s apparent assets, now it’s time for the public to hear about some of Mr. Obama’s liabilities. No more free rides. It’s amazing how defensive and unreasonable Obama fanatics are in response to simple questioning and criticism. I have no allegiance to Hillary Clinton. My allegiance is to truth, justice and fairness. And in this instance I see large numbers of people in society being decieved into believing one man can change the world. It’s complete and utter propaganda and political deviance. That kind of deception makes me very angry. It is from this position that my comments originate!

Wake up America! Hillary & Obama are both playing the race/gender card no matter what words they choose to use. And so are many black Americans…they are only voting for Obama because he’s black and for no other reason or they are voting for Hillary because she is a woman.
I’d rather someone talk about the issues rather than about a ‘change’ that won’t work.
Obama can’t negotiate with terrorists, they only know understand one thing, their need to kill us.
I’m sticking with John McCain for President. These other yahoos don’t have a clue.

Obama’s resume would fit on a postage stamp, totally unqualified for the highest job in the land. We’re not voting for American Idol folks. He should team up with Ted Haggard and start a new ministry, so they can con little old ladies out of their social security check with all those “feel good” words.

Why go on and on and on about this stupid issue when both Deval and Barack say it is NOTHING? Why not look into the heart of what both of these guys are talking about, that words are not meaningless, that no policy matters if people aren’t inspired to come together? I’d like to see Hillary Clinton respond to that.

It looks like some people here were just waiting for an excuse to tear town Obama and minimize his message. I suspect there’s quite a few Hillary supporters here, trying to make a bigger issue out of this and get people talking. People will forget about this in a few days.

You lost me HILL-lairy, she will not only divide the country and she has already divided democrats with her polarizing assertions and negativity. If she gets the nomination, would I vote for her, hell NO. I WOULD RATHER VOET for McCain. The point is Democrats are trapped in Republican trick…that is nominating a high polarizing and hated nominee in the face of Republican, so that every Republicans would rise up.

If I know I’m the right candidate then why am I not talking about issues instead of picking at another candidate message. If I’m the right choice then that is what I should be talking about not Obama. 60 minutes last night talked about the FDA and its failure to fine or act on Bayer co allowing a drug that proved to be fatal to patience. We need to talk about the FDA place in our healthcare issue not about who borrowed who’s words

I wondered where he was getting some of his stardust from!
We all like Hope and Dreams- and yada, yada, yada…what about REALITY?
What about ISSUES…words do matter- but make them YOURS!

Wouldn’t this violate most university honor codes. This really bad I was thinking I could vote for him, but this confirms my inital thought that anyone who talks so much about his own honesty probably isn’t This is BIG

This is exactly the kind of petulant and shallow rubbish one expects in a campaign involving Bill and Hillary Clinton. Their straight-faced nerve never ceases to amaze. Since the charges the Clintons level against Obama are virtually identical to the tact taken by Patrick’s rival in 2006, it only makes sense that the two would share notes. These are political sound-bytes we’re talking about here, not a Pulitzer-nominated novel or proprietary software codes.
In the beginning of The War Room, D.A. Pennebaker’s documentary on the ’92 Clinton campaign, James Carville says to a room full of staff: “If we can win this, we can knock this **** back forever”. What are the chances that an Obama win would knock the Clintons nonsense back forever? That would be nice.

Both of the Democratic candidates bring a lot to the table. I’m leaning toward Obama, but I would vote for Clinton too. McCain will bring you 100 years more of the occupation of Iraq – which you will pay for, and a few families will get rich from.

Two political friends shared ideas about how to best respond when challenged about the power of their words. That’s not plagiarism. It’s collaboration.
I know we Americans are such individuals that we aren’t used to working together, but that’s all that’s going on here. Two friends working out a solution to a problem they both share.

And Obama steals HIllary’s economic plan too. Nothing original about Obama.
FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD
FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD

are we really suprised? REALLY? Not sure who this man truly is… he mimic’s and borrows from JFK’s speech-writers, and others – I just so fear if he gets in it will be “handlers” who run our country – he is not ready. would like to see him seasoned a bit more, and a bit more of himself – not “dressed up” by others.

A newsapaper runs a story that paints Obama in a bad light and his fanatics scream “Non Story!” “Hillary set this up” “Thats not Plagarisim ” “hes being picked on”
A newspaper runss a story that paints Hillary in a bad light and the Obama fanatics scream “Aha see what else they have discovered about Hillary and the Clintons its all true I tell you”
They take it a step further and say Hillary planted the story. More anti Obama conspircy. Gee I wonder if any of the elected officals who have listened to Patricks speeches and are quotd in this story may have been the source or Patricks discouraged voters in MA.Or maybe a journalist investigated him as part of reporting on the nomination.
Hillary is unfit for office because she cries -right? Well what about guy who sooks and says it wasn’t my fault I am misunderstood everytime he is called on something. Can you see it if he wins I wanted to do good things but it wasn’t my fault that I didn’t.
Strange how he stumped to get Patrick a win there but Patricks obvious poor performance since then did him no favours.

Love it!
Perfect scenario: Hillary pulls every trick to win, but so disgusts Obama supporters they defect to a middle of the road Republican, who the right has to vote for cuz they can’t stand either Democrat.
Happy days are here again!

The Clintons plagiarized the intire Obama campaigne, But don’t worry about petty arguments. The Clintons will lose Texas and Ohio Right after they lose Wisconsin. No one wants the messy Clintons in our office again. The whole world would laugh at us and say we deserve what ever we get if the Clintons are elected.

I understand that he did not copy a complete speech. I’m suprised that Hilary’s camp didn’t accuse Obama of plagarizing “Bob the Builder.” It was only two lines of what was a 30 minute speech (I was told the length). It was somewhat modified. “Ich bin ein Berliner” was likely not first said by JFK and I suppose somebody will claim Reagan plagarized Pink Floyd when he said “tear down the wall”. ;)

The song is getting old. HRC: he has no experience. FOX News: He has no experience. Mc Cain: He has no experience. This is a tired song. Everyone who says Obama has no experience has no experience themself. No one has experience before they get there, yes not even Lincoln had experience. Show me one president that had experience as president before becomming president. Please someone show me. First it was, Wow look at him go. Now that he is actually winning, panic has set in and now it’s time for america to see what we have allways seen for the last 45 years. Fox News and the like to Plan their attack to destroy their enemy. This time their enemy is Obama and they will do their best to destroy him using the same tactics used to destroy others. By polluting the minds of the american people before he reaches the presidential nominee. It will be very hard not to see this as an racial attack on Obama. We know that Fox News and others like you can’t stand the idea of a black man in the white house. We know that your programing is to teach hate and fear to the american people. I ask the american people to be wise and remember that we have seen this fear of change before. Remember that we have watched them change the minds of people by repeating the same negative thing over and over again until some of us start believing it. Don’t let their fear become your fear. Vote for Obama, vote for change. This country needs it bad. Let’s see something good in our life time.

How can it be plagiarism when the “author” knew about it? Get over it folks.

I suppose Obama’s 28-year old speechwriter, Jon Favreau, got a little carried away. Afterall, didn’t the folks in Iowa and the nation go bunkers over Obama’s victory speech in Iowa; comparing Mr. Obama to John Kennedy and Rev Martin L. King, Jr? And, haven’t the pundits, who have rarely, if ever, attended a fire-n-brim-stone black church, convinced the world that Mr. Obama is a better speech giver than even his fire-and-brim-stone pastor, back in Chicago, Rev Wright?
Newsweek wrote: “So it was Favreau who led the team that wrote Obama’s victory speech in Des Moines last week—a moment that prompted the TV pundits to drop months of skepticism about Obama’s candidacy to make breathless comparisons with the Kennedy era.”
So Jon, pen and pencil in hand, and copies of books housing the great speeches of all kind, got a little carried away. Heck, his writings, along with Obama’s delivery, had enraptured the masses before. Why stop now?
But, if truth be told: maybe Jon wrote Gov Patrick’s speech and was simply getting back what he had written (loaned)Gov Patrick.
What is telling is that they were absolutely certain that they could continue to “steal in the name of CHANGE” and nobody would notice.
My man,Good Ole Abe, said it best: You can fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

Press Release:
updated 9:30 a.m. PT, Fri., Feb. 16, 2008
WASHINGTON – Pope Benedict XVI will visit the White House on April 16 during his first visit to the United States as pontiff.
White House spokesman Scott Stonzel said Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill and the pope would continue discussions they began during Obama’s trip to the Vatican in June 2006 on the importance of faith and reason in reaching shared goals.
Stonzel said the goals include advancing peace throughout the Middle East and other troubled regions, promoting interfaith understanding and strengthening human rights and freedom. The pope was also expected to address the United Nations, visit Victory Monument one of 9 Chicago Landmarks and celebrate Mass in Chicago Ill. and Washington during his April 21-25 trip.

For all those who cannot understand, here is the context in which Senator Obama’s comments were made:
Here are three/four instances where
words made a difference – (followed by
the quotations) Since these are familiar quotes, there should be no difficulty understanding them. However, I believe people are pretending to be unlearned and ignorant.
I would follow up for him by contrasting
Bill Clinton’s answer in the Monica
Lewinsky’s case when asked whether he had sexual relations with the White House intern. He said: “Depending
on the meaning of ‘is’ is.” Now that is
quite profound. Many persons in radio
and television frequently used this phrase to depict an untruth, without
acknowledging its author.

SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO POST HERE ARE SERIOUSLY DELUSIONAL. IF YOU WANT REAL STORIES HOW ABOUT CLINTON TAKING OBAMA’S SLOGAN OF CHANGE AND USING IT. THEN WHEN IT DIDN’T WORK FOR HER, SHE STARTED STATING YES WE CAN. NOW SHE IS THE “SOLUTION”. I AM SO SUPRISED THAT THE MEDIA IS SO CONCENTRATED ON THIS TOPIC THAT THEY HAVEN’T EVEN BROUGHT UP THE CASE THAT CLINTON HAS WITH RON PAUL THIS FEBUARY. AND FOR THOSE PEOPLE OUT THERE, OBAMA LIFTS PEOPLE UP WITH HIS MESSAGE, UNLIKE CLINTON WHO FINDS FAULT IN EVERYONE EXCEPT HERSELF. HAS SHE EVER APOLOGIZED FOR SIGNING THE DOCUMENT GIVING THE PRESIDENT THE RIGHT TO GO TO WAR? NO, INSTEAD SHE SITS AND TALKS ABOUT BEING MISINFORMED. I GUESS OBAMA IS THE BETTER LEADER IN THAT HE WAS NOT MISINFORMED.

For all those who cannot understand, here is the context in which Senator Obama’s comments were made:
Here are three/four instances where
words made a difference – (followed by
the quotations) Since these are familiar quotes, there should be no difficulty understanding them. However, I believe people are pretending to be unlearned and ignorant.
I would follow up for him by contrasting
Bill Clinton’s answer in the Monica
Lewinsky’s case when asked whether he had sexual relations with the White House intern. He said: “Depending
on the meaning of ‘is’ is.” Now that is
quite profound. Many persons in radio
and television frequently used this phrase to depict an untruth, without
acknowledging its author.

This is a joke, right? The only actual words he “lifted” from Patrick were “just words.” The rest he lifted from FDR, Tom Jefferson, etc. Obama was campaigning for Patrick at the time. They are close friends. So he liked what Patrick said and gave the old “hey, can I use that line?” Whoopee.
And he was responding to the same attack as Patrick was. Maybe we should get on Clinton for stealing Kerry Healey’s attack line.
Of course, if Obama is piggybacking off of Patrick, one has to wonder how successful Hillary would be today if she were just an informal gubernatorial and White House advisor from 83-01. Think she’d be a Senator if not named Clinton? How about President?

Those Obama supporters’ lives are too good. They need to go to a third world country to suffer a little. Osama will take over the world if Obama wins the election. Obama’s supporters will then really go to live in a third world country.

What is Mr. Obama borrowing from Patrick? The way Patrick said the words or the words themselves? I hope I am responding to the concerns of people who know how to read and perhaps also know a little history. Last time I checked, “I have a Dream” are words in a speech by Martin Luther King Jr., and
the other phrase is found in the American Constitution. That’s public domain, people! There was no creativity neither in Mr. Obama nor in Mr. Patrick. Instead of having this debate about nonsense, we’d better ask substantive questions, for example, what was HRC’s opinion of Barak Obama before he decided to compite for what she believes is an inheritance of the Clinton clan? Did she believe that he lacked “substance” when she supported him in his bid for the Senate? A good move by Obama’s campaign might be to get a couple of videos of Clinton from those days and run them for people to see clearly the doble standard in play.

I have officially withdrawn my support for Obama. First the blatant rip off of “Yes We Can.” Then the serious issue of “copying” Clinton’s economic plan. Now, this. It’s very disappointing to see that this person who wants to become our president can’t do any better than this. Sure the use of someone else’s words might not be important on a day to day basis, but Obama is asking us to elect him to the most powerful position in the world. The underlying issues of this blatant plagarism (why Obama feels its alright to steal ideas from other’s) is more troublesome than the actual speech itself.

Someone asked: “How can it be plagiarism when the ‘author’ knew about it? Get over it folks.”
My child got an F in school this week and a serious reprimand. I just today spent 30 minutes explaining to my 6-year-old son that it is not okay to copy from someone else’s paper. And he had the audacity to tell me that he had his friend’s permission. After the discussion, he actually understood the concept that he is being graded on what he knows, not what his friend knows and that it is not okay to copy someone. “The teacher is trying to grade you on what you know, honey. She can’t fairly assess you based on what your friend knows.”
It about authenticity, people. It’s great that Obama had his friend’s permission to copy his work, but it’s just kind of creepy and inauthentic when you claim you are a different kind of politician who is going to change Washington. You’ve heard the saying, “He can talk the talk, but can he walk the walk?” Words are cheap, but can you back it up? Okay, now we find out that they are not even his own words (regardless of whether he has permission to copy them). How exactly does that make you an agent for change? How exactly are you a different kind of politician when you are “borrowing” paragraphs from other people’s speeches? Doesn’t that make you EXACTLY what you claim not to be?
The American people can judge Obama at the voting booth. It’s about authenticity, and it does matter. And anyone who thinks it is no big deal is delusional.

ITS SO LONG IN COMING. MANY OF US HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN THAT BEYOND ALL THESE FLOWERY TALK, IS A MASKED MAN. BO IS ANYTHING BUT ORIGINAL.BENEATH THAT SMOOTH PERSONA MAY BE ONE OF THE GREATEST POLITICAL DECEPTIONS OF ALL TIME. NOW THAT THE DIGGING HAS STARTED INTO HIS PAST, YOU’LL BE SURPRISED WHAT IS THROWN UP IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. ITS MORNING STILL, IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE…

This entire story is a total distraction. Clinton supporters are crying foul because they are behind. Get on to the real issues which are so critical to our nation, like, stopping this shameless war in Iraq (which Clinton supported), health care, energy,infrastructure, etc. GET OVER THIS DISTRACTION!

What rock did ABC news & the Clintons (& any one else that is trying to turn this into an issue) crawl out from under? The words Obama used are’t Deval Patrick’s words they belong to the people. i’ve been for Obama almost from the start, but being a woman have been torn about not supporting the first woman to run for president. This pretty well rips it for me. And ABC making this a big deal in the media – shame on you. i got so mad watching what passes for news on ABC that i switched off. Too bad CBS, NBC, CNN & Fox aren’t any better!

After digging, they said Obama also copied Hillary’s message “we are having two for the price of one”. We know now we have Two for the price of one (Obama/Patrick) but as the digg started maybe we have many more. As I said before, with Obama the GOP is going to have fun (a lot of fun).

Last time I looked, “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” are from the Declaration of Independence, as written by Thomas Jefferson. It needs no attribution…
–Darrell

AND TO SOME PEOPLE WHO CONTINUE TO UPHOLD HILLARY’S STATUS, WHAT LEGISLATURE HAS SHE PASSED THAT HAS EVER BEEN APPROVED. EXACTLY. YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO WORK WITH THE REPUBLICAN AND THE DEMOCRATS IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING. YOU CANNOT DEPEND ON ONE PARTY, THAT’S WHY WE’RE ARE CALLED THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Clinton supporters really should keep posting on blogs almost no one reads…while we keep calling Wisconsin.
Vent away, it doesn’t win elections.

I agree with Obama that they are not “JUST WORDS”…they are “COPIED WORDS”!

ARE YOU ALL SERIOUS? THE ONLY QUOTE THAT HE TOOK FROM PATRICK IS “JUST WORDS”. GET OVER YOURSELVES. WE HAVE TO FIX THE ECONOMY, BRING OUR TROOPS HOME AND THE LISTS GOES ON FOREVER. AND HILLARY WON’T BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THIS.

You mean, you mean, politicians don’t write every word of their own speeches??? Say. It. Isn’t. So.
Can’t wait for the press to start going through Hillary’s speeches next. If she wants to start this stupid fight, then she can live by the same rules.

Jesse: You say that “no one reads these blogs that Hillary supporters blog on—-meanwhile you-all are calling Wisconsin”……that’s funny—–YOU had to get on here and read this article and the blogs posted…….shows how dumb YOU are…..Hillary supporters have already called Wisconsin residents–a week ago——NOW we’re calling Texas residents……nnaaaaaahhhh nnaaaahhhh……..

People are criticizing Hillary for pointing out Obama’s plagerism. It is a fallacy of logic to attack the messenger for the message. I don’t support hillary but she is not responsible for Obama’s decision to plagerize. Obama made his own choice to use another man’s words as his own. Friend or not, failing to credit the author is the same as claiming the work as your own and this is not the character of the man who should be leader of the free world.

Obama does not cover 23 million Americans (or “folks” as he commonly calls us) and then MANDATES to cover 9 million kids. Still leaving American FOLKS uninsured.
Obama is a fraud. Now he is stealing old political speeches and making them appear to be his ideas. Wow. The audacity of a fake.
And now we know he stole the speech and presented as being his own.
The same way he steals Hillary ideas months afterwards and tries to present them as new and fresh.
What a fraud.
A plagiarist as well as a hypocrite for not being the agent of change he claims to be. Nice choice.
Lets hope Democrats wake up and have more than a little buyers remorse. This man has done little except master how to deliver a speech – and the words aren’t even his own.
He did however manage how Washington truly works by giving a 5 million dollar earmark, basically a taxpayer gift to Michelle Obama’s employer. An employer which made a 100 million dollar profit and hardly in need of 5 million dollars in taxpayer money. Unless of course, that 200k raise that Michelle Obama eventually received was a pay for play more similar to how Obama truly works and his own words again, proof false.
America needs HELP not Hope !

Hillary’s motto is, “If I’m going down, you’re going down with me.” President John McCain thanks Hillary!

Obama, a Columbia University graduate, a Harvard Law School graduate (magna cum laude), and a veteran lecturer at the Chicago University School of Law (almost ten years), gives himself a pass and expects others to give him a free pass on plagiarism.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Where are the indignant reactions from teachers and academics who recognize plagiarism when they see it.

Michelle Obama did it again. She said for first time in her all adult life that she can now be proud of her country. Where has she been in the ghetto?. She needs to apologize to all the good men in this country. It’s shameful if she will be the wife of a President. These are the people that was helped and now has the biggest ego and mouth that will destroy everyone that gets in their way. Media has the responsibilities to air this for the sake of our country.They should not get away with this there is no excuse.

I think you’re all missing the point entirely. “Words matter”? I never believe a @#?!$ word a politician says. I’m not taken in by flowery language. Sleazy salesmen hate me.
Apparently to Obama, not only do “words” matter; words are the only thing that matters.
And if words really mattered, why won’t he debate his opponent?

To Mannewell Darby who wrote:
This is not a college paper, or elementary school for a six-year old VICKI—this is life and here words are to be used for a purpose.
You will get no argument from me on that one. I totally agree with you. It is life. There is probably not a single word uttered by any politician (or any person for that matter) that is not used for some purpose, whether large or small. The general pupose for which politicians use words is to state their platforms, get elected, and then pass legislation, etc., ad nauseum.
The point is this: Obama’s “borrowed” speech had the purpose of making his case as to why he deserves my vote (indeed, any of our votes) over his opponent. As an American citizen, MANNEWELL, I have a right to believe it matters if they are actually his words or someone else’s. You have your opinion, and I have mine. I respect your opinion, MANNEWELL, even if I don’t agree with it. To me, it’s an issue of authenticity; it’s a character issue. This candidate you so adore and worship (which is your right) has spent more than a year travelling around the country claiming to be a different kind of politician. I see this “borrowing” speeches issue as a kind of affirmation otherwise. To me, by using someone else’s speech (whether he credits that person or not), he seems so very average, so very ordinary, so very unlike what he claims to represent.

Vicki your post was very insightful. As someone who spent months writing page after page, very carefully selecting every sentence for my thesis, I’m distressed that Mr. Obama feels he should have my vote when he uses the words and ideas of others as his own. I do not respect him

By the way, if all Obama can do is
to recycle or copy others’ words or copy other’s economic plan line-by-line, this is solid proof of his lack of real ideas how to get things done. Without real idea or detailed plans to make the changes he has been promising in his speeches, why should we elect him to be the President???

The fact is Obama stole ‘Hope’ and ‘Change’ from Bill Clinton’s 1992 Campaign also! Clinton from Hope, Arkansas said in 1992,
“I end tonight where it all began for me: I still believe in a place called Hope.”
The only thing Obama had going for him was his ‘rhetoric.’ Only, now we all know its not his own, but someone elses ‘rhetoric.’
Obama is a fake, phony and fraud.
Empty suits look great on Saks 5th Avenue, but not in the White House!

Senator Obama’s whole candidacy practically depends on two strong aspects:
(1) Inspirational Speaker/Leader and the agent of change
(2) We are in economic mess due to the Sen. Clinton’s vote in favor of war which he opposed vehemently. Thus he was right in day one (and will be right on day one of his job) which is more important than Sen. Clinton’s claim of having the experience to do the job from day one.
Lets see what is happening here:
(1) In reality his words are very strong and always indicate that he will change the old Washington policy making business. He also identify Sen. Clinton or Clinton’s were the news of past and the past was very bad. In a way he is asking (very cleverly) to remember the days when Clinton’s had to fight for survival. Since every thing other than that was excellent in the President Clinton’s era. He wants to pull down Sen. Clinton for what she didn’t do.
His oratory skill is unique, and he knows how to launch extremely negative attack without saying it explicitly. Frustrated by these kind of attacks, Sen. Clinton couldn’t control but replied to a reporter’s question “That is very clever of him to say that!” However, President Bill Clinton couldn’t control himself and told in a campaign meeting in Baton Rouge “Sen. Obama said that every thing in the nineties was bad”. And immediately in the following Sunday ABC news analyst George Will commented in referring President Clinton’s statement “This man can not tell the truth: Sen. Obama never said that nineties were bad” (or some thing like that, can’t remember the exact words). Now you know the results of Potomac primaries.
Hope democrats will understand some time that this is very wrong. At least we now know the source of some of those words.
(2) Sen. Obama always accuses Sen. Clinton about her vote in Senate in favor of the resolution of “Authorization of force against Iraq…” which Senator Obama opposed and termed as “Dumb war of President Bush”. Now we all know that he was right, however using his oratory skill he made it looks like that he voted against the same senate resolution. Many of his supporter as well as general public think that Senator Obama voted against the same resolution. But the truth is he made his anti war statements in a meeting in Chicago (probably) organized by anti-war activists. He never voted against the war resolution since at that time he was not a member of US Senate. While he was delivering his fiery speech in front thousands of anti-war supporters, thousand miles away Senator Clinton was running between two cities New York and Washington devastated by the 9/11 attacks, struggling to bear the burden of the thousands of the victim families, working day and night to find a solution to lessen the pain of the victims. Her both home towns have been destroyed by the Middle East terrorists. To protect her constituency her cities her motherland, she delegated the responsibility of the security of her nation to the President George Bush, the President of the most powerful nation in the earth, whose secretaries and security advisors are the most talented people of the country and are supported by the most intelligent professionals available in the war fare business.
Mr. David Axelrod understands this, that’s why he is threatening the Super delegates to fulfill the wish of the voters in the election. Sen. Obama is echoing his words. Wait Mr. Axelrod. This is just a primary election for choosing a nominee to represent the party. This is not a full proof unified democratic process. This is not an election to elect President rather a selection process to find a nominee of the party for general election. Party members should only consider the views of the party members only, not the republicans or the independents who may change their vote at any time. May be, a majority of them are voting to spoil the selection process of the Democrats. We have hard enough about bringing people together. We had enough elections to interpret the message of the Democrats. This is not an election to count the numbers of all type of voters. Let’s stop the election, stop the fight among Democrats and save the money and energy. For long we are living in the fear of loosing or not having health insurance. This is the time. We need affordable mandatory health insurance. The over greedy insurance companies should not deprive us from our basic right to have medical benefits. Democrats, there is no way to find suitable candidate through these peculiar convoluted processes of primary elections and caucuses. Stop the process and select your candidate before Republicans does it.

Get real, B.Obama is an intelligent man. Hillary Cliton is desperate she will do anything to dis-credit B. Obama. There is no stealing in the words used. Those lines are stated by historical leaders and they are only repeated historical words. Hillary is only trying to label B. Obama. Great oracale, B. Obama, which she is not (Hillary), so she attempts to attack what she cannot compete with.
Desparation to win.
How immature of a candidate that’s desperately seeking to run this country.

Deval Obama
I had a “Together We Can” sign in my western Massachusetts front yard in Nov of 2006. I was part of the grassroots effort to elect Deval Patrick, then candidate for Governor, a campaign that “began as a whisper in Springfield.” I was roused by his inspirational words, empowered by a movement that felt like the first in 16 years to actually have a chance to help the good democrats of the Commonwealth win back the Governor’s seat.
Crying, and with my young children by my side, I celebrated Deval Patrick’s win that November— we had our first black Governor — it was an amazing time!
Yessiree, Deval, like Obama, was and is a regular stem-winder, (in fact, he’s an even more powerful speaker than his friend Obama) and since Obama borrowed Deval’s chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod, as well as his words, it’s no wonder we see and hear, (again and again) echoes of Gov. Deval Patrick’s campaign.
Corporate lawyer and political newcomer Deval Patrick, (who self-identifies, like Barrack, as a “skinny kid from Chicago with the funny name” ) who ran a brilliant campaign against insider (then Lt. Gov under Mitt Romney) Kerry Healey, has experienced a whole series of political gaffs and policy-making missteps in his first 13 months on the job.
Since he began last January, he’s had to replace the majority of his idealistic cabinet members with a whole slew of more experienced folk who know how to negotiate the Beacon Hill machine and who have a few connections inside the legislature. Right now his big revenue accruing initiative planned to get the schools running again and the people back on their feet is the establishment of state casinos, a move many of us who backed him in 2006 find abhorrent. He found out right quick that, like it or not, he had to work with those guys at the statehouse who had differing opinions in order to make the change he promised we could all make together.
Once this election is over, no matter who’s got the presidential role, they too will have to cross party lines to shake hands and make deals with the folk on the other side of the aisle, something Hillary’s been doing for years, to try, under the hope-dampening Bush administration, to keep the liberal dream of universal healthcare, better schools, and human rights from being deferred.
Hate to sound like a cynic, but if something looks too good to be true, it may be. While Deval Patrick’s heart is certainly in the right place, and his term is far from over, he doesn’t appear to be making much progress in the change department.
This time, I’m voting for experience.
Rebekah
Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts

His wife Mitchell has been doing the same if you remember when she gave a speach after Hillary won the first Caucus she was wearing the a halter dress at some speach will I remeber seeing Micychell shaken up that day and the speach she used were the same from a celebrity as I mentioned before the words were word by word, so how long have these tow characters been doing this, makes them look like fools if you ask me I noticed it for weeks. O do my own anaylsis and I’m always 90 percent right. That was my past expereince jobs anaylsis no one like me because I found there mistakes and I had no degree and they all did on my past jobs.

Dear asleep at the wheel media -
Since you are all geeked up to find slogans lifted from past campaigns, maybe you want to check out Clinton/Gore 92′s use of “Change”.

I get it! So none of us has any shot at ever being authentic again, because there’s absolutely nothing new under the Sun left to be said…
If Hillary Clinton wins the nomination by taking Obama down this way, she will take herself and the Democratic Party down with her…MARK MY WORDS!
The only thing this entire incident proves to me is that the best thing that the Democratic Party can do for itself is to completely separate from the Clintons. They have managed to turn this thing into the type of sleeze that we’re accustomed to seeing from the Republicans. I feel like I need to take a long shower now…
Some of you people amaze me! So now…because Obama utters his friends words…he’s dishonest and lacks integrity??? So when ALL of the other politicians (including Hillary) do it it’s OK, but when Obama does it, he lacks honesty and integrity??? I was wondering how long it was going to take. The more things change…the more they stay the same…

to DocDee:
I do see the distinction, and apparently to Vicki it’s a distinction with a difference. To me, the fact that someone’s beliefs, ideas, even the expression of those ideas is influenced by or even “borrowed” from people that that person admires is of minimal import. Obama has acknowledged in the case of the recent “just words” speech that it would have been wiser of him to attribute the theme to his friend – there’s not always a bright line. Jack Kennedy did not attribute when he said “Ask not what your country can do for you…” Nonetheless, I find myself often sounding like and using the words of friends and family members who I admire, quite often in the context of persuasive speech, sometimes with attribution, sometimes without. I appreciate that others may have a different perspective on this, but I believe that perspective is a case of tail wagging dog (Dustin Hoffman, Wag the Dog, circa 1998), i.e. I think those bothered by this were already bothered by Obama for one reason or another.
By the way, on a tangential point, some of those reasons, you will surely have observed for yourself from the tone of the posts on various blogs, are based on legitimate reservations; others are based on patently or latently racist motives, in my opinion. I know this is a two-way street, of course, since I have also heard both unapologetic and insidiously sexist reasons for disliking Hillary Clinton. In either case, it tends to take the shine off the progress everyone is celebrating in overcoming racial and gender bias and discrimination, especially when those calls are coming from inside the house. (When a Stranger Calls, circa 1978). Peace.

I don’t care if this govenor is his father, it still is inappropriate. Students aren’t given a “NO BIG DEAL” if they take their friends work rather than a nonfriend. IT IS THE WHOLE IDEA that he MISLED these vulnerable voters.

Hillary, you stole lines from Obama, “Fired up, ready to go!” and “Yes, we can!” So don’t even think about distracting the voters from the real issues. 1) Release your First Lady Documents so that we can see what roles you played in your touted “35 years of experience.” 2) Release your tax return so that we can see ourselves what’s in it. If you run for the highest office in America, you are obligated to disclose any information relevant to the voters’ decision making!

There is no way we can hold politicians to their campaign promises. We all know
that! Never in history, has there been so many major issues facing an incoming president. The war,health care, illegal
immigration, social security reform, the economy, our education system, just to name a few. I think we should all just pray to God that the best person for the job gets elected, whether it be Democrat or Republican, and pray that God continues to bless this great country of ours.

At last people know the fact: The inspiring words is not Mr. Obama’s originals, but comes from his speech writers. While people still arguing about if it’s plagiarism or not, I want to say: Wake up, America! It doesn’t matter it belongs to Obama or not, since anyway he himself will not take it serious. Words, inspiring word collections has only been used by him as a tool, as strategy of his campiagn. And believe me this is not a guess: — Michelle explained it use her own words!
Personally I respect Mrs. Obama’s honesty. Michelle once openly discussed this in the Morning show, that they want to make people firstly “emotionally involved”, THEN think about to do hard work. So don’t blame Mr. Obama not having plan yet, he just doesn’t get much time except busily reciting the inspiring word collections.
If you tell me it is nothing wrong to use some famous sayings, I will agree, in fact. Then please don’t disturb people’s feeling by accusing others play “old politics” in general, and at same time pretened to be so “new”. Michelle made it very clear in another TV interview: “Politics is game!” That is what really in their mind, and what they are doing.
Very clear that word is only a tool for them to play, inspiration is nothing but his campiagn strategy. So why you guys are still so serious about these words belongs to him or not?
Wake up, America! Get clear mind to see his nothing new politics.

Blah, Blah, Blah – He used a similar defense when confronted in a similar manner, so what – there really appears to be no mal-intent here.
I want both Candidates to synapse the views on the big issues(Economy,Environment,War,Border,Trade and Health to start) and then debate as to the differences and be willing to adjust their plans – not some sideshow about improper citation.

Hey! Whattayaknow – Sen. Clinton and republican Massachusetts govenor candidate Kerry Healey are the same person…blaming their opponents for only having words…(it’s important to note that Healey lost…)

So, Obama has a golden tongue, using words he is advised to use. Never mind substance; hook ‘em first; we’ll fill in the blanks, later.; Hillary has a golden touch, using her savvy and experience to mint clear ideas, pragmatic plans, and actual successes–all of which should be the coin of the realm. Give Obama another 8 years to watch the genuine article, get over himself, grow, gain experience, and to actually become the substance of things hoped for, and to clarify things currently heard, but which remain unseen.

What a stupid NON-issue. Obama’s friend, who said these words first, has given oral permission over the air on TV. Why does the press keep hassling the Democrat candidates with trivia and then lets the Republicans off with their maasive faults and lies and the swiftboat machine they’re already starting? Why the double standard, eh, Jake Tapper? Why don’t you go tap over to Larry Craig and cover his toe tapping instead of picking on Obama? Eh?

VPNathan3, thanks for posting that article. It proves once and for all that Obama didn’t get any special deal on his house, and that Rezko had no influence whatsoever on the sale. Good to see such a positive story on the day before the Wisconsin primary.

It’s important to note that Deval Patrick is widely viewed as a disappointing failure as Massachusetts Governor.
All talk and no substance like Obama.

Wilder: Obama knows how to use other peoples words and you say he knows the meaning of them. Who is kidding who. If he was so smart as he claims to be he would create his own speeches. And Patrick is the one that probably copied from someone else. Obama doesn’t have the integrity to create a speech and you and the rest of this generation are in the same boat. Many of the college students of today can’t finish college because the can’t pass their tests. And Obama is no brighte than them. He is a fake, liar, no experience and should not have been running for president. He is not an American black he is a Kenya black and should be running for president in his own country. He is desperate to make history and don’t kid yourself he does not like white people he only uses them for his own self. He goes to a church that hates whites. Get a life and face reality about him.

vimed: What do you mean Obama’s followers? And show them the light. Are you comparing him to Jesus? You better get a life. Obama has been a fake and a liar from the start and Patrick probably showed him how to do it. Obama cannot write his own speeches because it takes integrity which he is lacking and he should stop trying to be RFK when he’s campaigning. It was shown on TV already comparing the two when RFK was campaigning. This generation like you don’t know any better and your in the same league as Obama. If you think Bush is bad you better think again because if Obama was elected America would be in the worst disaster in history.

Do you think Obama practiced plagerism in college? Plagerism is lying for your own advancement and in this instance reflects on the integrity of the individual. But this is not the only thing Obama has stolen. He has taken ideas on the issues from Edwards and Clinton. So when you hear his speeches, you should wonder what little white lies is he telling now?

What an non- issue! This doesn’t affect the American people at all. It’s the knd of politics that gums up the system. While everyone is busy talking about this nonsense, the issues remain the same. Politicians love it; they love that the people eat it up and are too busy getting fired up about a line in a speech to get fired up about holding elected officials accountable for anything SUBSTANCTIVE! Wake up people, stop drinking the kool aid.

This is a silly issue. Does everyone actually think a politician making a speech is going to stop after every line inspired by someone else and credit it? Their speeches go on long enough. If they did that they would be nattering on forever. How many different ways are there to say the same darned thing in any case?
They ALL have speechwriters anyway. Do they credit them all the time?

This is about as disgusting as politics gets. You bring a guy down because he looks a little funny in a hat, because he mispronounces a word, because he’s exuberant before a crowd of cheering supporters. You look for the INCONSEQUENTIAL element that will galvanize the public mind (a public that’s been carefully groomed NOT to think!) and you get what the corporatocracy wants in power. And you think you’ve actually voted and taken part in a democratic process.
You want to know what is REALLY “just words”?? This ridiculous attack and attempt to get some traction for a criticism that is all smoke and mirrors, no substance.
Get real.

This question of plagerism was not brought up by Senator Clinton or her campaign. As I recall, it was reported in a Boston Globe article back in January. Those of us in Mass. have long know of this “sharing” between Mr. Obama and Gov. Patrick. The problem is that people from other parts of the country that are not familiar with Gov. Patrick and his campaign may believe that Mr. Obama is being original and sincere. The reality is that he is borrowing a winning stratgy HOPING that no one will look too closely

Barack Obama has used a line in two debates that I know of ( and I am paraprasing ” we will need to get out of Iraq as carefully as we we were careless getting in” I’ve heard Senator Webb say that quite a while ago – perhaps when he was running for President. I think Barack probably lifts a lot of lines and ideas. I don’t know if I would call it plagiarism, but I would chalk it up to not being able to discuss substantive ideas on the stump without borrowing themes he heard elsewhere. I have no idea why people think he has the background and/or experience to handle the presidency. It just isn’t logical.

Every great politician has borrowed phrases from others to convey his or her ideas at some point. That is because a great catch-phrase that embodies a popular ideal is often hard to improve upon, and if it is part of the popular conscience, it can be used to get the point across. If Sen. Clinton writes her own speeches each and every time, and never, ever quotes anyone else, then I suppose she can claim to have superior substance. Since politics is a collaborative effort, I doubt that she has thought of every good idea in her campaign all by her lonesome. But if she is as smart as people claim, may be she has and she doesn’t need anyone else.

Am I hearing this correctly? That if you plagiarize your friend, it does not count? Why are college students being kicked out of school when they use their friends’ papers as their own?
Is this not what we were taught from day one in kindergarten?
If this was Hillary that did this sort of thing, the Media will replay the speech 24 hours a day and say how horrible this was.
Wake up America! Wake up!

Obama Scares Me. Me sounds good — ands as a Democrat he seems OK but not ready to run the USA. Hillary has made some mistake, because powerful, effective people like her — with years of experience and willingness to take a stand sometimes do. She understands how to make changes in Washington, She is the Ultimate Expert on on revamping our broken health care system, and she knows how to turn around an economic deficit. What does he really offer? Words? The words he echos are from great men, powerful men who cam e before him and their words went down in history because they were new and different. Obama clims to offer a new perspective, change and be different, but he is not letting us know who he is… He seems to be more of a follower of great Orators than a talented leader.
A Jr. Senator, who is scared to be himself, may not have the talent to do anything new or bring change… but who knows… that’s what scares me.

GOP will pound him on this one if he wins. Remember GOP-Conservatives. You think he’ll get away with everything thrown at him now, wait until McCain unleash himself. (McCain) Long time Senator, votes through his principles, decorated military men and stand up to his principles.

Obama admits, as he should, that he should have cited his friend, and didn’t. He knows he shouldn’t have done it…so what does that mean about those of you who are acting like this isn’t a problem?

“LET JUSTICE ROLL DOWN LIKE WATER AND RIGHTEOUSNESS LIKE A MIGHTY STREAM…” IS ON THE MARTIN LUTHER KING MEMORIAL IN ATLANTA, GA, BECUASE HE USED THOS WORDS IN HIS “I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH IN 1963. THIS ICONIC PHASE HOWEVER IS ACTUALLY FROM THE PROFIT AMOS IN THE BIBLE (AMOS 5:21-24). ALTHOUGH MARTIN LUTHER KING GIVE NOT CREDITS TO THE PROFIT AMOS IN HIS SPEECH, THOSE LINES, SPOKEN AT THE HEIGHT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT DRAMATIZED THE URGENCY OF THE MOMENT..
EQUALLY SO, MR. OBAMA’S USING THE ICONIC PHRASES OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, JOHN F. KENNEDY AND FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT EVEN WITHOUT MENTIONING THEIR NAMES DROVE HOME THE POINT THAT JUST AS THE WORDS UTTERED BY THEM LED TO CHANGES IN THE PAST, SO SHALL “YES WE CAN”…AND WHAT WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR IS US..” MOTIVATE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO REALIZE THE URGENCY OF NOW AND EMBRACE CHANGE.

I think that people are finding that Obama is more than just filled with words but a man of his word — no matter how it’s spun — you cannot take away from the people unity, participation and hope to help “bridge” a change to the future.

The level of hate and ignorance posted here by many Barrack antagonists is mind boggling. It is obvious that many of you accusing Obama of plagiarism would not have voted for him anyway.
For all who are still undecided or do not already dislike Obama for superficial reasons and are honest with themselves about this, see this for what it is, a desperate attempt to belittle one of the most intelligent, strong, charismatic and viable presidential candidates in US history who could actually put the United States back on track as a role model for justice, equality and progress. I urge you all to research the facts with an open mind without preconceived suspicions or fears. It should be obvious that Barrack is much less polarizing than Hillary, he also has a better chance at beating McCain and bringing more bi-partisan solutions to the nations problems.
Also, I saw a negative comment by an educator regarding Obamas plans for education. His plan calls for rewarding teachers who mentor new teachers, work in rural or inner city schools, or consistently excel in the classroom. Now I ask all educators, are you getting appropriately rewarded now for any of this? Obama has a comprehensive plan that puts Educators and students in a much better position than they currently are (there is a large pdf document on his website about this).

Oh please, there’s barely a wisp of difference in Clinton’s and Obama’s policy proposals, but this guy’s got a large segment of the population running around starry-eyed like they’ve found the answer to all the divine questions. Sometimes, if it seems to good to be true, it’s because it is. His “uniting” has left the party bitterly divided and people who two years ago would have defending the Clintons against the kinds of scurrilous Limbaugh and Colter would assert, now making those same attacks themselves. He’s a snake charmer, a con man. He’s never deserved all this adoration. The American people needed a fix of “hope” and inspiration after the last 7 yrs. of darkness, destruction, and war. They needed it, so he became it. Well, don’t look at the man behind the curtain.
Grown ups face reality and problems head on, instead of fabricating a fictional superhero.

I’m weary of a presidential candidate who’s riding on change, but is only a plagiarist. Plagiarism is theft, any student knows that. Even the romance industry, ask Cassie Edwards, a plagiarist, has set ethics and standards against plagiarism, yet we have a presidencial candidate brushing it aside. If he compromises his ethics, what else is he willing to compromise?

People are wasting a lot of energy talking about plagiarism when we really are looking at just a couple of vague, almost archetypal ideas being iterated by two similar people trying to make the same point. None of this seems to me to be anything anybody in their right mind would ever claim origination rights to. Can you have plagiarism if you don’t have someone who feels plagiarized?
The irony kicks in when you realize — what is all this bickering about? “Just words”.
If you repeat an idea you heard and agreed with, are you plagiarizing? In my opinion, you are simply propagating a meme, and you can only be accused of plagiarism if you pretend you started the meme but you know you did not (because that’s just arrogant) — did that happen here?
Ever heard the phrase, “there’s nothing new under the sun”? No, I did not come up with it. So don’t accuse me of plagiarism.

I’m sorry I’m confused. Are we upset with Obama and Wolfson because the did not give credit to Martin Luther King, “I have a Dream” Franklin D Roosevelt ” We have nothing to Fear…” and John Kennedy “Ask not what your country…”
And if it’s not that…then didn’t Obama just do the same thing to Wolfson speech…just took a few “words” from it.
It’s not like he recited the declaration of independence, or the constitution of the United States….by the way wouldn’t I want a leader of my country to use and follow those words?
Isn’t it a fact that the way to communicate ideas is to use words…that we all understand? Or am I now committing plagiarism because I’m not speaking some new form of Leek Speech? Should I quote each and every dictionary I have pulled these words from?
Why are the masses so distracted by shinny objects? You know children….John Locke…not the writers of the declaration of independence first published Life, liberty and the pursuit of property.
Thank God there was no media to jack that all up. I guess we would have never been able to leave the King had someone pointed out….they stole John Locke ideas.
Learn to think, it only hurts at first.

It matters because if the heart of BO’s campaign is about words and how they can “change the world,” then words matter. His plagiarism shows that BO is utterly unoriginal, at best, and a fraud, at worst. If you can’t trust his words, then you can’t trust the man.

I hope voters will not be fooled by the borrowed words Mr.Obama uses to inspire people any more. It is so sad majority of them cannot tell they are all borrowed from somebody and not his own.

“Is that really what you want your president to do? Garnish your wages for a health care plan you don’t even want? I should have the right to decline health care coverage. Of course I have to accept that I will “pay the price” in the event of something catastrophic, but that’s my choice.”
Had to respond to this one. If someone is so hard up that they choose not to carry health insurance so they don’t have to pay for it, then chances are, the majority won’t have the financial means to “pay the price”, as you so nonchalantly state. So what happens? Well if the visit occurs at a hospital, and the bill isn’t paid, WE have to incur the cost of that over-priced visit (speaking in terms of ER visit vs. doctor’s office). Where do you think the funds come from to pay that? US. So yes, absolutely I think everyone should be required to carry health insurance on themselves and their children, because if they don’t, taxpayers will incur the cost of their visits when they can’t or won’t pay for them.
As for the plagiarism, I think it’s very valid to bring it up. Hillary “exaggerated” her story about Bosnia and people won’t shut up about it, but Obama passes someone else’s thoughts off as his own (because obviously, he isn’t original enough to come up with his own, considering the number of times he has done so – we’re not talking about one incident here, people) and that’s okay. If words aren’t “just words”, then why can’t he come up with his own?
Oh, and what do I think? I think if Obama happens to steal the nomination, I will be among the estimated 36% of Hillary supporters who will vote for McCain if he gets the nomination (as opposed to 19% of Obama supporters who will vote for McCain if Hillary gets the nomination). Face it, even if he wins the nomination, he’s very likely to lose the Presidential election, and I will whole-heartedly contribute to that prediction.

What’s wrong with copying or borrowing great words if it helps inspire people?