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Monday, February 18, 2008

The Big Plagiarism Flap- Ho-hum


"Hey Deval, what d'ya think about that guy Osama stealing your lines?"


I'm having a hard time getting worked up over the plagiarism flap leveled against Barack Obama by the Clinton camp. Hillary's Campaign Communications Director, Howard Wolfson, is jumping up and down about how Obama used lines in a speech almost word for word taken from a previous speech by Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick. (That's the guy Teddy Kennedy kept confusing with Obama in a recent rally in Boston.)

I won't bore the reader by going over all the lines that Obama borrowed from Patrick (possibly with his knowledge and consent). Besides, I don't think the issue merits a long essay by me or anyone else.

Suffice to say that maybe Obama's swooning audiences who are being swept away by the man's words, will stop and reflect that after all, they are just words-oops, I am plagiarizing myself. Seriously, instead of being so inspired by Obama's speeches, maybe they should realize that while his voice and presentation style are great, his words are empty, vague generalizations about "hope", "change", and "a better tomorrow". Hopefully, somebody in his audiences will start listening for specific ideas and ask themselves what Obama's career accomplishments are that qualify him to be President of the United States.

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