Obama stealing speeches?

[Write-brained]

Didn't see this anywhere ... then again I haven't been following the general political threads, so sorry if it's a d_b.

Personally I don't see the problem if Patrick doesn't care.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/18/obama.patrick/

Similarities between the words of Sen. Barack Obama and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick have raised eyebrows and attracted traffic on YouTube.

A central passage in a speech Obama gave Saturday -- aimed at convincing voters that his campaign is not just about lofty rhetoric -- is adapted from one that Patrick used in his 2006 campaign, the Obama campaign said when asked about it.

The controversy is lost on the Massachusetts governor, who endorsed Obama.

Obama's campaign had Patrick call the New York Times over the weekend and issue a statement.

"Senator Obama and I are long-time friends and allies. We often share ideas about politics, policy and language," Patrick said in the statement. "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 Senator Clinton, I applaud him responding in just the way he did." Video Watch a comparsion of Obama's and Patrick's speeches »

The Obama campaign also confirmed comments chief strategist David Axelrod -- an adviser on Obama's Senate campaign and Patrick's gubernatorial run -- made to the New York Times about the speeches.

"They often riff off one another. They share a world view," Axelrod told the Times about Obama and Patrick. "Both of them are effective speakers whose words tend to get requoted and arguments tend to be embraced widely."

Responding to attacks from Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton that he offers words while she offers action, Obama has been arguing that words matter.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

Personally I don't see the problem if Patrick doesn't care.

Really? Is that the way it works in journalism?

 

[STLIrish]

Personally I don't see the problem if Patrick doesn't care.

Really? Is that the way it works in journalism?

Um, there's a world of difference between journalism and political speechwriting.
Personally, I find it hard to get too worked up about this. But I'm sure some people will.

 

[Write-brained]

Personally I don't see the problem if Patrick doesn't care.

Really? Is that the way it works in journalism?

not journalism, it's stumping. ideally he would give the guy credit but whatever ... not journalism so my standards are not their standards

 

[Thanks for comin' out]

Where's everybody that would be ****ting their pants if this was McCain? Oh, Yea, I forgot about the 146:1 ratio in our business.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

Personally I don't see the problem if Patrick doesn't care.

Really? Is that the way it works in journalism?

not journalism, it's stumping. ideally he would give the guy credit but whatever ... not journalism so my standards are not their standards

I actually don't think it's a huge deal (though it is a silly misstep by Obama, the kind he has so far managed to avoid). I also intuitively agree that the standard should be different, but I can't put my finger on why. Can you articulate it for me?

 

[zeke12]

Please. The part of the speech that was Patrick's amounts to two words. "Just words?"

The rest is quotes.

Add in the fact that Patrick is a senior advisor on the Obama campaign, and, what do you have?

A really desperate Clinton campaign that launched an all-out assault to try and make this a story the day before a primary.

And it's politics, not journalism or academia. They borrow riffs all the time. The Obama camp pumped out a video of Hillary using lines from, among others, Jimmy Carter, John Edwards, and Obama himself earlier during this campaign.

Much ado about not much.

 

[Italian_Stallion]

I have to say that I'm a little perturbed.

 

[Cape_Fear]

I'm pretty sure I heard McCain's "I'm fired up and ready to go," from last week's speech somewhere, too.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Please. The part of the speech that was Patrick's amounts to two words. "Just words?"

Extremely resonant punchline. Those aren't "just" two words. I think this really cuts into JFK III's oratory sheen.

Chrissakes.

 

[Write-brained]

Personally I don't see the problem if Patrick doesn't care.

Really? Is that the way it works in journalism?

not journalism, it's stumping. ideally he would give the guy credit but whatever ... not journalism so my standards are not their standards

I actually don't think it's a huge deal (though it is a silly misstep by Obama, the kind he has so far managed to avoid). I also intuitively agree that the standard should be different, but I can't put my finger on why. Can you articulate it for me?

I'd almost liken it to songwriting. Let's say I lift some of your lyrics out of respect or whatever. If you sue, I'll probably lose. If you don't sue, no big deal. Same with writing a book.

Journalism is different because what I write doesn't belong to me, but the publication I write for. I can't give anyone permission to steal from me.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Where's everybody that would be ****ting their pants if this was McCain? Oh, Yea, I forgot about the 146:1 ratio in our business.

Why is there always a certain segment of the political spectrum that runs stampeding for the crybaby **** on political threads? The desperate need to be a victim always astounds me.

Dude, the "issue" is being raised by Democrats. Grow up.

If you think no one would ever make a big deal about a Democrat plagiarizing a speech, go ask Joe Biden.

 

[rico_the_redneck]

I can't believe the media (Lou Dobbs was all over this **** tonight) is playing right into Hillary's hands. This is a woman who thought she was entitled to the presidency being derailed by a candidate in Obama the voters, it turns out, like better than the anointed one. So when she's down, she stoops to this ****? As Zeke pointed out, politicians do this all the time. He had permission of the Mass. Gov. to use the comments. What was he supposed to do? Stop in the middle of the speech and give some sort of citation. The polls are clear: Obama beats McCain, McCain beats Hillary. I wish this washed up old bag would go away before we have another Republican in office who will have us in Iraq 100 years and knows nothing about economics by his own admission.

 

[spnited]

99.9999999% of the American public couldn't give two ****s about this stuff.

 

[ifilus]

Where's everybody that would be ****ting their pants if this was McCain? Oh, Yea, I forgot about the 146:1 ratio in our business.

'No new taxes,'' McCain declared today.
Failed to credit Bush Sr.
Plagiarist!


http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/799767,CST-NWS-mccain18.article

 

[wickedwritah]

This shows, again, how desperate the Clinton camp is.

Watching ABC News tonight, I heard Clinton rip off an illegal immigrant riff nearly word-for-word from Edwards -- straight down to a Blockbuster reference.

Bill and Hillary are getting PWNED and don't like it very much, so they're stomping their feet whenever possible.

 

[ADifferentOkie]

I can't say I'm happy about this, but I don't think it's a big deal.
First of all, I think political speeches are different because politicians have speech-writers; how upset can you get about Obama stealing someone's work when it's entirely possible it was the same writer for both and Obama just doesn't want to admit he didn't write it himself? Plus they are delivered without teleprompters a lot of the time, so it's a lot easier to have something you heard a long time ago resurface as if it's an original thought.
Now, if he lifted passages for his book, I've got a major issue, but for now I'll continue to support him.

 

[steveu]

Considering this got Biden derailed in 1988, I can see why the media might be on it, but did they ever stop to think someone might have written the speech for Barack to say??

 

[zeke12]

Where's everybody that would be ****ting their pants if this was McCain? Oh, Yea, I forgot about the 146:1 ratio in our business.

You mean, like when McCain cribbed a line from Obama last week and... No one said anything?

You're going to have to come heavier than that, son. Bat**** conservative hypotheticals are already covered well round these parts.

 

[Beaker]

Sigh, another political story that's much ado about nothing.