Hillary Clinton has been tossing around the word "plagiarism" this week because Obama used a concept and two-word line without crediting its original source, Obama supporter and friend, Governor Deval Patrick (MA.)
According to published reports, Obama was speaking to workers about his plan to retain US jobs at a titanium plant in Ohio, and said Governor Patrick had suggested he use the words.
Barack explained, “Deval and I trade ideas all the time. He has occasionally used lines of mine and at the dinner in Wisconsin I used some words of his. On occasion, Senator Clinton has used words of mine as well."
It was a powerful speech; Obama recited three iconic phrases: "I have a dream - just words? We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal - just words? We have nothing to fear but fear itself - just words? Just speeches?"
The passage was similar , although not quite the same, to a short passage in a speech Patrick had given a few years earlier. But Patrick is not calling it plagiarism, and doesn't seem to care one bit that he was not attributed.
Like most writers, I'm pretty sensitive to plagiarism. It burns me up when I see work of mine that has been lifted, and I am meticulous in my research to assure that my work is my own. But my best friend Lisa Earle McLeod, another author, borrows my lines occasionally, and I occasionally borrow hers.
And we're both fine with that. After joking about it for several years, we have finally given our little habit a name -- "writing partners".
I write fiction, and non-fiction books and columns about relationships. She writes articles and books about spirituality, peace, and frequently, politics. I'm not stealing her work, and she's not stealing mine, but her ideas have made their way into my work, and lots of my best lines have made their way into hers. It's not plagiarism, it's friendship. Her ideas are still hers, my ideas are still mine, but occasionally we help tighten up each others work.
Do I want to get credit for my work? Yes. But sometimes, I'm willing to give up claim to my words for a greater cause.
Like when Lisa and I wrote a column together under her byline about how she helped to get Katrina survivor Mabel Brown out of Houston with her family. Lisa was busy mobilizing her neighbors to save Mabel's family, Lisa gave me the facts, and I got the column started while she was passing out supplies and making trips to the bus station.
When it was finished, we both felt like we had done something meaningful, relevant, world-changing. I didn't particularly care that my name wasn't on the piece, even when it was picked up nationally. I had been a part of something greater. Helping to bring Mable's heartbreaking and inspiring story to the world felt far more important to me than having my name on that byline.
Sometimes it's not possible or practical to share a byline. I thank Lisa in the acknowledgments of my books, she thanks me in the acknowledgments of hers. Occasionally, we'll actually officially write things together. But what we do isn't about the credit -- it's about two friends who believe in each others work, who want each others' voices to touch people and inspire them, who don't mind lending a line or an idea if it will help make a piece funnier, deeper, or more powerful.
Barack Obama and Deval Patrick have been friends for years, and I'm guessing Deval isn't even a little bit irritated that he wasn't credited in one of the many powerful, world-changing speeches that will bring Obama to the white house.
Patrick is going to be proud, unbelievably proud, that he helped get him there.
Sometimes getting credit isn't nearly as important as getting something done.
Lisa
It rhymes with witch.
I get pretty testy when the "B" word gets thrown around -- especially when it is hurled at women just because they are are strong, or driven, or in charge.
But this week, I've been pretty tempted to use it myself.
I have heard friends, colleagues, and too-obnoxious-to-be-named-here talk show hosts slam Hillary for being ambitious, driven and single-minded for years, and frankly, that is one thing I've admired her for.
But it became crystal-clear to me this week that she is not worthy of my admiration.
I watched Hillary position Barack as The Great Black Hope with the cool calculation of a sociopath. And it made me angry.
As a former advertising copywriter, I know spin when I see it -- the Clinton campaign has clearly strategized to niche Obama as the black candidate for black americans.
Not that Hillary and Bill don't love black people, right? Bill, as you may recall, was honored at a Black Caucus Dinner as the first "Black American President." An honor he likes to trot out for fun -- as though it were some trophy from corndog manufacturers, or the ferret preservation society.
I think the Black Caucus should have waited a few more years for the real thing. Especially since Bill was more than willing to sell them out to snare a shot for his wife in the White House.
The Telegraph has reported that the Clinton campaign has "succeeded in marginalising Mr. Obama as the candidate of black Americans".
The Clinton camp has made a twisted attempt to manipulate black Americans into rallying around Barack in hopes of highlighting his blackness to white Americans. I'm guessing they're also betting that if this exploitative strategy pays off, that they can win back the votes if Hillary manages to steal the nomination.
I don't know if Bill & Hillary love black people or not. But I do know she sold the last bit of her soul when she decided to make race an issue. And I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only person (white or black) who figured out what she's up to.
I'll bet many black Americans are livid at the notion of being used to further Hillary's political ambitions; I'm a white American, and I'm furious.
Does the Clinton campaign believe us all to be too stupid, too fearful, too superficial to see what's happening?
I am the educated, affluent white woman the Clinton campaign is banking on, and if Hillary thinks she's getting my vote just becasue we could share the same foundation color, well, she's got another thing coming.
I picked my candidate because he's smart, because he can see all sides of an issue, I believe him to be a decent, caring person, and I believe his leadership and judgment are sound. I believe Barack Obama is a leader, a once-in-a-lifetime gift to our generation. I believe he is the man who can see our country for what it is, what it can be, and how to get there from here.
I don't care if he's black.
Americans have not been so inspired by a political candidate since JFK -- but the Clinton campaign would rather paint Obama as an anomaly, a joke like Al Franken, or special interest candidate like Ralph Nader.
It looks like they may be getting a wake-up call. The latest polls show Barack dramatically gaining popularity, while Hillary's support continues to erode.
We're tired of left and right, blue and red. America wants a candidate who will bring us together as Americans, and as citizens of the world.
And Hillary has just shown us, without a doubt, that she is incapable of doing that. Even in the election.
I am now more inspired by Hillary than ever -- I am inspired to donate whatever I can to the Obama campaign, I am inspired to call strangers from the phone bank and tell them how I feel about his candidacy, and I am inspired to encourage everyone I know to get out and vote.
For Barack.
That's the "B" word I'll be using.
