From The New Republic's THE PLANK:
Former Clinton Speechwriter Weighs In On Plagiarism-Gate
We asked former Bill Clinton speechwriter David Kusnet if today's plagiarism accusations against Barack Obama were justified. In his mind, was what Obama did acceptable, or a violation of speechmaking ethics? Here are his thoughts ...
Barack Obama’s greatest strength is the originality of his rhetoric. Sometimes he talks like a regular person, as in his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, when he introduced himself as “a skinny kid with a funny name.” Sometimes, he sounds like a president from an earlier, more historically literate era, as when he situates his campaign in a tradition that includes the American Revolution, the abolitionists, and the emergence of the labor movement, the civil rights movement, and other social struggles. But only rarely, if ever, does he use the familiar freeze-dried phrases that most current politicians favor. To borrow a phrase from the UAW, the “domestic content” of his speeches is unusually high.
That’s only one of many reasons why it’s so silly to accuse Obama of plagiarism because he used some of the same phrases as his friend and ally, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (who, I should add, was helpful to me when he was assistant attorney general for civil rights at the same time I was a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton). If plagiarism is borrowing rhetoric without permission, Patrick most likely is happy to have Obama sound similar notes, such as hope and inspiration being more than “just words.” Even if Obama and Patrick didn’t know each other, they might use some of the same phrases because similar public figures frequently draw on common streams of public rhetoric. For instance, labor leaders often echo Walter Reuther or A. Philip Randolph; civil rights leaders draw upon the same scriptural passages and historical sources; and conservative Republicans repeatedly invoke Ronald Reagan. Similarly, John Edwards borrowed a rhetorical technique from his campaign manager, fellow populist and former Michigan congressman, David Bonior: His litany would begin “Somewhere in America,” and then he’d describe a social or economic injustice, such as a worker losing his job and his family’s health insurance. While Politico ran a story about this, it is hardly unusual for a candidate to share a rhetorical technique with his leading adviser.
After all, if there is one sentence from Scripture that is literally true, it is this line from Ecclesiastes: "There is nothing new under the Sun.” To be condemned as plagiarism, a political speech needs to be grievously offensive--using lots of distinctive but little-known material from another source without attributing it to that speaker or receiving his or her permission. For instance, in 1987, Joe Biden once used, without attribution, a speech by the British Labor Party Leader Neil Kinnock, in which Kinnock credited social programs with the fact that he was the first in his family to have attended college. By borrowing the speech and inserting his own name, Biden suggested that the men in his family had been coal miners when, in fact, as Maureen Down dryly noted, his father had been an auto dealer. (In fairness, Biden had quoted Kinnock when he had given the speech on other occasions.) Does what Obama did come close to what Biden did? Absolutely not. Next scandal, please.
--David Kusnet
Posted: Monday, February 18, 2008 9:30 PM
Watch this YOU TUBE video, which sets forth the issue and that shows Hillary has "lifted" slogans and words from both Obama and Edwards!
From TIME (dot com's)
Here are a couple of places Clinton freely borrowed rhetoric from Obama…
Clinton Stole The Phrase “Fired Up And Ready To Go” From Obama. “We are fired up and we are ready to go because we know America is ready for change and the process starts right here in Iowa.” In Davenport, Iowa, those words escaped the barriers of a tired Hillary Clinton’s teeth. Without irony. That phrase is associated with Barack Obama. Obama borrows it from a woman in South Carolina who helped remind him what was important in life. It’s the signature, in fact, of Obama’s close. [Marc Ambinder, 1/2/08]
Clinton Stole Rhetoric From Obama And Said She Wanted “Bring Our Country Together” And How She’s Not Running For President Of The Sates That Voted For Democrats. “One other thing about those Clinton events yesterday: The woman is not at all bashful about stealing from her rivals. Between the two events, I counted six rhetorical turns I’ve heard other candidates employ: She talked about goals ‘I hope will bring our country together,’ a la Barack Obama. In response to a question about excessive partisanship, she talked about how she’s not running to be president of the states that voted for Democrats, she’s running to be president of the United States. This closely resembles Obama’s ‘I don’t want to pit red America against blue America. I want to be the President of the United States of America.’” [Noam Scheiber, TNR, 11/20/07]
Clinton, Stealing Obama’s Line, “Yes, We Can” Said That Obama Was The “No We Can’t” Candidate And Said In Contrast, “Yes We Can.” Stealing a line, Clinton casts Obama as the “no we can’t” candidate, and herself as saying “yes, we can.” Obama is the “Yes We Can” candidate of the 2008 presidential race, an Elvis-like presence riding a wave of popular enthusiasm unseen in U.S. politics in many years. Democratic strategist Liz Chadderdon said Obama is sweeping Americans off their feet.”It’s this incredibly moving speech about how it’s time for Americans to turn inward and fix America’s problems. You listen to it and you say ‘Yes.’ Not that what’s coming out of her mouth isn’t solid, it just doesn’t have the same emotional connection that we’re feeling with him,” she said [Politico, 2/8/08; Reuters, 2/15/08]
10/30/07: Clinton Said “We’ve Got To Turn The Page On George Bush And Dick Cheney.” Clinton, speaking about her electability said “In a perverse way, I think that the Republicans and their constant obsession with me demonstrate clearly that they obviously think that I am communicating effectively about what I will do as president. I am trying to do that because it matters greatly. We’ve got to turn the page on George Bush and Dick Cheney. In fact, we have to throw the whole book away.” [Debate, 10/30/07]
Ø 5/2/07: Obama Gave “Turn the Page”-Themed Speech To The California Democratic Convention. Speaking to the California Democratic Convention, Obama said, “I’m running for President because the time for the can’t-do, won’t-do, won’t-even-try style of politics is over. It’s time to turn the page…It’s what I learned as a state Senator in Illinois. That you can turn the page on old debates; that it’s possible to compromise so long as you as you never compromise your principles; and that so long as we’re willing to listen to each other, we can assume the best in people instead of the worst…Democrats of California, it’s time to turn the page…It’s time to turn the page on education…It’s time to turn the page on energy…But most of all, we have to turn the page on this disaster in Iraq…We will bring our troops home. It’s time to turn the page…California, if you want a new kind of politics, it’s time to turn the page. If you want an end to the old divisions, and the stale debates, and the score-keeping and the name-calling, it’s time to turn the page…If you want health care for every American and a world-class education for all our children; if you want energy independence and an end to this war in Iraq; if you believe America is still that last, best hope of Earth, then it’s time to turn the page…It’s time to turn the page for hope. It’s time to turn the page for justice. It is time to turn the page and write the next chapter in the great American story. Let’s begin the work. Let’s do this together. Let’s turn that page.” [Speech, 5/2/07]
MORE FROM THE PLANK:
Hillary the Thief
One other thing about those Clinton events yesterday: The woman is not at all bashful about stealing from her rivals. Between the two events, I counted six rhetorical turns I've heard other candidates employ:
She talked about goals "I hope will bring our country together," a la Barack Obama. In response to a question about excessive partisanship, she talked about how she's not running to be president of the states that voted for Democrats, she's running to be president of the United States. This closely resembles Obama's "I don’t want to pit red America against blue America. I want to be the President of the United States of America." She said she didn't want to be part of the first generation of Americans that didn't leave the country better off than when they inherited it, which recalls John Edwards's line about how we don't want to be the first generation of Americans whose children do worse in life than they did. She talked about how, if video stores can keep track of their tapes and DVDs, surely we can keep track of people here on visas, many of whom overstay them and become illegal immigrants. I've heard Edwards make the same point, except he explicitly cites Blockbuster. She argued that our young men and women in Iraq are doing everything we ask of them; it's the Bush administration and the Iraqi government who are letting them down. Edwards has argued that our soldiers have done everything we've asked of them; it's our government that's letting them down. Finally, she made the point that opposing comprehensive immigration reform is tantamount to supporting amnesty, because it allows the present situation to continue. I've heard John McCain make the same point. (At least I think it was him--it's possible that it was some other non-Hillary candidate.)
Granted, some of the themes here are vague enough that you could find them in two candidates' speeches without some amazing coincidence. And, in some cases, it's possible that the other candidates have borrowed from Hillary rather than vice versa. But I've now heard most of the major candidates on the stump and I can't recall ever hearing so many familiar formulations. Chalk it up to the prerogatives of frontrunner-dom.
--Noam Scheiber
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