[randita]

If you or I, start doing stand-up and use Jerry Seinfeld or Richard Pryor’s words, we would find out very quickly it was plagiarism in no uncertain terms, from a lawyer near us.

Not if Seinfeld or Pryor encouraged us to use their words, which is the case with Deval Patrick and Obama.

[brookwood]

Deval Patrick states that he encouraged Obama to use his words. However, Abraham Lincoln did not encourage Obama to plagiarise his words from the Gettysburg Address. Here are the closing lines of a speech Obama made on October 2, 2002, in which he strongly opposed going to war with Iraq:

” nor should we allow those... who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain.”

And here is the same language from the Gettysburg Address:
“that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.”

The plagiarism charge is on point. This would have been better if it had been an October surprise though. Sources are listed below.

http://www.barackobama.com/2002/10/02/remarks_of_illinois_state_sen.php

http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm