Posted on 07/18/2016 9:44:51 PM PDT by aynrandfreak
Mrs. Trump, Monday night:
“From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise, that you treat people with respect. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily lives. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son. And we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow. Because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”
Mrs. Obama, in her 2008 speech:
“Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Momma dumped him on grandma. Daddy dumped momma.
And they both wound up in preppy schools? Gimme a break.
Their hard work consisted of learning to play the system....They have no values. Their life is one big lie.
Too bad Patricia Smith’s speech isn’t getting this much attention.. IMO it was something that should be heard.
What I think happened is that someone reviewed past speeches. One of those speech writers wrote a sentence and without realizing it came up with very similar lines running through his brain.
And please....that's not plagerism...there's not a single unique word in the two similar paragraphs.
Not by my logic.
Sorry—I posted before I was done. Not by my logic by an actual pro-Trump speechwriter, either.
Absolutely absurd. Melania was so sincere. It’s almost laughable. Moochlle didn’t mention becoming a citizen, did she?
What do you mean? That somehow the plagiarism was accidental?
No, I don’t know what or whether it was. But if it was intentional, I’d expect it was a Never Trump/GOPe consultant plant who did it to try to undermine the campaign.
The idea that it was intentionally done to create a buzz IMO is an implausible suggestion.
No problem. I agree.
I agree that it was Never Trump, and also likely pro-Hillary. But one of its goal was to distract attention from what was actually said last night. Think of all that the speakers talked about, yet the media is leading with this.
For instance, one of my local t.v. stations has a 10 a.m. newscast.
Their coverage of the convention just now: how there was some divisiveness shown, and that Melania stole the show but also caused controversy. Then they cut to clips from Michelle Obama and Melania, and some reactions from Trump’s campaign. After that, they offered some Hillary Clinton soundbites.
So the controversy over nothing (what about Joe Biden’s serious plagiarism) just happens to eat up RNC coverage air time.
Agreed.
We know there were plants undermining Palin in 2008—and could Romney’s incompetence in 2012 all really just be attributed to that either?
The practice of pulling in rival GOPe staff from other campaigns as the nominee emerges is IMO fraught with danger.
I think this was intentional by the speechwriter, and brilliant by the way. It forced the MSM to make people think of Melania and Michelle side by side. There is no comparison.
This is nuts.
There was no plagiarism.
15 seconds of any 15 minute speech will sound similar to 15 seconds of another on the same subject.
No, it really isn’t nuts.
It would have to be an astronomical coincidence to not be plagiarism.
For what it’s worth, I have an English literature degree, and that’s my “learned” opinion on it.
The two passages are so similar that almost beyond any doubt, one can conclude that they were taken from Michelle Obama’s speech.
What’s more, in the process of writing a speech for Melania Trump, it would be standard procedure to see what other wives of Presidential candidates had said in similar speeches in recent decades, if for no other reasons but to get ideas and get a general sense of how such a speech should go.
In this case, someone borrowed what Michelle Obama said. It would have been fine to borrow the thought, and just put it in one’s own words. But this took what she said and just changed a few words.
It’s true that sometimes, when speaking on the same topic, different people can say virtually the same thing independently. Many people are also just repeating commonly said things, and everyone knows that.
But the particular construction of that line from Melania’s speech is too close to what Michelle Obama said to likely be just coincidence.
The real story, though, is why is this such a controversy? Why is the media making it overshadow the real issues facing this country?
Yes it is. And you can go all the way back, at the least, to that supposedly incriminating memo from a politician coming out during the controversy over Terri Schiavo being dehydrated to death. The one that, I believe, discussed Republican strategy on the issue. As if politicians on both sides of any public tragedy don’t have papers that go into their strategies on how to deal with the tragic situation. “Talking points” are part of their leadership.
I am a professor and I don't know how you can construe this as anything but plagiarism. Repeating common thoughts without attribution isn't the problem but using almost exactly the same phrasing is. It seems far too close to be coincidental.
Some people are trying way too hard to defend the indefensible, IMO. It's not really that big of a deal to admit that those phrases shouldn't have been used without attribution. Even better, these thoughts should have been expressed in a more memorable way - the lines are neither informative nor inspiring.
I don't think it's Melania's fault. Everyone knows that there was at least one speechwriter involved with this speech. The professional is the one who is responsible to make sure this type of thing doesn't happen. Someone has some explaining to do.
This is a "scandal" that will blow over in no time. Plagiarism of political speeches didn't harm the political careers of Obama or Biden. Melanie isn't the candidate, only the wife of one, and no matter how hard the MSM tries to make this an issue, it will die away quickly.
It feels like an intentional underhanded attack - sabotage... Seems odd a conservative helping with a speech would be that well read on Democrat first lady speeches. Plus the inflection of similar.
The DC Establishment - both left and right - don’t want anyone coming in and stopping the corruption ... They hate Trump for his goodness... They hate him for every reason we like him and trust him.
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