Plagiarism in Cleveland
Accusations are being made that portions of the speech that Melania Trump delivered on Monday evening at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland was plagiarized from the speech that Michelle Obama gave at the Democratic National Convention back in 2008. Perhaps the problem was that this was the desktop of the computer she was using to write the speech.
"Their integrity, compassion and intelligence reflect to this day on me and for my love of family and America.
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 life. 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's speech from 2008
My mother's love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion and her intelligence reflected in my own daughters.
And 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.
* * *
So what's going on here is that three distinct passages from the 2008 speech appear virtually verbatim in the 2016 speech. Is this plagiarism? Probably. Was it intentional? Unknowable with any degree of certainty. The concepts of working hard, keeping your word and the importance of not limiting dreams aren't original themes created by Mrs. Obama's speechwriters. Expression of those ideas in other words would not have been a problem. But the fact is, those sounded like and read like the exact language used by Mrs. Obama and that's the definition of plagiarism.
But here's the real issue. If the Trump campaign had properly vetted the speech, those passage could have been re-written. They made a fatal error in not doing so. Then they compounded that mistake by insisting that the speech wasn't plagiarism at all. The timing is interesting as the ghostwriter of Mr. Trump's first book, The Art of the Deal, now says he put "lipstick on a pig." Every attempt by the Trump organization to try to spin Mrs. Trump's speech as something other than plagiarism is also putting lipstick on a pig.
Why not fess us and admit the error, apologize and move forward?
Because Donald Trump appears to be absolutely incapable of ever admitting he made a mistake. His family and all of his minions therefore won't ever make that kind of admission.
The New York Times is now reporting on a related issue, that having to do with Mrs. Trump's biography on her website and the one distributed at the convention.
"Born on April 26, 1970 in Slovenia, Melania Knauss began her modeling career at the age of sixteen. At the age of eighteen, she signed with a modeling agency in Milan. After obtaining a degree in design and architecture at University in Slovenia, Melania was jetting between photo shoots in Paris and Milan, finally settling in New York in 1996."
The Times says that Mrs. Trump dropped out of that university after only one year and never graduated. The combination of this gaffe and the possible plagiarism are more evidence that the Trump campaign is not being controlled by the professionals they have hired. The family are neophytes in the field of politics in any area other than donations and influence-peddling.
Donald J. Trump is the most unqualified presidential candidate to be nominated by his or her political party since Andrew Johnson.
Mrs. Trump's speech from this past Monday night.
"Their integrity, compassion and intelligence reflect to this day on me and for my love of family and America.
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 life. 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's speech from 2008
My mother's love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion and her intelligence reflected in my own daughters.
And 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.
* * *
So what's going on here is that three distinct passages from the 2008 speech appear virtually verbatim in the 2016 speech. Is this plagiarism? Probably. Was it intentional? Unknowable with any degree of certainty. The concepts of working hard, keeping your word and the importance of not limiting dreams aren't original themes created by Mrs. Obama's speechwriters. Expression of those ideas in other words would not have been a problem. But the fact is, those sounded like and read like the exact language used by Mrs. Obama and that's the definition of plagiarism.
But here's the real issue. If the Trump campaign had properly vetted the speech, those passage could have been re-written. They made a fatal error in not doing so. Then they compounded that mistake by insisting that the speech wasn't plagiarism at all. The timing is interesting as the ghostwriter of Mr. Trump's first book, The Art of the Deal, now says he put "lipstick on a pig." Every attempt by the Trump organization to try to spin Mrs. Trump's speech as something other than plagiarism is also putting lipstick on a pig.
Why not fess us and admit the error, apologize and move forward?
Because Donald Trump appears to be absolutely incapable of ever admitting he made a mistake. His family and all of his minions therefore won't ever make that kind of admission.
The New York Times is now reporting on a related issue, that having to do with Mrs. Trump's biography on her website and the one distributed at the convention.
"Born on April 26, 1970 in Slovenia, Melania Knauss began her modeling career at the age of sixteen. At the age of eighteen, she signed with a modeling agency in Milan. After obtaining a degree in design and architecture at University in Slovenia, Melania was jetting between photo shoots in Paris and Milan, finally settling in New York in 1996."
The Times says that Mrs. Trump dropped out of that university after only one year and never graduated. The combination of this gaffe and the possible plagiarism are more evidence that the Trump campaign is not being controlled by the professionals they have hired. The family are neophytes in the field of politics in any area other than donations and influence-peddling.
Donald J. Trump is the most unqualified presidential candidate to be nominated by his or her political party since Andrew Johnson.
posted by me at 3:58 PM
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