ZOMG: Hillary plagiarizes Howard

For those Clinton supporters stoking the Obama "just words" flames, I say: Do you really want to continue this war of words?

On the front page of Tuesday's New York Times, an interesting quote from Hillary Clinton appears well above the fold:

"Mrs. Clinton told an audience that the Wisconsin primary and subsequent contests were 'a chance for all of you here to help take our country back."

ZOMG -- She said take our country back... It's plagiarism! Alert CNN, alert MSNBC, alert FoxNews, alert Lauer and Tapper and Limbaugh: Clinton is blatantly copying the language 2003-2004 presidential campaign of Howard Dean.

"Take our country back," "take your country back," "I want my country back." These, of course, were the rallying cries of Dean (and Deaniacs like myself).

In fact, Dean used the phrase in announcing his campaign on June 23rd, 2003.

I naturally fully expect this instance of plagiarism to be trumpeted and repeated as endlessly in both the mainstream media and the blogs as the supposed plagiarism of Obama has been.

Nevermind that Obama and Patrick work closely together, and Patrick says he authorized Obama to use any quotes which might appear to have originated with him. Just as Obama authorized Patrick to use his Senatorial "Yes, We Can" slogan in his gubernatorial campaign.

We must stop this plague of plagiarism before it brings our party and our nation to its knees. After all, the struggle to take our country back is not just words.

But seriously, folks:

Is either Clinton or Obama a plagiarist? Hardly.

Unlike the more extensive instance of actual plagiarism which forced Senator Joseph Biden from the 1988 race, these phrases ("just words," "take our country back") are common to political debate. We should firmly distinguish between passing off extended passages and substantial arguments as one's own, and the day-to-day sloganeering of politics.

Voters deserve better during this campaign than endless games of "gotcha" among candidates and the media. Silly tit-for-tat accusations of this kind do nothing to inform us about the issues facing our nation, how to solve them, and for whom to vote.

Not that I'm going to hold my breath waiting for our political discourse to improve.

•  Word up for tips [n/t]

  by Hudson on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:21:06 PM PDT

  •  She approbated Edwards' Solutions for America'

    And one day Edwards said, 'This is very personal for me' and the very next day I heard Hillary say 'This is very personal for me.'

    We could go on and on and on, but I'm afraid that's all the strategery Hillary has left.

    Also, didn't she 'plagiarize' most of her husband's presidency ?

    And when she played the 9/11 card last month wasn't she virtually plagiarizing Cheney's same tactic on the eve of the '04 election ?

    I suppose playing the race card in South Carolina could be plagiarizing Karl Rove's tactic in 2000 ?  Or maybe not, cuz it backfired ?

    Ironic, too, that I have heard figures as diverse as John F Kennedy, Helen Keller, Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King, and many others being accused of 'plagiarism.'

    Like I said, we could go on and on and on.  Hillary's campaign chief Wolfson refused yesterday to promise that Hillary has not done anything of the kind in borrowing phrases.

    In fact, she did that very thing in NH when she called herself the Comeback Kid.

    The Politics of Diversion, is what it is.

    by RobertInWisconsin on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:25:18 PM PDT

    •  If Hillary wants to play the plagiarism game,

      I came up with an original phrase to respond...

      Bring it on!

      by Hudson on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:26:25 PM PDT

      •  This ain't plagiarism

        but it's one YouTube clip I would hate to see on the evening news if I were a Hillary fan.  (Starts about 39 seconds in.  OUCH.)

        http://www.youtube.com/...

        OUCH.

        by RobertInWisconsin on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:33:42 PM PDT

    •  LOL, I just realized I used bad grammar

      which is easy to do in comments.

      She APPROPRIATED Edwards' 'Solutions for America'

      Does my using bad grammar mean I am plagiarizing George W Bush's speaking style ?

      by RobertInWisconsin on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:36:41 PM PDT

      •  It's all the (roid) rage

        Roger Clemens said that Andy Pettitte "misremembered" their conversations about steroids.

        by Hudson on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:41:16 PM PDT

•  omg, don't forget she plagiarized this too:

  "fired up and ready to go" - you know, because that's not like a catch phrase or anything.

  by jtorres138 on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:21:50 PM PDT

•  and she wants to be called "President Clinton"...

  ...which, if that ain't plagiarism, I don't know what is!

  by Dante92660 on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:23:25 PM PDT

  •  Heh, good one. n/t

    by Hudson on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:25:39 PM PDT

•  Everytime

  I hear Hillary say we need to take back our country I laugh.
  If she starts into "You have the power," I think I might vomit a little in my mouth.

  by Drewid on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:24:47 PM PDT

  •  You've been listening to Stephanie Miller

    ... for too long.  :)

    by MikeTheLiberal on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:25:38 PM PDT

•  And Howard was just as bad

  I think it was Ronald Raygun who wanted to take our country back.

  But, he stole it from Carter.  Who stole it from Nixon.  Who stole it from Johnson.  ....

  And all of them stole it from the Indians, who really want their country back!

  by MikeTheLiberal on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:25:01 PM PDT

  •  Reminds me of that t-shirt

    .... about Homeland Security, fighting terrorism since 1492:

    http://www.cafepress.com/...

    by Hudson on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:27:49 PM PDT

  •  I met Aborigines in Australia who also

    wanted their country back, having been there for over 40,000 years. It's not new. The Bible is riddled with good, repeatable quotations.

    by Asinus Asinum Fricat on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:39:21 PM PDT

    •  Like Ecclesiastes 1:9

      That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.

      by Fawkes on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:48:14 PM PDT

•  Hillary copied Bush on Iraq, too...

  What is worse?

  (a) borrowing a line of HOPE from a friend and colleague ("just words")

  (b) believing (and echoing) the words of George W. Bush in the run-up to Iraq (and then casting a VOTE based upon the misguided rhetoric)

  Hmmmm...I will take OBAMA any day!

  by Dante92660 on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:28:29 PM PDT

  •  a diary and great video on this here....

    my diary, but another user's video, from earlier this afternoon:  [Update with video] Clinton Speech Plagiarized Bush/Cheney (unfortunately not snark)

    by Joes username on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:37:44 PM PDT

•  well, to be fair

  howard was skillfully stealing the phrase from the knuckle dragging right wing jackasses in the "take vermont back" campaign against civil unions.

  by wu ming on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:32:48 PM PDT

  •  Good catch.

    And that's my point: In politics, it's been a long time since anyone came up with much in the way of original sloganeering.

    Plagiarism, to me, is stealing paragraphs worth of argumentation from someone else, and trying to pass it off as your own.

    by Hudson on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:34:37 PM PDT

    •  exactly. ideas aren't property

      smart politicians grab the good ones.

      by wu ming on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:49:47 PM PDT

•  What about Garfield

  Maybe Garfield said the same thing.  Just saying.

  by egarratt on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:37:51 PM PDT

  •  Clarence Garfield?

    Or Garfield the Cat?

    by Hudson on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:39:07 PM PDT

  •  Garfield the President or

    Garfield the Cat?

    by Fawkes on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:40:30 PM PDT

    •  You two

      owe each other a Coke.

      by Annie Maim on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:41:48 PM PDT

•  Why is this an issue? In politics and elsewhere

  people have traded material for years.  All of BushCo and their Republican trolls trade tripe back and forth & nobody cares.  Please folks stick to matters of substance such as why four more years of BushCo policy may well finish off this democracy.  

  by Habanero on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:44:00 PM PDT

  •  Precisely...

    ... what I said at the end of the diary:

    Is either Clinton or Obama a plagiarist? Hardly.

    Unlike the more extensive instance of actual plagiarism which forced Senator Joseph Biden from the 1988 race, these phrases ("just words," "take our country back") are common to political debate. We should firmly distinguish between passing off extended passages and substantial arguments as one's own, and the day-to-day sloganeering of politics.

    Voters deserve better during this campaign than endless games of "gotcha" among candidates and the media. Silly tit-for-tat accusations of this kind do nothing to inform us about the issues facing our nation, how to solve them, and for whom to vote.

    by Hudson on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:46:10 PM PDT

•  plagiarism

  The recent 'plagiarism' flap is great news for Obama, IMHO.  It reveals that the Hillary camp is short on ammo, running out of gas, and desperate.  If this is the best they got, then bring it on!

  by Eagleye on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:50:24 PM PDT

•  Hillary plagiarizing:

  by rickyscorpio on Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 01:57:00 PM PDT