Monday, February 18, 2008

Hillary Accusing Obama For What SHE Is Doing

Hey folks,

Happy Tuesday to you. Back to reality for most of us. You know, talk about the pot calling the kettle black. The big news yesterday was this. According to the AP-Clinton camp accuses Obama of plagiarism

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer

Top advisers to Hillary Rodham Clinton accused Democratic rival Barack Obama of plagiarism Monday, the latest effort by her campaign to undermine the Illinois senator's credibility.

Yeah HIS credibility, because we all know she is above reproach on the credibility issue.

Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson, during a conference call with reporters, pointed to a speech Obama delivered at a Democratic Party dinner in Wisconsin Saturday that lifted lines from an address given last year by his friend, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

The Associated Press reported in January that Obama had borrowed ideas and speech points from Patrick, often without attribution. But with Obama now leading in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Clinton's campaign is using this example in an attempt to chip away at the premise of his candidacy.

Out of desperation. I doubt it will work.

The passage in question from Obama's speech addressed the power of oratory, and he used it to rebut Clinton's oft-repeated charge that he is long on rhetoric and short on policy specifics.

Well, he is, but that's not the point.

“Don't tell me words don't matter,” Obama told the Wisconsin audience. “'I have a dream' — just words? 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal' — just words? 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself' — just words? Just speeches?”

Patrick used similar language during his 2006 governor's race to push back on similar charges from his GOP opponent.

“'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal' — just words? Just words?” Patrick said. “'We have nothing to fear but fear itself' — just words? 'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.' Just words? 'I have a dream' — just words?”

Clinton's campaign posted video clips on YouTube to illustrate the similarities in Obama's and Patrick's speeches.

I'm waiting for the YouTube video of Clinton's economic plan. More on that in a second.

The charges came a day before Wisconsin's presidential primary, where polls indicate a tight race between the two. The contest featured the first negative television ads of the campaign — from Clinton, criticizing Obama for refusing to debate her in the state before the primary.

True. But again, not the point.

Break,,,

The accusations momentarily put Obama on the defensive and distracted from a tour in Ohio where he hoped to focus on the economy.

At a news conference, Obama acknowledged trading ideas with Patrick and said he and the Massachusetts governor occasionally had borrowed language from each other. Obama said he probably should have credited Patrick but said the oversight didn't indicate a pattern of deception.

“I've written two books, wrote most of my speeches. So I think putting aside the question ... in terms of whether my words were my own, I think that would be carrying it too far,” Obama said.

He noted that Clinton occasionally had borrowed language from him.

Also true.

“I really don't think this is too big of a deal,” Obama said. “When Senator Clinton says 'It's time to turn the page' in one of her stump speeches or says she's 'fired up and ready to go,' I don't think that anybody suggests that she's not focused on the issues that she's focused on.”

He hit back harder at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, turning Clinton's criticism of his speeches into a biting critique of her past support of trade deals, including the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“She says speeches don't put food on the table. You know what? NAFTA didn't put food on the table, either,” Obama said, bringing the Rust Belt crowd to its feet.

Whoa! OK, so maybe Hillary would like to explain this? According to Reuters - New Clinton economic message has echoes of Edwards By Caren Bohan

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (Reuters) - White House hopeful Hillary Clinton has a message for hairdressers in Wisconsin, postal workers in Ohio and autoworkers across the United States who are struggling financially: She cares.

The former first lady and New York senator is hoping blue collar workers will provide her with a crucial base of support as she tries to erode the lead her rival Barack Obama has opened in the tight race to become the Democratic nominee in the November presidential election.

Clinton is courting working-class voters with a new message of economic populism similar to the theme of John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator who dropped out of the Democratic race in January.

Substitute the word here "populism" with Socialism, because that is what it is. It is also EDWARD'S plan.

Edwards never gained enough momentum to be competitive with Obama and Clinton, but the New York and Illinois senators are trying to woo his followers, many of whom were passionate about his pledge to take on "corporate greed" and bring change to a government he said had sold out the middle class.

Obama and Clinton are both seeking the endorsement of Edwards, who has so far remained neutral.

At campaign rallies over the last few days, Clinton has vowed to rein in corporate interests from oil companies to credit card issuers and mortgage lenders, contending that they are profiting at the expense of the middle class.

"Some days, it probably feels like the perfect storm. You fill up your tank, and that's two twenties from your wallet. You pick up a gallon of milk and a few other things -- and there goes another," Clinton told autoworkers on Thursday at a General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio.

"After a while, you feel like a human ATM -- with all the money going the wrong way."

Like she cares.

The Lordstown plant was where Clinton, holding up a pair of boxing gloves and pledging to fight the influence of "special interests," first unveiled her re-tooled economic theme.

SPECIAL INTERESTS? Like why she did not show up to vote on FISA? Maybe because she did not want to upset the Trail Lawyers who are suing the Telecom. Companies that the law would protect? You know, after the Trail Lawyers paid millions of dollars to the Democrats and Democrat causes?

Back to Reuters.

While Edwards was able to galvanize working-class voters by vowing to champion their interests, his campaign faced some awkward moments when his lifestyle as a successful lawyer collided with the image he was seeking to project, such as when it was revealed that he had gotten a $400 haircut.

Yup. {Laughing} Haircut boy.

Clinton, who would become the first woman president, has described herself as "of, from and for the middle class." She grew up in a comfortable middle-class suburb of Chicago then went on to attend elite Wellesley College and Yale Law School before becoming first lady and later a senator. She is wealthy enough that she was able to loan her campaign $5 million.

Speaks for itself folks.

Clinton hammered the economic populist {Socialism} theme throughout a two-day swing in Ohio last week and in Wisconsin, where she arrived on Saturday before the state's primary on Tuesday. Ohio's March 4 primary is considered a must-win for her.

"It's a little bit hard to take the fact that we have investment managers on Wall Street making $50 million a year paying a lower percentage of their income than nurses and teachers and truck drivers," Clinton said to loud applause at a jam-packed bratwurst restaurant in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

How much money did you make while on the board at Wal-Mart Mrs. Clinton? Do you KNOW how much the workers at Wal-Mart make? Do you know how the workers at the Distribution centers are treated? I do.

She railed against a tax code that she said was unfair to the middle class and against the outsourcing of jobs overseas.

"We're going to keep jobs by making it abundantly clear that there will not be one penny of your tax dollars that goes to anyone who exports jobs out of Wisconsin," Clinton said.

Bunk. Pure and unadulterated BUNK.

After taking a question from a little girl who told her that she and her mother were about to lose their home because the mortgage payment had jumped too high, Clinton invited the two onstage and put her arm around them.

Can you say PLANT. {Sigh} PLEASE!

Clinton said the woman, a hairdresser whose mortgage payment jumped from $600 to $1,000 a month, was in a similar position to many people she had spoken to who been pushed into adjustable-rate loans by unscrupulous mortgage brokers.

WAIT! Did she cry? Just curious. You know that THIS plan of Hillary's is a carbon copy of Edwards. So? Who is plagiarizing Mrs Clinton? Should someone run side by side comparisons with yours and Edwards?

Yes folks, pot, kettle, black. But it is good to see these two actually go at it. Obama had an open door the take her out, well, about three now, and did not take it. I hope he wakes up soon, and does what he needs to, to ensure that he locks his nomination with the Democrat Party.

To me, this just seems like desperation by Hillary and Clinton Inc. It is getting fun to watch.
Peter

Sources:
AP - Clinton camp accuses Obama of plagiarism
AP - Obama says borrowed lines not a big deal
Reuters - New Clinton economic message has echoes of Edwards

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nothing new about political plagiarism:

‘Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country’ was the slogan of the Nazi Youth Movement During the 1930’s.

Let's face it, politics is an activity in which candidates try to create a mood by pushing buttons expected to stimulate positive responses in significant constituencies. If one button doesn't have the intended effect, you push another and keep pushing until you have assembled a winning coalition. It explains the staged events, the self-serving declarations about the passion to "serve," and claims to the knowledge of leadership.

What's this have to do with the cause of Life Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness?

Note the dominant themes in the current campaigns: hope, change, experience, and straight talk.

Hope for what?

Change toward what?

Experience at what?

Straight talk about what?

It really doesn't matter. These terms, and there are others, are not meant to inform. They are meant to win. Unfortunately, many if not most voters are waiting to be won -- by a sound bite, a smile, a possible tear in the eye. We have a good indications on why this is so. Since the consequences of the individual's vote are negligible, voters have every incentive to select candidates according to their own pre-rational prejudices, most of which run contrary to economic wisdom and libertarian principles. They vote for the man or woman who makes them feel good.

At present, none of the running candidates make me feel good, rather they make me want to vomit.

Peter said...

Hey Doug

Excellent points all. I may have to highlight what you just said soon. Thank you.
Peter

Anonymous said...

Pete,
I should have worded that a little differently.
Was having a bad day.
Also started a google blog
http://dsharford.blogspot.com/

Peter said...

I thought you worded it PERFECTLY. That is the way a lot of us feel.

Congrats on your new Blog. I'll visit soon.

Peter