Letters to the Editor
doloresflower
Published Letters: 1201 Editor's Choice: 10
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This is a rather ingenious jab at his lack of experience again
[Read the article: The "plagiarism" problem]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Notice how she claims that he is running (only) on the strength of his rhetoric. Although his rhetoric is a strength, he hasn't claimed to be running on rhetoric alone, nor have his supporters.
But if she can charge rhetoric as his "only" strength, and simultaneously attack it, then she has blown away his candidacy.
The Clintons are ingenious lawyers. But bottom line, whatever standard applies to other politicians regarding credit, the same and no stronger standard applies to Obama. And boo to cleverly continuing the Clintons' talking point that there is no other legitimate basis of Obama's candidacy but his rhetoric.
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a short tangent on copyright
[Read the article: The "plagiarism" problem]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]After I graduated from college I went to teach English in South Korea at a university for women. It was a great gig, but the ideas about copyright in Asia were still "coming around" (this was a few years back). I had a student who was supposed to watch an American movie over her choice and write a half page about it in English quote to me word for word from the back of a video box. Another student lifted a movie review from the New Yorker and then swore to me--using her friend to explain because her English wasn't strong enough to make the case--that she had written it herself. The university insisted that these students only punishment would be a do-over of that particular assignment.
Later I learned that "reverse plagiarism" is considered a more serious charge in South Korea (or was then). In other words there was so much pressure on students to quote from noted authorities that lazy students would assign their best ideas to the authorities they thought would give their papers the most gravitas...
Funny. In this case, if Obama says that he will give more credit next time, it seems like a stretch to make this a character flaw. Particularly when fair use seems to apply to most speeches. But let the arguing continue...And on the upside, now the name of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick will be known around the world. He will have renown....the guy Obama ripped off. Or riffed off of...depending on where the dust settles.
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@ AKA Smith
[Read the article: The "plagiarism" problem]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But if you can't vote for Obama because of any plagiarism (I'm not arguing with that idea by the way)--then how is it okay with you that as other people here have mentioned--that Hillary didn't give credit to her ghost writers, particularly for her book "It takes a village..."? There was lot of controversy about that at the time. Do you think its different if a ghost writer is not given credit for her words?
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David Bainbridge
[Read the article: The "plagiarism" problem]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]what a depressing thought. So the next time someone causes an illegal, unconstitutional war like Bush, the public won't care?
I see your sentiment, and regarding minor things (if this is minor) I hope you're right. But I hope it isn't always true. You know, the constitution is a pretty fine document. I hope it stays scandalous how shabbily Bush treated it, but not only for Bush, for any predecessor in his likeness...
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@aka smith
[Read the article: The "plagiarism" problem]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"I write too much here instead of writing what I should be writing.
I will be punished"
me too! and thanks for the Dan Brown story. I have that problem with a lot of popular books too. Sometimes they are even "literary" books like Ian McEwan.
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One of the smarter moves of Obama's campaign so far
[Read the article: A week of petty though typical attacks on Obama produced nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]was putting a freeze on FOX news early on after their patently false madrassa elementary school report. Because he just hasn't tolerated their nonsense, I think it gives him some strength to operate from.
No, he's not immune, and the mud is going to get worse. But its interesting that FOX made its bed with Bush and as Bush sinks, so does FOX. Obviously, FOX will still thrive for a while to come with a portion of the population, but Obama ignoring them and treating them as a non-network has been effective. It seems to have even made them respect him (as much as they are capable--meaning only a tiny bit). John Kerry didn't defend himself rigorously enough from the swiftboat attacks--and I think Obama will not make that mistake as he is quick to issue a statement after every accusation.
Yes, it will get worse though. I hope that the right wing finally exposes itself for the ugliness that it is--and what it's done to the country for the past eight years, and more. If Obama can speak directly to people and avoid having his only exposure come through the media (ie grassroots support) this will also create some insulation effect against (false) media filtered access.
Or so I hope.
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@Juliebird
[Read the article: John F. Kennedy, plagiarist?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Respectfully, from my understanding, there were two paragraphs, not "several pages" borrowed. And in Biden's case, he was unfortunate or unwise enough to borrow a personal story in which he ended up referring to his family as coal miners (which they were definitely not).
In Obama's situation there was an abstract (universal?) idea and no false personalization or pretend family of coal miners. Technically, it was a paraphrase, since he changed the order, putting MLK's quote first. Usually a paraphrase is attributed, but in this case the owner said he did not want to be attributed--meaning that one could argue "fair use" (the author can pass on their attribution if they wish to). This is how I read the situation, but I admit that I'm not a copyright attorney.
I'm not saying that there is zero cause for concern, but I also think that being overly concerned where permission has been given, can make the situation bigger or more important than it needs to be in this case. I read that Patrick Devon has also been accused of copying sections of Obama's speeches...I suppose both will need to be more open about that now, or to write up a contract of free use for one another, as speechwriters would. Or, as last night, Obama will simply avoid using Patrick's words at all.