When are you going to report on Obama's plagiarism, as ABC News has?  http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/02/obama-echoes-de.html.  Obama is plagiarizing McCain, Clinton (economic plan, green collar jobs plan), and now is plagiarizing speeches from Deval Patrick in 2006.  This is a serious allegation, one that brought down Obama.  Why are you - the press - supPRESSing this news?

Old boy getting be a bit feisty in his old age. ;-P

Bill's coming apart!

The reason they're not reporting on Obama's "plagiarism" is that everyone does it. All the Democrats nicked bits and pieces from each other's stump speeches, campaign literature, graphic design, and policy proposals. Most of them are drawing from the same well.

It's politics. Get used to it.

Bill's comments here make an interesting point though. His inability to deal with someone who disagrees with him in a civil and understanding manner reflects poorly on the way Hillary Clinton's campaign is being run.

She's not interested in trying to patch over some of these divides. She's not interested in trying to reach out beyond the Democratic Party regulars. She still thinks of the midwest as flyover country. She still thinks that anybody who isn't firmly behind the Democrats on every issue is some kind of ignorant heathen.

There is such a thing as a pro-life Democrat. I've met plenty of them. This kind of shouting match doesn't do Bill, Hillary, or the party any good. I encourage anybody who hasn't already to read Obama's book, The Audacity Of Hope. There's a great passage about a pro-life Democrat who was completely on board with Obama's message, but took issue with some of the more vitriolic rhetoric regarding abortion that his campaign staff had put on his website. He listened to the man, explained his position (which is that we should do more to reduce the number of abortions in this country without criminalizing it), and had his campaign staff change the website.

And don't even come in here talking about present votes. Obama, being an adroit politician, worked out a deal with Planned Parenthood that denied the Republican majority in the Illinois senate another talking point for their re-election campaigns and managed to make the Republicans look stupid for proposing bills with ridiculous names like the "Saving Children Who Were Nearly Murdered Act" (or something similar) and then having them defeated- WITHOUT "no" votes by the most progressive members of the Senate.

You want Republicans to stop throwing temper tantrums like spoiled children? You can keep voting for people like Hillary Clinton, who will just shout at them, or people like Nancy Pelosi, who will likely continue to out-immature the Republicans (remember the children on Capitol Hill during SCHIP proceedings?), or we can elect Obama, the only person in the field who knows how to marginalize people who are acting like idiots.

Clinton is the most arrogant jerk in politics.  And that is saying something, because there are a lot of them.

Hey Dave.. Maybe they are not reporting it because it is a non issue. It is not plagiarism if the Patrick has no problem with it.

From your link: The Obama campaign has issued a statement from Gov. Patrick: “Sen. Obama and I are long-time friends and allies.  We often share ideas about politics, policy and language.  The argument in question, on the value of words in the public square, is one about which he and I have spoken frequently before.  Given the recent attacks from Sen. Clinton, I applaud him responding in just the way he did.”

Before you post garbage maybe you should check your sources.

Treat folks with no respect and be treated as if you are without respect.

Bill.  If you & Hillary were considered the best on womens health & civil rights then why did Kate Michelman and the other major figures and organizations including Planned Parenthood & NARAL abandon their support for Hillary and choose to back Barack Obama once they took a hard look at records and veracity?

I guess you are right about one thing.
Talk is cheap, Bill.
Obama is about doing the heavy lifting and working for solutions for all Americans.
Just ask the women in South Dakota whom he alone supported from the Senate when their right to choose was threatened.
Where were you & Hillary at that crucial time?
Probably in some ---stan working another mining deal while Hillary was busy naming a Post Office.

The view from the UK on the Democrat race between Obama V Clinton is facinating...
Clinton is a wise old owl but with the usual rhetoric and tatty baggage.
Obamo is clean, straight forward, and with gentile ways, but with a rough diamond core that hilary has not seen yet.Obama should win easily but may yet be subject to the dirty tactics that the other side is no doubt planning which is a shame becuase it reflects on the whole democrat party and american political scene as a whole. Go Obama GO.

Kevin M
Swansea UK

I agree Dave.  That link was helpful.  It seems that Obama copies just about everyone.  His ideas are generally ill thought out and his bills fail eventually.  So, he takes others slogans and arguments, speeches and now he is touting his health care as 'universal' when it isn't, AND OTHER ISSUES.

ABC News is sooooo anti-Obama, I'm not sure if they are pro-Clinton, but they definetly are the only ones I see reporting anything negative on Obama CONSISTENTLY.

So very glad to see idiot Dem fighting Dem.

Though Johnny is far from our poster boy, you guys are making it too easy.

In this corner:  The aged and ruthless Clinton Part III.   And in the other corner, Opie.    

Have at it please.  (What a sad match: Reagan would have chewed you both to pieces.  Maybe even that peanut farmer - and THAT's SAD!)

Let the country see that has-been's and never-was's are NOT suited to running this fair land of ours!

And TY!   I'm almost thinking of contributing to the DNC if they continue to infight as they are currently!

- Alex

Dave, they haven't reported this because it's not really news.  Obama and Deval Patrick are good friends and have consistently borrowed each other's remarks.  Patrick has also borrowed directly from Obama.  Obama stated that he ad-libbed the remarks and that they weren't in his written speech.  They share many of the same views on politics so it's not surprising that Obama would use words that sound almost identical to Patrick's.

Bill is truly an idiot and continues to disgrace the office of the former POTUS! Why do you lefties what this to continue by returning this buffoon and his mean spritied wife to the White House???

I was a faitful viewer of MSNBC but not any more.  I am switching to FOX.  At least FOX is fair in its coverage.  MSNBC is either in bed with OBAMA or is on his payroll.  I can not believe how one sided coverage and support that MSNBC gives to OBAMA.  I really hope that Hillary win's and that she and Bill never give another interview to MSNBC.   MSNBC really blows everything out of proportion and into OBAMA's favor.  

Ol Bill really enjoys projecting his false impressions of others to create straw men arguments doesn't he...

I recently changed my support from Hillary to Obama; even though, I had been blogging for her for several months.

Me and my family used to be the biggest fans of Bill Clinton. Everyone in my community can't stand to see Bill on TV anymore.  I’m not sure if its his older age or maybe the lack of sleep lately, but I truly believe his lost his mind.  He makes no sense anymore, cares about nothing other than attempting to get his wife elected, plucks words right out of the air while stating nothing, and now even goes against the voices of mass voters...

Bill Clinton is really not he same person I USED to respect and admire!

This country needs straight shooters.  Vote for anybody but the Clinton Fabricators....Obama first, if not, then McCain!

If you want real Change, VOTE 4 OBAMA.  And of course, just like the front yards of his campaign headquarters around the country, "Do Not Enter if you belong to a PAC of Lobbyist firm".

There are well over 30,000 registered lobbyists that will soon need to get real jobs in this country.  The breast that feeds monies into the Hillary’s campaign is almost out of milk!

THIS IS A TATIC THAT OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN WILL TRY TO USE...BEING ABUSED...WAKE UP AMERICA.......

Plagarism is nothing new in politics.  Patrick Duvall is a friend of Obama's and they share thoughts and ideas.  Do you really believe this is an issue???? Rabid-ass Clintonians!!

LOL...Bill at it again.  It just cracks me up when I hear people try to explain why we want ANOTHER 8 years of THIS????  This wonderful man brought us NAFTA, the TECHNOLGY BUBBLE, and helped solve unemployment with tons of service jobs.  My goodness, gotta love those 90's.  

Ummm Dave it's not plagiarism if they are friends and he allows him to use the content.  Your making way to big of a deal about it =P So yea the media is not supressing it (theres no real story there)

Dave said: "When are you going to report on Obama's plagiarism, as ABC News has?"
Dave please. What candidate hasn't echoed the words of others? If you did your history you would find that it's not at all uncommon. To not choose the obvious best candidate solely because he echoed someone elses sentiments is totally rediculous. If this is the worst that Anti-Obamites can come up with, then I think Michelle Obama can start talking to her decorator about the Obama White House color schemes.

Such nice people those Obama supporters! Jerks like that guy won't change my respect for President Clinton, in fact it only deepens it! Try as they might,it does not change the fact Bill Clinton was a great President and his wife will be an even better one!  Wonder how many more jerks will make the news for Obama between now and March 4th?!

Joe:  I like you very much.  But, for God's sakes, get off the Clinton's back.  Let the people decide the election if all that can be done is to scrutinize the Clintons without the Press having done it in the same manner and tones with the Obama's.  What is wrong with the past?  Wonderful things were done which made the USA what it is today.  Women won the right to vote 83 years ago, and now a woman is running for President of the United States.  That would make a good story today. The road to progress of women in the USA.  My mom is 83 yrs. old and I like her company.  In these time of turmoil she symbolizes stabilty, history, and faith.    I am a baby boomer and I have a life ahead of me.  I just finished my Master's Degree and there is so much I still have to give.  There is so much to do.   On the Axelrod comment.  It's not that he's helping Obama project himself to get the votes it is that Obama is good friends with everybody, but if it were Hillary then it would be that she had to be taught to talk and that she was not honest.  No matter what the Clinton's past they are part of the American history.  Just like Ted Kennedy and Chappaquidick.  But I guess that was ok.  

I feel like if Sen. Clinton gets into office, Bill is going to be like Joe Pessi in GoodFellas, "did you say somethin to my 'wife', did ya" (stabs person with whitehouse pen "you got somethin to say now or are ya gonna just cry like a little girl?"

In response to Dave:

I have no problem with candidates using language from past political speeches when, as is the case in the article you referenced, they appear to have the full support of both the original writers and the original user of the language.  The specific instance referenced in the article you linked was an effective argument about the value of words in the public arena.

Go Bill, tell it like it is!

Bill is what you call a real man. Way to go Bill. He has balls, unlike Obama.

ProLife is a sick joke. These people are pro the fear and hate platform of the GOP. You would be hard pressed to find a Christian bone in their body.

I'm decidely NOT a Clinton fan.  Having said that, I didn't see that he looked unhinged or in a rage. But he did seem to be inappropriately engaging the hecklers, rather than defusing the situation.  What it illustrates to me is a lack of impulse control or a surfeit of self importance.  Either he feels he absolutely must win every argument or he feels he shouldn't be questioned at all.  The impression I get from the way the Clintons are conducting their campaign at this point is that they are stunned and hurt that they are being challenged in any way, whether its by Senator Obama, or the media, or by voters who haven't fallen in lockstep behind Senator Clinton's ascension in the dynasty.  The number of times that President Clinton has told Senator Obama's supporters that they are following false hopes or simply don't know his wife is right would seem to indicate that they are having difficulties processing the idea that people who don't support them might actually have heard them, and rejected them.

Imagine MSNBC if…

It was Hillary Clinton (not Barack Obama) who purchased her house for $300,000 under its market value thanks to her political relationship with a man who was known to be the target of an FBI investigation when the sale took place?

It was Hillary Clinton (not Barack Obama) who, as an Illinois state legislature, said she pushed the wrong button when voting on at least seven pieces of legisaltion – two on hotly contested issues?

It was Hillary Clinton (not Barack Obama) who pledged last year that she would accept public financing in the general election if her Republican rival agreed to as well and will now not agree to uphold that pledge?

It was Hillary Clinton (not Barack Obama) who stole lines from Gov. Deval Patrick’s speech

Imagine if MSNBC wasn’t afraid or did not have a pro-Obama agenda.....

Imagine if they were doing their jobs instead of trying to elect Barack Obama as our next President….

something is seriously wrong. Read his statement. It reads like something a mad man would say. No sense at all. It is truly sad what he has reduced himself to.

Well, since Bill has not been acting like an ex-president, trying to be above the fray, what did he expect?  I am not condoning the actions of the protester, but Bill has got chill and not be so thin skinned.  Poor dude must not be getting any.    

God I love this this man!  Tell 'em to go to hell Bill! Freedom is just another word for nothing else to lose!  Nothing to lose here, kick butt and speak up, no more pushing the Clintons around with their hate and brainless BS!  My sweet Jesus they fear you and people who take our freedoms and our constitutional rights seriously. Too bad they do not give a crap about all the children that are living homeless and in abuse and neglect.  America the home of so many hypocrites!

God I love this this man!  Tell 'em to go to hell Bill! Freedom is just another word for nothing else to lose!  Nothing to lose here, kick butt and speak up, no more pushing the Clintons around with their hate and brainless BS!  My sweet Jesus they fear you and people who take our freedoms and our constitutional rights seriously. Too bad they do not give a crap about all the children that are living homeless and in abuse and neglect.  America the home of so many hypocrites!

I think you have it wrong Obama has not plagiarized anyone. Hillary supporters, much like Mrs. Clinton herself seem not to be beholden to the truth.Hillary released her plan for green jobs in Nov. 2007. Obama released his in Oct. 2007. Here is the link if you need proof: http://www.barackobama.com/2007/10/08/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_28.php

I have found some issues with this economic plan. First, she wants to take on special interests but she is the number one recipient of special interest money. She also wants to reform the free-trade agreements, but her husband gave us the free-trade agreements. As far as specific points, she is trying to move the Presidency in a direction that scares me. Mandated health insurance and a freeze on interest rates defy the rules of personal choice and free-market capitalism. Those are two things that Americans have always been proud of. It is what makes America, America. Take the previous two points along with her statement that she wants a law that says Congress cannot raise their own pay unless the minimum wage is increased. Sounds good but what are the real odds of that happening

The protestor was just another rightwingnut who wants to ban abortions but sit on his hands when those unwanted kids are dumped on society...these flatworlders still think you can legislate behavior and parenthood, and if not, then they don't want to pay taxes to support these kids and they sure in the heck aren't adopting in large numbers now are they?

Good for BIll!

The Clinton's had many enemies BEFORE Barack Obama. All you members of the Hill-dog pack ought to remember that.

In response to the Obama plagiarism issue.... McCain plagiarized Obama, not the other way around.  And Deval Patrick has publicly stated that the use of his wording in Obama's speeches is a direct result of conversations the two of them had about how to address the issue of rhetoric.  Calm down people, we have 2 upstanding democratic choices, lets not try to cut either of them apart, considering that one or the other will be the nominee.

The Clintons had waaaay more enemies before Obama came on the seen.

Maybe because it was clearly Obama who lent Patrick his   routine (and several of his key staffers) not the other way around.

By the way, how much did you make for posting that?
http://voteforhillaryonline.blogspot.com/2007/11/get-paid-to-post-positive-comments.html

Right on Bill!
By the way, for all you Obama-Rama-Ding-Dongs; "Yes we can" is a copy-cat knock-off of a speech Bill Clinton gave on the campaign trail in 1992.
Just thought you should know.
By the way, First Read's editors are shameless harlets, and yellow journalists.
Have a Nice Day.
:-)

damn right Mr President.

You tell em.

Dave, i know this is a talking point for the Clinton camp today.  But really.  Obama and Deval Patrick have the same campaign manager, and they are friends.  So if their words are similar, its called sharing of ideas.

The current Clinton mantra, "Words of inspiration are hollow.", is the most ignorant "hollow" argument I have (and I am sure most thinking persons) have ever heard. Movements throughout the history of civilization happen when someone comes along (Martin Luther King, jr., etc...) and is able to persuade and motivate with inspirational words.  I agree with Sen.Obama's latest response to these rediculous Clinton statements: anyone can introduce countless peices of legislation before Congress. Most peices of legislation go nowhere without someone who is able to persuade, motive and inspire. Obama "has it" Hillary Clinton "doesn't have it" and the Clinton's argument is completely insulting our intelligence. Despicable and disgusting. I hope that the American people don't fall for this lame stupidity.

"When are you going to report on Obama's plagiarism..."

Please...spare us your histrionics and read the article you quoted. When two parties who are associates use the same terms, it is not plagiarism...it's called being like minded.

It's clear that First Read and MSNBC, which have become partners with the Obama Campaign, approve of this disruptive behavior on Obama's behalf.
If a Clinton supporter had done this you would have reported it negatively.
Don't kid yourselves, you aren't journalists, and the netwrok you are employed by is no longer a reliable source of news.
You three morons, along with Mathews, Olberman, Eugene Robinson, Howard Fineman, and the rest of the CIRCUS CLOWNS at MSNBC have all become PROSTITUTES for Obama.
I hope your careers go right into the toilet as a result of the shameless LIES and PROPAGANDA you've "published" about The Clintons.

the clintons are the most arrogant people on the planet, bill's outbursts are not because he is trying to defend hillary, they are because he can not understand why commoners would question anything the clintons said or done, how dare them, they are owed this election for no other reason than they are the 'clintons', bow down before their self perceived greatness, we don't need a self absorbed monarchy, we need obama

If all of these people who say they are pro life,  they would campaign to get rid of the death penalty.  Being pro life to me, means all life, not just the issue of abortion.

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