Obama gives opponents plenty of ammunition [View All]

[Mags]

http://Chances are you’ve seen the video

clips. First comes Sen. Barack

Obama, responding to the charge that he’s long on rhetoric, short on substance. “Don’t tell me words don’t matter,” Obama told voters. “‘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.” It’s rhetorically brilliant, even thrilling. In four pungent sentences, delivered in an accent and cadence very like Martin Luther King Jr. ’s, Obama associates himself with King, Thomas Jefferson and Franklin D. Roosevelt. It’s bedrock Americanism, sheer magic. No wonder Obama has amassed fervent mass of followers. It’s also a steal from Obama’s friend, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. You can watch Patrick on YouTube delivering virtually identical remarks to a cheering crowd in 2006. Obama’s better, a far more convincing actor. But is it plagiarism, as the Hillary Clinton campaign charges ? Well, if I passed it off as mine in a column, I’d be fired, deservedly so. It would merit an F in a student term paper. But it’s a political speech, and Patrick, who probably didn’t write it himself—consultant David Axelrod masterminded both men’s campaigns—says he’s not offended.
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