Congrats to DUer Stephanie... MSNBC just reported on "cookie-gate"

[npincus]

:rofl:

MSNBC referred to a "tipster" noticing a striking similarity between one of "Cindy McCain's" cookie recipes and one posted on Hersheys.com!



I believe it started with Stephanies's (a.k.a. "tipster") thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6365886&mesg_id=6365886 which was picked up by Huffpo...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-weiner/re-heat-offender-cindy-ba_b_107428.html

Here we go again. Just two months after we broke Recipegate comes news that Cindy McCain is up to her old tricks. The July 2008 issue of Family Circle featured an article in which each (it went to press before Hillary conceded) of the presidential candidates' significant others submitted a cookie recipe. A tipster caught a whiff of something besides sugar after reviewing Cindy McCain's Oatmeal-Butterscotch cookies, and quickly found the original recipe at Hersheys.com (see image below). While McCain, or that same low-level staffer, managed to take the time to switch a few minor details in her version of the recipe this time around, there is no doubt that the recipes are the same.

While Bill Clinton gives credit to the family cook, and Michelle Obama to the godmother of her daughters, Cindy McCain attributes her cookie recipe to "a good friend."

Unless John McCain was a childhood friend of Milton S. Hershey or her beer baron family worked with him on a chocolate beer bar back in the day, it seems Cindy is a plagiarist of the most delicious kind. Again.

Let's hope I don't get another unpaid intern fired this time around...



:rofl:

on eidt: see post #4- Stephanie has confirmed that she sent it to Huffpo (and others) confirming that she is the "tipster" and origin of "cookie-gate"! Way to go, Steph!!!

:toast: :rofl:

[Auggie]

1. Breaking News from MSNBC

[blondeatlast]

2. WTG Stephanie! YES! nt

[Occam Bandage]

3. This is why I love the Internet. Congratulations, Stephanie.

[Stephanie]

4. Yay! I sent it to HuffPo yesterday -

I sent it to David Weiner, who broke the first Recipe-Gate story. I also sent to Wonkette. The rest are picking it up from them. So fun to see it on TV!

:toast:

[npincus]

7. You hit the big-time, girl!!!!! The MSM's got it now!!!!

Congrats, and excellent work!

:toast:

[harun]

24. You rock !!!

:yourock:

[flpoljunkie]

38. Very nice work, Stephanie!

[helderheid]

49. Congrats!!!

[Tatiana]

58. YOU GO ON GIRL!

GREAT work!

:toast:

[Bensthename]

59. Wow we have a celebrity..

Good job.

[dogday]

83. You Rock Stephanie

:yourock:Let's hope this is just one of many lies that we can expose...:yourock:

:yourock:Great job :thumbsup: :yourock:

[Emit]

86. And Stephanie Miller was talking about it today

She did a little blurb on it being the same recipe as from the Hershey's website and I immediately recalled your post and thought, Hey, that was from a DUer!

:toast:

[WeDidIt]

5. BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Evergreen Emerald]

6. ohmygod. Shakes head in disbelief. Let's attack Cindy rather than

talk about Keating 5 or Iraq or Iran.

Distraction for the lemmings.

[babylonsister]

8. Start talking; I'll listen. Is there anything you won't criticize? nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

25. Come on Sis, I think we both know the answer to your question. I'm

just wondering how much longer it will be tolerated. She's had a number of my posts deleted, but never misses an opportunity to take a swipe. Since when is this board into defending the McCains? And good work Stephanie.

[Cha]

78. That poster is still on Ignore for me

'cause I haven't gotten around to taking them all off yet but this is the General and we're working to get Obama elected not waste time on posters who take "swipes".

There was a thread locked last night where the OP was raggin' on Obama for "the way he was treating Black Men". I'm tired of it..that's suppose to be OVER.

[Tarheel_Dem]

105. I made the mistake of clearing out my Ignore List too soon. Some are

skating really close to the edge. They seem to know just how far to go without getting banned. Hopefully, they'll be gone before I have to resort to Ignore again.

[sufrommich]

103. Nobody is "defending the McCains"

We're defending the right of potential first ladies(and women in general) to not have to prove their mettle by spouting cookie recipes on demand.

[Tarheel_Dem]

106. The poster in question has a history. You have no idea what you're talking about...nt

[sufrommich]

109. LOL,a history of what? Why should I care about your

personal opinion of a DU poster? That poster has no negative history with me.What does it have to do with my comment?

[Tarheel_Dem]

110. What does your post have to do with the o.p.? This was clearly about

Cindy McCain's history of plagiarizing other people's work. Try to pay attention. And I won't tell you what you and the poster in question can do for me...mmmmkay?

[Occam Bandage]

11. Feel free to start up threads about those.

"Oh why, oh why, isn't the media spontaneously deciding to talk about twenty-year-old scandals in which the prosecutor decided there was "no evidence against" John McCain?"

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Occam Bandage]

15. Some still believe that anything that indirectly helps Barack Obama is sexist.

[Evergreen Emerald]

33. Who are those "some" you are referring to?

I certainly to not. But, come on recipes? The little women in the kitchen while the men talk about the important political things?

Come on. Let's ask what they believe would be the best way to world peace for goodness sakes!

And how does that in any way help out Obama? It makes us look stupid to be picking on the spouse.

[WeDidIt]

40. Bill Clinton submitted a recipe, too.

:eyes:

[Evergreen Emerald]

16. There is an element to this whole thing that should be discussed.

Why should she be giving recipes to the media? Why not talk about Michelle's best way to give back to the community? Why cooking? It smacks of "little woman in the kitchen" while the men are out talking about big/important/political stuff the women are relegated to the kitchen.

Yes. There is an element of sexism in the whole damn thing.

[Stephanie]

17. As I told you in the other thread, Bill gave a recipe too!

His was copied from Betty Crocker! :rofl:

[yardwork]

71. I agree about the sexism, but in that case, why cheat?

Asking the spouses of candidates to submit cookie recipes is obviously stupid and sexist. Unfortunately, we all know what would happen if Michelle Obama refused to participate. After all, where did the cookie thing originate? I recall it started when Hillary Clinton had to do something to "make up" for her comment about Tammy Wynette.

Obviously, the msm, corporate-controlled idiots that they are, has to find a way to demean women, and the candidates and their families have to play along or suffer the consequences. All this is regrettable but nobody sees a way out right now.

So why in the world would Cindy McCain cheat?! Not once but twice?! It says something about the McCain campaign that is not good. A sensible campaign chooses one of two options when faced with stupidity like this from the msm: (1) Go along with it with as much integrity as possible and hope not to draw negative attention to your campaign or (2) Draw a line in the sand and refuse to participate and suffer the disses of the msm. Option (3) Pretend to go along with it but don't bother to find a real family recipe, just steal one off the internet - is a really dumb response.

Dumb campaign. Dumb candidate. Dumb move.

[KingFlorez]

19. So stealing others ideas and passing them off as your own is okay?

This is fair game, there is no defending Cindy McCain, she's dishonest.

[Evergreen Emerald]

29. I disagree

1. we have no proof that she "stole" anything. The recipes can be used by anyone. The magazine asked for her favorite recipe. And she gave it. How is that stealing?

2. Cindy McCain is no more "fair game" than is Michelle Obama or was Theresa Heines-Kerry or Hillary Clinton.
3. You are stooping to republican tactics that are not progressive.

[KingFlorez]

36. What more proof do you need?

Of course the recipes can be used by anyone, but you can't pass them off as your own in other publications, it's not honest. And since the Republicans see fit to make up crap on Michelle Obama, I think it's fair that Cindy McCain be called out of her dishonesty.

[Evergreen Emerald]

56. I think you are misunderstanding what happened.

The magazine asked for a "favorite" cookie recipe. She gave them her favorite that was given to her by a friend. The recipe is the same as one on the web.

She did not pass if off as her own. She did not claim it as an original. She gave her favorite recipe.

Move the fuck on. Jeez, you guys are hurting Obama with this crap.

[blogslut]

72. Here's an damaging McCain thread, started yesterday

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6370317

Funny, I don't see any comments from you in there.

[Evergreen Emerald]

74. hmmm...

You are no more entitled to your opinion than I am mine. To suggest otherwise is to attempt to thwart any dissent. Sounds like something Bush would do--not a progressive board.

Get on board the Obama train: unity. not division because I cannot be an exact replica of you.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6374569&mesg_id=6374569
I don't see you posting here. Are you unAmerican or something? (sarcasm)

[blogslut]

79. I donate to MoveOn

Do you?

That McCain thread is still open. Perhaps you could add to it with some damaging facts about John McCain. I'm sure you've got a whole bunch of them. Feel free.

[Evergreen Emerald]

80. Hey...I tell you what.

Why don't you stop following me around and attacking me for not being an exact replica of you? Your calling out of an individual poster is against the rules.

I noticed you did not post anything on that thread. What? Are you Unamerican? (sarcasm)

[blogslut]

82. Okay

If you think I'm following you and calling you out, then that's your problem. I shall reply to you no more.

[Evergreen Emerald]

98. Look, I don't mind discussing issues with people

but this non-stop attacking by a group of Obama supporters is over-the-top. Move on for goodness sakes.


The primary is over.

[Lucinda]

85. Yawp. This is beyond ridiculous.

[Binka]

89. Lost All Your Playmates Dear?

Shucks. But you are right Cindy McLame is ridiculous! :thumbsup: Have a blessed day.

GO OBAMA!

[Evergreen Emerald]

94. definition of passive aggressive.

hey what was the name of that women in Harry Potter who always wears pink and smiles while beating the crap out of you and saying have a blessed day?

Dear?

[Binka]

95. What? You Don't Feel The Spirit Of Unity In My Post?

I am genuinely concerned that wlucinda has lost her friends. If you are reading anything else in to my words then you are projecting your own bias toward me. And for the record Harry Potter is SATAN! And I do not beat living things EVER! I sometimes kick Zombies & dead things, this is true.

[Evergreen Emerald]

96. I have missed you so much Binka

I have supported and been concerned for you and your family for years on DU. Thanks for your continued support.

Have a blessed day.

[druidity33]

108. i rarely

find myself agreeing with you, but in this instance i will (mostly).

from the website:

"Call it the sweet side of politics -- for the last four presidential elections, we've asked the candidates' spouses to share their favorite cookie recipe, then asked readers to vote for the best. So far your ballots have been spot-on predictors of who'll end up in the White House. As a voter, is the way to your heart through your stomach? You tell us."

my emphasis added.

It says NOTHING about it being your own recipe.

Total BS to focus on this.

As for it being sexism to ask for the recipes to begin with... that's a little iffier.

:shrug:

[LowerManhattanite]

20. Someone has mistaken Democratic Underground for a different forum...

“Defend McCain Underground”

[Evergreen Emerald]

26. Your attacks on me are getting old. I am not defending McCain.

And your suggestion that your support is valid and mine is not simply because I do not mimick everything else that is said on DU--is NOT democratic. I am not a lemming.

And, I can support the democratic nominees and still demand that we as democrats act like progressives rather than like children.

I am in no way confusing DU. DU is supposed to be progressive, with a variety of opinions and diverse views about progressive ideals.

You need to get over the primaries and get on board.

[LowerManhattanite]

32. LOL!

Oh, but you are coy.

“I'll miss you most of all, scarecrow.”

[Stephanie]

34. Could it be....?

[LowerManhattanite]

55. It wouldn't surprise me in the least! LOL! n/t

[Mist]

27. "Cookiegate" is silly. A) we know Rethugs lie, and B) does anyone seriously

think Cindy has ever cooked anything in her entire life?

[Cha]

81. It's not "silly"...we're suppose to look the

the other way? Maybe at this?



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6374980

[WeDidIt]

30. ohmygod, Shakes head in disbelief

why are you even here?

[Evergreen Emerald]

42. because I am a progressive democrat

that is why.

[npincus]

43. which "lemmings" are you referring to?

Democrats or Republicans?

The "Cindy" who supposedly posted a family recipe is an armature of the McCain campaign; a marketing tool to make the masses (who haven't inherited fortunes) believe she is one of them, and to make her accessible. The fact that these "personal" recipes are plagiarized is FAIR GAME, and pointing that out with MOCKERY is a service to Americans who are being fed propaganda and falsehoods by the McCain campaign. The lesson of a fake recipe can be applied to all the nonsense that McCain spouts on the campaign trail. It is completely relevant, and is not picking on poor Cindy, because it goes right to the credibility of the campaign, the candidate and his opinion of the people (us) he is trying to hoodwink. Don't you think Americans ought to know they are being fed bullshit by his campaign?

You condescendingly attribute this as a lowbrow tactic, good for "lemmings", without understanding the broader implications of this kind of fakery and how regular, less erudite AMericans than you, GET IT, when something like this goes public.

Thank you, Stephanie!

[Evergreen Emerald]

45. The lemmings that will turn their heads the other way

and talk about whether "granulated sugar" means the recipe was really given to her by a friend, or if she really got it off a web site and said it was from a friend

Rather than talk about: gas prices, Iraq, Iran, Keating 5, economic issues, women's rights issues.

We are allowing distraction.

Instead of celebrating we should be e-mailing the news shows and asking why they are covering recipes rather than things that truly matter.

[kmla]

47. Distraction? Some of us can multi-task.

We can note that there are some blemishes on McCains career in public service. (Look around - we have already noted these things in a few other threads...)

We can also note that his wife (who is trying to pass herself off as a regular, ordinary, common middle class person), doesn't have the brains to make sure that the low-level staffer who posted this item for her didn't have the brains to change the recipe after copying it from the Hershey's website. If this were a college term paper, Ms. McCain would already have had her meeting with the dean, and would have been expelled for plagiarism.

And, if you could see throught the screen, I am also eating lunch as I type. See? I'm multi-tasking.

But thanks for the lecture on what we should concentrate on. We appreciate the concern. :eyes:

[Evergreen Emerald]

51. The media is aring stories about recipes

and ignoring major issues. Some of you can multitask, but the truth is that the propaganda machine is hard at work distracting the viewer from reality while attacking the spouse of a candidate. And, of course when Michelle starts getting attacked, the media will say: well, we aired the story on Cindy, so--it is fair play.

Not productive. Not progressive.

Thanks for YOUR concern.

[JuniperLea]

63. There's something to be said for an open mind

Seems to me instead of congratulating a fellow DUer for a baby step that teaches us all an extremely valuable lesson (that appears to be completely lost on you) you choose instead to waste precious bandwidth discouraging people to learn said lesson.

[Erin Elizabeth]

100. There isn't a limited number of threads that can be on DU, you know.

You can feel free to post any one of those topics. Anyone can. Spending 20 seconds on this thread isn't going to stop me or anyone else from paying attention to other things, too. :eyes:

[rox63]

44. Howzabout we talk about all of them?

We are capable of talking about more than one subject at a time. The McBush campaign attacks Michelle Obama. So Cindy McCain is also fair game.

[JuniperLea]

60. Not our fault you don't see the value in influencing the media...

This may well be a baby step, but Stephanie deserves kudos (not a smackdown) for reaching out. Next time it could be something very, very important that a DUer happens upon and alerts the media to.

I'm more than a little sick and tired of seeing the rude comments of DUers.

[Shakespeare]

65. Do you EVER have anything positive to offer? Ever?

I do believe it's possible to talk about ALL of these issues. Cindy McCain has been caught in yet another bit of thievery, even if it's stupid, so yeah--let's talk about it.

[Lerkfish]

75. your concern is duly noted. Signed: A. Lemming.

nothing entices someone to your point of view like insults. Or salad. you got any salad?

[JackORoses]

76. thanks for the input, McEvergreen

[greenbriar]

77. speaks to character

of which the McNasty's have NONE

[sufrommich]

99. God,I agree. What the hell are supposedly

progressive Duers doing snarking about her lack of wifely skills?

[Mz Pip]

9. Is Cindy implying these

recipes are original? I don't know about her but I've never made an original cookie recipe. I am always following some recipe or another. With allof the cooking websites out there, I think it would be pretty hard to make up one from scratch.

Maybe her good friend got it off Hershey's website.

I'm no fan of Cindy McCain but all this fuss over a cookie recipe seems a bit silly.

[Stephanie]

13. Cindy is asserting that it's a "family favorite" from a "family friend"

When it's clearly another cut and paste job by an intern. That is all, I'm done explaining.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6365886

[npincus]

18. Man, how frigging incompetent... you would think that a little

due diligence would be in order after the first humiliation...

[Occam Bandage]

14. This is the third time she's plagiarized a recipe. Would it be that hard to attribute them?

And yes, it's clearly a cut-and-paste. The ingredients (and directions) are in the exact same order, and with the exact same awkward wording (who says "granulated sugar?")

[hvn_nbr_2]

28. "granulated sugar"

who says "granulated sugar?"

Actually it's a very common term in baking recipes.

[RandomKoolzip]

39. Who says "granulated sugar?" I dunno, ask a former pastry chef (i.e. ME)

Yes, people actually say "granulated sugar." It's a valid type of sugar.

[Stephanie]

41. You don't use it when you're copying out a recipe by hand for a friend, tho

If you're copying and pasting from a corporate website, then sure, why not. But if you're trading recipe cards with the neighbor, then not so much.

[npincus]

46. well... I'm not sure there's a smoking gun there

generally (from my cooking experience) granulated sugar is referred to as "sugar" with other types such as confectioner's, borwn, cubes, etc. so named. As much as I'd like to crucify the McCain campaign (hee hee) this particular nuance doesn't jump out at me. rather, it's the entirety of both recipes' similarity that's a head-scratcher!

:rofl:

[KingFlorez]

21. Yes, she is

She's calling them family recipes. There is no way to defend this.

[Stephanie]

10. And they showed the graphic above, which was way cool.

Hah hah hah!

[hvn_nbr_2]

22. Unless John McCain was a childhood friend of Milton S. Hershey...

He was!!!! An ancestor of mine came on the same boat as Milton Hershey, in about 1730, and the family photo album has a photo of ol' Jeremiah with Milton Hershey and a young John McCain.

[Stephanie]

23. lol!

:rofl:

[Douglas Carpenter]

31. Kick and recommended

[Youphemism]

35. And she was chintzy with the butterscotch chips...

Her only semi-substantive change was to use *less* chips. If you're going to rip something off, at least add *extra* chips to cover your tracks.

A beer queen millionaire can afford a few extra chips, fer cryin' out loud.

[Stephanie]

37. The intern ate a few while he was trying out the recipe...

[Youphemism]

52. Deleted... (user error)

[npincus]

48. MSNBC caption: "Cindy's Cookie Caper"

Just called it "Cookie-gate 2"

"Someone happened to see the similarity in recipes.... posted it on Huffington Post..."

[Stephanie]

50. Hah hah hah! I saw it!

A whole segment on Cookiegate! Lol!

[MorningGlow]

53. Who e-mailed Stephanie Miller about it?

She read an e-mail from "Dave" (I think) about it this morning (she was tickled, BTW)--was it a DUer or someone from HuffPo? Enquiring minds want to know!

[Stephanie]

54. Tell Steph I said HI!

We actually went to college together - USC - I won't say when!

[MorningGlow]

66. Oh cool--you should contact her

You should e-mail the show and tell her you were the one who broke the story! I'm sure she'd love to hear from a fellow alum! (No worries on when you went to school--I was right behind you guys!)

[JuniperLea]

57. Well done, Stephanie!

This is a perfect example of how DUers can be influential in getting the truth out there! Today, a cookie recipe... tomorrow, well, who knows, but the point is we should all take a clue card from Stephanie!

:toast:

[papapi]

61. Stephanie deserves a DUzy!!!

[npincus]

62. ...and a dozen Oatmeal-Butterscotch cookies!

:rofl:

[ellacott]

64. Yes she does

Congratulations to you. :)

[Eurobabe]

67. I HEARD IT TOO!!

Stephanie, you super scooper you! :applause:

[truthisfreedom]

68. Oopsie! Cindy made another boo-boo! COOOOOO-KIEEEEEE!

[JeanGrey]

69. WHO GIVES A SHIT ABOUT COOKIES! God people

come on! This election is serious! (bangs head on desk)

[Cha]

70. Good investigative research, Stephanie..

Good lesson to never take anything they say at face value.

This is a The View kinda thing and those women vote. For those who think this is off limits.. it most certainly is not. The repukes in 2004 wore purple bandaids on their ugly mugs..this year they have buttons that say "Can We Still Call The White HOuse White?" or some such CRAP.

We are dealing with their lies..all's fair when it comes to their fucking lies..I don't care if it's about a Cookie Bakeoff or if "Iraq is safe".

[npincus]

73. Damn straight.

[underpants]

84. HEY! who started the freakin thread!?!?!?

:bounce:

Congrats Steph :applause:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=6364957

[Stephanie]

93. YOU started it!!!

You're the Cookie Monster! Pass the lemon rind and candied fruits! :hi:

[Cali_Democrat]

87. YAY Stephanie!!!

:toast:

[LowerManhattanite]

88. K&R—Kudos Stephanie!

[rebel with a cause]

90. Even Hardball has coverage of it!!

Stephanie you open a can of worms or one of whip ass. :rofl:

They want their name in the news, lets make it negative. Let her win the contest, she cheated.

And I agree that I hate the stupid cookie recipe thing. I think in this case it is sexist, even if they did ask Bill.

[democrattotheend]

91. I prefer to call it "HersheyGate"

My dog's name is Hershey, and he is feeling quite ripped off by this whole episode. So I think he should at least get a "gate" named after him.

[sniffa]

92. Heh, I just started a similar thread. D'oh!

She deserves another.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6376556&mesg_id=6376556

[Apollo11]

97. RIGHT NOW ON CNN - The Situation Room

Congratulations to Stephanie!

GOOD JOB!! B-)

Edit: The B!+CH reporter called Michelle Obama's shortbread "elitist"! :mad:

[npincus]

102. ha ha... are Wolf's panties in a bunch?

:rofl:

[ErinBerin84]

104. haha, I saw that too

How many times did she say "This is an elitist cookie!" in a row?

[musicblind]

101. Eh, other than making me hungry this really has no effect on me.

We don't know for sure that her "family friend" didn't get it from Hershey. But even if it was copied and pasted and she lied about it... all politicians lie. Hillary = Bosnia for example. Obama has told a couple as well though I don't want to list them because I don't want to say anything negative about Obama.

We look petty attacking Cindy over cookies. We need to attack McCain over serious issues where he is dead wrong. Issues like Iraq... and did you hear about his plan to lift the moratorium on off shore drilling? Talk about BAD idea right there! Many reasons to attack that.

Attacking about cookies wont get Obama in the White House. Attacking a candidate for trying to lift the ban on off shore drilling will give us a big win in November. Luckily Obama is smart and has already attacked McCain's oil proposal. McCain has been accused, and rightfully so, of changing his position so he can tell the oil companies what they want to hear. I don't know that he did it JUST for the oil companies, maybe that's stretching it, but I do think he had to be influenced to have put that idea on the table.

[Swamp Rat]

107. Here ya go Stephanie:

:D

[Douglas Carpenter]

111. I'm sitting in the Middle East right now listening to the story on CNN International!!

this is the cookie scandal heard around the world~!!