Melania's Speech-Cribbing A Big Ploy?
Interesting -- and plausible.
Louise Mensch writes at Heat Street:
You're falling for this? Seriously?Look, of course Melania Trump didn't write the speech. And of course a speechwriter plagiarized Michelle Obama. But this wasn't a mess-up or a foul.
Let's assume the speechwriter has Michelle's speech in front of him. He chuckles as he lifts a paragraph practically word for word. He knows perfectly well that this is the age of the internet and that it will instantly be found online.
He also knows that Trump has no money, and that Melania is Trump's third wife, without accomplishments other than some risqué modeling. He further knows that SOMETHING has to be done to get the media talking about something other than the hellish Trumpster Fire of the RNC convention - Reince Priebus gerrymandering the rules, the WWE style Trump-entrance, the rows upon rows of empty seats, the embarrassing, political pastoral prayer opening - and the total lack of Republican superstars like, say, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Is she right?
Add in the speechwriter probably leaked what he did. but if that's the main scandal the left has nothing.
Joe j at July 19, 2016 11:00 PM
A politically adept child of four would have known that leaking was unnecessary... Every three words from that podium were going to be dropped into Google with seconds, as a mater of course.
Arnold was never a Republican superstar, he was just a Hollywood superstar. And he's an old one. And like most kinds of superstardom, yesterday's supremacy means nothing to the modern audience. Twitter had found about a half-dozen precedents for Mel's phrasing, and sins as grievous from Trumps opponents.
This guy's life is just so far removed from anything coherent or trustworthy... There's been essentially no one, from his closest family to his most engaged business partners, who he hasn't disappointed horridly.
We can only assume that the Republican powers of decades past have simply withdrawn from public affairs to pursue their private financial enterprises.
Crid at July 19, 2016 11:17 PM
The left and center are so ferociously smug this year. It feels like civilization has made a change of direction, mocking the United States just as the example of her wealth and comity were offering the best example to the rest of the planet. But there are...
We recognize these beliefs as endemic in other cultures. I'm stunned at how quickly the United States has taken them to heart, regressively.Crid at July 19, 2016 11:43 PM
The amazing thing about Trump is that his message requires no campaign in the traditional sense. The message is the government does not work, it does not make sense and it is costing the average person their way of life. No one that buys this message would care if Melania lifted the entire speech word for word from anyone. Those that buy this message will go to the polls as they see Trump as their last hope to save what they feel they have lost.
Nelson Struck at July 20, 2016 3:11 AM
If it's okay with you, Crid, I will keep these for later use.
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at July 20, 2016 5:10 AM
Oh please - what American politician of the past 50 years has *not* had lines about "the values of hard work I learned from my parents" and "passing on our American way of life to our kids"
In.Every.Speech.
The rest of it was very personal - Melania's personal history as a naturalized American, and how Trump's platform, values and character *differ* from that of Obama.
Ben David at July 20, 2016 5:24 AM
Arnold Schwarzenegger A republican superstar? Ha ha ha ha.
No men were listening to Melania Trump. They were too busy looking at her.
Isab at July 20, 2016 5:31 AM
Alternative theory: planted to distract from Hillary's perjury. Remind me again, what office is Mrs Trump running for?
MarkD at July 20, 2016 5:40 AM
Joe Biden says that it isn't a big effen' deal. She isn't even running for office.
I R A Darth Aggie at July 20, 2016 5:52 AM
Let me spin another story for you. The vast majority of the press are far left wing. They see anyone in the Republican party as not only wrong but also as inherently evil. So any minor thing they think embarrassing they then inflate to insane levels to try and stop the evil ones.
Unfortunately it just makes them look stupid. Melania is running for office? You want her to drop out of the race because of lazy speech writers? Does anyone who is not far left care? Is this worse than talking to an empty chair for an hour? Red, white, and blue elevators are racist?
Apply Occam's razor. The speech writer was lazy and included some boilerplate.
Outside the media and far left enclaves no one cares.
Ben at July 20, 2016 6:05 AM
First of all, everyone still trying to argue that this wasn't plagiarism but just coincidental stock language--gawd, just stop.
The construction and sequence of the word strings are too similar. None of the other so-called "similar" speeches are this close. The cribbed sentences are all glommed together, not distributed throughout the speech. Plus it's a first lady speech to first lady speech comparison. It's obvious someone used the last successful variation as inspiration.
No, Melania Trump isn't running for anything, but here are potential consequences of this screw-up:
1. Now the rest of her backstory is going to be scrutinized, and I suspect it will not hold up. Already it looks likely that she never got a degree (there was no need to lie about this), and no one who says he speaks five languages ever actually does. Someone's going to try to address her in German or whatever she says she speaks.
2. This deflates a lot of Trump's attacks, like where he has called people like Elizabeth Warren out for lying about her background.
3. It makes the Trump campaign look like a disorganized disaster, because this N E V E R should have happened. "Trump can't even hire a competent writer."
4. Their damage control was even more pathetic. They should have owned up to the plagiarism and blamed it on some unnamed junior staffer.
5. First spouse "candidates" do have diplomatic duties, especially while campaigning, and Melania now appears less competent to do them. Why? She forthrightly claimed to have written this speech mostly by herself. So either she lied, or she plagiarized. Donald's image benefited from the sophisticated grown-up at his side.
Sure lots of other speakers in recent history have plagiarized, but how does that matter now? We're talking about current events, and the worst part of this is the refusal to acknowledge it.
Insufficient Poison at July 20, 2016 7:07 AM
Sure lots of other speakers in recent history have plagiarized, but how does that matter now? We're talking about current events, and the worst part of this is the refusal to acknowledge it.
Insufficient Poison at July 20, 2016 7:07 AM
This only matters to media types, who desperately hope that *something* matters, and that *fuck it all* and *burn it down* isn't the theme for 2016.
They, and you, are grasping at straws here....
Isab at July 20, 2016 7:29 AM
"Sure lots of other speakers in recent history have plagiarized, but how does that matter now?"
Because this is typical behavior by politicians. Plagiarism is an academic offense not a political one. She now joins the ranks of Obama, Biden, and Clinton. And probably both Bushes, Reagan, and whoever else you care to mention.
"It makes the Trump campaign look like a disorganized disaster"
I thought Trump already made that quite clear. I thought that was part of his appeal. (Not for me personally. I don't really like the guy.)
"This deflates a lot of Trump's attacks, like where he has called people like Elizabeth Warren out for lying about her background."
You want to accuse Trump of being consistent or not hypocritical? Once again, the attack dog nature with all the nonsense low blow attacks are part of his appeal. There is enough dirt on Trump that any extra generated by his wife is lost in the pile.
"Donald's image benefited from the sophisticated grown-up at his side."
She did? I thought she gave him the image of an alpha male with a hot trophy wife. Her being a bimbo feeds that image. I can't conceive of anyone who felt she added maturity to the Trump campaign. On the other hand I have had a Trump supporter tell me I should vote for Trump because he has a hot wife. Go figure.
I feel bad for Melania if she didn't know what she was getting into. But if you go for a picnic in the sewers I can't feel too sympathetic when you come out covered in shit.
Ben at July 20, 2016 7:43 AM
I'm gonna plagiarize Hillary:
At this point, what does it matter?
If you get bent out of shape about this, but don't get bent out of shape about Hillary's email server, there is something very wrong with you.
Or you're a progressive.
I R A Darth Aggie at July 20, 2016 8:12 AM
There are a lot of people still undecided between Trump/Clinton (or Trump/other). Even people with serious concerns about Clinton's ethics still may lean her way over doubts that Trump is even credible as a statesman.
I'm distinguishing "credible" from "competent" or "like minded." I don't care for Barack Obama, but I believe him to be a credible president.
As the election approaches, people are watching to see if Trump was playing a character to get himself nominated. Many have speculated that his behavior was an act that he'd retire after the RNC.
I don't believe Melania ever has come off as a bimbo. I've followed her since she was Melania Knauss and always liked how straightforward she was in her interviews. In her recent appearance, she has appeared poised and said that she often disapproves of her husband's language and impulsive antics on the political scene, suggesting that he's a different man when he's not mugging. She seemed to me like a potentially sobering influence.
IRADA, it's not Melania's plagiarized speech vs. Hillary's ethics. I agree that those things don't compare. It's about Trump's plausibility: Now that he's officially the nominee, can he get his shit together even in a small way, so that Hillary is somehow still not the safer option. That includes getting competent people hired.
Insufficient Poison at July 20, 2016 8:55 AM
Here is one very plausable explanation with a new twist:
http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/53488.html
To me it seems plausible, because the Trump family including Melania, all being Democrats until a few seconds ago, no doubt have mostly Democrat friends and associates, one of which could very likely have sabotaged the speech to make them all look like the fools they are.
Adam Smith at July 20, 2016 9:03 AM
I don't think it's going to change anyone's vote, either way. I think arrogance and overconfidence is likely rampant among Trump's campaign staffers, and whoever helped her write the speech knew they were stealing those lines but didn't think it mattered. Whoever it was should be fired and blacklisted from campaign work, because this was a massive fuck-up. Of course, it gives the libs over at publications like Slate something to gloat over... But does it matter? They hate the Trumps anyway. They would have trashed her speech, or her, or the Trump kids' speeches, no matter what.
Ahw at July 20, 2016 9:16 AM
I think the speech was sabotaged and the Rickroll is the tell - "He will never, ever, give up. And, most importantly, he will never, ever, let you down."
Lol. The question then becomes, was he sabotaged by his own speech writer or did he do this himself? The speech was definitely hacked by someone, but I thought she did a beautiful job and had obviously worked very hard to deliver it well.
gooseegg at July 20, 2016 9:27 AM
The argument makes little sense to me, because the speech was written well before anything having to do with the convention was set -- they hadn't even announced the speakers until a few days beforehand.
It also wasn't a terribly good speech. I watched it live and the few crowd shots didn't exactly show a rapt or admiring audience. Respectful to slightly puzzled was the general reaction while it was going on.
Kevin at July 20, 2016 9:29 AM
Oh please - what American politician of the past 50 years has *not* had lines about "the values of hard work I learned from my parents" and "passing on our American way of life to our kids"
The woman who helped Mrs. Trump write the speech has admitted they were words from Mrs. Obama's speech.
Kevin at July 20, 2016 9:36 AM
The latest:
@oliverdarcy
Meredith McIver, an in-house staff writer from the Trump Organization, releases statement on Melania speech
https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy/status/755801917310308352
Amy Alkon at July 20, 2016 9:40 AM
Well I'm glad that's cleared up. I was worried for a moment that something was really really really wrong.
Bob in Texas at July 20, 2016 10:33 AM
Meh. Really couldn't get wound up about it when Obama did it, and I can't get wound up about it now. All political speeches are variations on the same few platitudes. It's like claiming that a song that contains an F#-minor chord plagiarized it from another song that also contains an F#-minor chord. The last original political speech was the Gettysburg Address. (Or maybe JFK's one about going to the moon.)
"We recognize these beliefs as endemic in other cultures. I'm stunned at how quickly the United States has taken them to heart, regressively."
Fully agree. If I may be so bold, I'll add a third one:
3. If you are of the privileged classes, other people's rights are an intolerable affront to your rights.
Cousin Dave at July 20, 2016 10:37 AM
This.
Conan the Grammarian at July 20, 2016 12:42 PM
This.
Conan the Grammarian at July 20, 2016 12:42 PM
This.
Conan the Grammarian at July 20, 2016 12:42 PM
Quite the stutter Conan. Try singing it next time.
Ben at July 20, 2016 1:08 PM
What's this about Hillary Clinton and an FBI probe? Is NO ONE willing to cover this?
Insufficient Poison at July 20, 2016 1:50 PM
It was Trumpe l'oeil.
JD at July 20, 2016 7:42 PM
Leave a comment