Elisberg Industries
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like
Decent Quality Since 1847

Melania Trump's Oops Moment

7/18/2016

0 Comments

 
I was at a friend's house last night, and he insisted on watching the GOP Convention.  The larger problem wasn't having to watch it, but that at the same time the Cubs were playing on ESPN...

It was bad enough to listen to Rudy Giuliani's manic cries of terrorism, but we also had to sit through the sad picture of a mother who lost her song at Benghazi...and blame it on Hillary Clinton.  Never mind the seven Republican-lead House hearings that exonerated her from any wrongdoing.  And then, at last, we got to Melania Trump.

Before she began, I said to my friend, "I don't know why they're doing this.  There's no upside.  And it risks being a huge disaster."  Yes, I know that the candidate's spouse usually gives a speech.  But I still thought it seemed to be a big risk to me.

When she finished, the speech was fine.  She read it okay.  The sentiments were solid.  On the other hand, it was odd that there was almost nothing about her husband and family life, which ultimately is the only real substantive reason to have the spouse of a candidate give a speech at a convention.  There was nothing especially good about it, but it wasn't a fall-on-her-face speech either.  It was...fine.  (Mind you, all I could think about when listening was, "Gee, I wonder how Hillary Clinton's spouse will do when he gives his  speech..."(

Afterwards, Republican pundits fell all over themselves about what a wonderful, elegant speech it was.  And Democrat pundits wondered why she didn't say much about who her husband was and their life together.

Fine, swell.  The speech went perfectly okay.  Except...except...

Well, it's just that a bit later there was that Ooops moment.  And that whole, "There's no upside.  And it risks beign a huge disaster" thing came into play.

It turns out that at least several passages of Melania Trump's speech turned out to be plagiarized.  From Michelle Obama.  The woman she's hoping to replace.  Obviously in more ways than one would think.

Making it worse, the passage that she plagiarized about values, morals and how your word is your bond, all of which were taught to her in a very personal way by her parents..

Apparently her parents were a black couple from Chicago.
 
Here first is what Melania Trump told the world she learned about values from her parents --

Picture

​
And here is what Michelle Obama said on August 25, 2008 at the Democratic National Convention, about how she was raised.
Picture

Oops.

And by the way, this is the only passage thus far that people have come up with as being plagiarized.  Maybe that's all, which is enough, or maybe there's more to come.  But making matters worse -- yes, that's possible.  And there’s news footage of her talking to Matt Lauer beforehand and saying, “I wrote the speech myself.  With as little help as possible.”
 
Oopsie.
 
Afterwards, I watched some of the discussion on CNN, and one of the pundits, GOP hack Kayleigh McEnany, was falling all over herself trying to explain why this was no big deal and what a great speech it was about the important things she was saying, and how do we even know that Melania even was the one who used those passages.  (Clarification, "used" is the wrong word.  It's "plagiarized.")

If she went on much longer, I think her head might have exploded from trying to distract people from what was done.  

First of all, Joe Biden had to drop out of the 1988 presidential race because a brief passage of a speech he gave had been plagiarized.  Second -- in suggesting this was no big deal, if this had been Michelle Obama plagiarizing Barbara Bush, I can only imagine the non-stop, hell-crashing outrage from conservatives and what it proved about both Obamas, and probably even a subtle suggestion about all Black people.  Third, if this had been a third-grader caught plagiarizing this much on homework, it would have gotten and F.  But fourth -- how do we know Melania Trump was the one who "used" those passages?  Well, she said, “I wrote the speech myself.”  Okay, with a little help, as little help as possible.  Apparently, as it happens, some of that help was from Michelle Obama.

But here's the thing.  I doubt that Melania Trump wrote the speech.  I suspect most major public figures who get up at a national convention write their speeches themselves.  At best, they have a LOT of help, not "as little as possible."  At worst, they don't write it at all.  They say, "Here's are some things I'd like to say.  Now put my words in."  So, she probably didn't write the plagiarism -- but the thing is, that doesn't let her off the hook.  Because she has said, on camera, "I wrote the speech myself."

So, either she plagiarizes about her values and her word being her bond -- or she's a liar.


Oops.

​And why are we not shocked...?

Here's Lawrence O'Donnell's take on this, on MSNBC.  And I think everything he says, down to how Donald Trump will respond, is spot on.  Indeed the initial response from Melania Trump's personal Twitter account (whimsically written -- given the context -- by someone else, which we know because it refers to "her speech") does pretty much what O'Donnell suggests, and offers no apology.

In the end, however much Republican pundits and campaign operatives are trying to wash this away as nothing, whatever one thinks about whether this is bad or no big deal..."Melania and plagiarism is NOT what the GOP wanted the Talking Point to be after the first night."
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Elisberg Industries gets a commission if you click here before shopping on Amazon.
    Picture
    Follow @relisberg

    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



    Picture
           Feedspot Badge of Honor

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Audio
    Audio Land
    Books
    Busienss
    Business
    Chicago
    Consumer Product
    Education
    Email Interview
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Fine Art
    Food
    From The Management
    Health
    History
    Huffery
    Humor
    International
    Internet
    Journalism
    Law
    Los Angeles
    Media
    Morning News Round Up
    Movies
    Music
    Musical
    Personal
    Photograph
    Piano Puzzler
    Politics
    Popular Culture
    Profiles
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio
    Religion
    Restaurants
    Science
    Sports
    Technology
    Tech Tip
    Theater
    The Writers Workbench
    Tidbits
    Travel
    Tv
    Twitter
    Video
    Videology
    Well Worth Reading
    Words-o-wisdom
    Writing

    RSS Feed

© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2023
Contact Us    About EI    Chicago Cubs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like