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Update: According to research from Red Mass Group, Brown wasn't doing the plagiarizing, he was the one being plagiarized. The relevant portions are similar, but if Brown's text was published first, he's obviously not to blame. The original report as published:
Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) is in the midst of a very tough re-election fight, and probably hoped for a trouble-free summer to position him for a strong push in the fall. It's not working out that way at all.
Brown has run into a series of troubles, including touting a strange conspiracy theory, talking up imaginary phone calls, denying the existence of oil company subsidies he's voted for, "kings and queens," and his stumbling on one of the few bill he's actually passed.
This week, Brown scheduled a major policy speech, "but did not include any new policy pronouncements," and walked "out the back door with a cellphone to his ear as he was chased by reporters."
But Blue Mass Group has come up with a new problem, noting the similarities between Brown's words and those of Earline Parmon, a Republican lawmaker in North Carolina.
Here's Brown's website...
"America is a great country, but we face very serious challenges that we need to solve if we're going to pass on a better, brighter and stronger nation to our kids and grandkids. The most pressing issue before us is getting the economy moving again. Our national unemployment rate is still unacceptably high. Millions of Americans remain out of work, or are stuck in part-time jobs when they would prefer full-time employment. Middle-class families are hurting as they struggle to make ends meet. They're worried about their future, and that of their children and grandchildren."
... and here's Parmon's website:
"North Carolina is a great State, but we continue to face very serious challenges that need resolution. In order for us to pass on a better, brighter and stronger nation to our children and grandchildren, it is critical that we get the economy moving again. Our national unemployment rate is still unacceptably high and the unemployment rate in North Carolina remains high. Middle-class families struggle to make ends meet and most cannot afford health insurance."
Granted, this isn't a straight copy and paste, but given the repeated phrases -- "serious challenges," "better, brighter and stronger nation," "get the economy moving again," "our national unemployment rate is still unacceptably high," "make ends meet" -- in the same order, I suspect Brown's work would get flagged for plagiarism in any college classroom.
And, of course, given that Brown was already caught in one plagiarism flap last fall, it's not like he can fall back on his unimpeachable credibility.
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Ordinarily I'd say this is not indicative of much - these are all standard election shpiel buzzwords/phrases. But the fact that the order is identical is pretty hilarious...and perhaps a little telling.
Proof that there is not an original thought in that pretty little head.
Ah come on Give Ol' Scott a break Everyone uses the Ailes/Murdoch/Faux Nooze Republican speech template .
Is this not the same speech you have heard from every Republican for the last 25 years?
If politicians start getting called out for spouting endless talking points it will be the end of their media events. Are there rules about talking points and buzzwords being in the public domain?
Absolutely the same speech we've had to endure over the last 25 years, but only the second one in the same order of talking points.
Could be plagiarized, or maybe they both just had speeches written for them by ALEC or whoever. Or maybe they're just extremist right-wingers thinking with the same hive-mind. Though, come to think of it, if they had one brain between them, it would be one more than I'd generally give them credit for!
;-)
P Logic ...... Thank you I forgot the progenitor of ourmost popular legislation .... ALEC . Surely they must have a speech writing department
With the same key phrases in the same order, it does look to me like there's a GOP website kit out there somewhere, or junior staffers are passing around templates or something. Possibly these two candidates bought these pre-made websites from the same Republican consulting firm.
You know Scott didn't write this. He probably didn't even read it. But hey--he's a guy in a hurry. Do you have any idea how hard it is to cram an entire Senate career into just 24 months??
But, he looks good. Not to mention all those Kings and Queens he entertains.
Maybe one of those "random fill-in-the-blank generator" web sites?
Two of my favorites:
The Glenn Beck Conspiracy Theory Generator and
The Funny Mean Name Generator (copyright "Cheezus"! LOL)
;-)
Well when you have been caught lying through your teeth. Like he has, on almost a daily basis. Coupled with the fact. That you are unable. To form an original thought. Seriously what do you expect from Scott Brown? The man is doing the best he can, with limited means. The man's theme song should be, The Wizard of Oz's If I only had a brain.
He still has a long way to go to catch up to the lies of that other former MA governor.
No question this guy who's met with kings and queens should lose in Nov. I have tons of respect for Elizabeth Warren, but I'm worried about her as a campaigner. I'd appreciate if anyone close to this election can please talk me off the ledge.
she has a huge voter registration advantage. there's almost no way she can lose.
Voter registration efforts are taking place all over this nation. What is Warren doing that Scott can't do, if he got off his cell phone...
And working to get voters registered is a more noble cause than kicking them off the books (R-FL) or starting up voter ID laws 4 months before the General Election (R-PA) instead of sometime in the 4 years between elections to give folks a chance to comply in time.
@bannedagain, Martha Coakley had the same advantage.
Because it was a special election the turnout was very very low as I understand it.
need:
Mass is a heavily Democratic state. All she has to do is not lose the thing.
I live in NY, also a heavily Democratic state. Sometimes Republicans win statewide elections. George Pataki won 3 terms as governor between '94 and '02. They weren't special elections. Thank you for trying, but I'm still teetering.
I'm not particularly close to the Warren/Scott election but FWIW, damn that woman has passion! If Pres. Obama had made the "you didn't build that all by yourself. You had help with all the infrastructure!" with half the passion E. Warren did, it never would have been a flashpoint for him. When you speak with her level of passion, there is no mistaking what she is talking about and what she means.
You realize that, if Obama gets re-elected and the ecomony turns around (as it should) and Obamacare is fully enacted (as it will be), that sets the stage for Elizabeth Warren For President in 2016!!!!
It didn't hurt Joe Biden and it won't hurt Brown, to the extent that anybody wants him.
Your silence about the Elizabeth Warren tax return issue in light of your Romney stance is a bit telling though.
Elaborate please.
apparently Warren called for Brown to release more tax returns not knowing that he had already released 6 years to her 4. When she was then asked to match him, she refused to do so.
What is she hiding as Benen would say?
They used the same ghost writer-- DUH! You think ALEC was the end of it? Hardly. There's someone who gives cut-and-paste drivel for candidate websites too.
So, who is he really, then? A truck driving nude model? Well, driving a truck is cool, but a nude centerfold, really? But then he jokes about it with a personal dig against Warren in 2011.
This is Senator Kennedy's replacement, eh? Well no more after Nov., I hope. Please, Massachussetts?
This is hilarious
Well, where ever Scott Brown went to college and no matter where he has been employed, he never lied and said he was a man of color. Liarwatha Warren has lied saying she is a woman of color and a Cherokee Indian to get a position both at Penn University and Harvard.
At least Scott Brown is for real and not a fraud like Liarwatha Liz Warren.
Go Scott Brown, keep the "People's Deat".
More likely a case of a common source. Neither of them reworked the talking points memos.
I've been listening to a lot of interviews and the repubs NEVER answer the questions they are asked. They just start spouting talking points and yelling louder than the interviewers until they give up and end the interview. I think the interviewers should be armed with devices that remotely turn off the mics when they do this. It would keep them from yelling over the other people on the panels. Now, with the debates coming up, would be a good time to implement something like this. Of course electric dog collars would work as well!!
Uh, not to split hairs, but Earline's a Democrat.
I thought ALEC was writing all their speeches since they are the one already writing the bills
So now that Maddow has had to walk back an embarrassing error, the comments section suddenly goes silent. Typical.
This empty suit should not have been elected in the first place. What were the people of Massachusetts thinking to elect this bozo. I hope he loses by the widest margin error. So long scotty, may you disappear quickly into the netherworld.
So, Rachel Maddow is going to address the several well-documented cases of plagiarism by Elizabeth Maddow in her Native American recipe book Pow Wow Chow, correct? Because, she's fair and responsible, correc?
I know it's Friday, but it's a little early for TUI, typing under the influence.
I'd like to see a response from Ms. Parmon's office. It's clear that somebody lifted text from somebody -- if it was boilerplate, we'd see it appearing more often. It can't be that hard to get both Mr. Brown's office and Ms. Parmon's office to disclose when each first used the language in question.