Hillary's Alleged Plagiarism

[Patrick Appel]

There is a lot of talk this morning about Hillary allegedly plagiarizing John Edward's or Bill Clinton's lines. I don't buy it for exactly the same reasons I didn't buy the idea that Obama plagiarized lines. Political rhetoric isn't subject to copyright. If those standards apply to Obama, then they also apply to Clinton. The difference is I don't expect the Obama campaign to jump all over her for allegedly lifting lines.

[Update:] Yes, I recognize the irony of this, and it is partially her fault because she is the one who made such a big deal about plagiarism, but I still doubt she "copied" or "plagiarized" lines from another politician. That is not how political speech-making works. Read James Fallows' (who was a speech-writer for Jimmy Carter) post about plagiarism in politics.