Snopes.com is saying that the accusation about the identical Trump and Obama tweets (about the demeanor of their wives) is a hoax. http://www.snopes.com/trump-copies-tweet/
@Kajon I’m fairly sure that the Obama tweet is fake. It came from this website http://www.lemmetweetthatforyou.com
It’s fairly easy to make it look like someone tweeted something when they did not. The easiest way to catch a fake tweet is by looking at the formatting. Twitter has done some significant upgrades since 08 through font, color scheme, layout, etc.
^ Jinx!
You know, I heard the speech last night and thought she did a good job - right up until she spoke one phrase that (to me) seemed out of place. The construction of the phrase did not seem to match her previous language patterns. That one phrase made me suspicious and when I googled it this morning, sure enough, it was in the “copied” part of the speech.
That’s often how I catch plagiarizing students - some phrase or paragraph in their paper seems out of place. With google and turnitin, it’s so easy to catch. I can’t believe her speechwriters thought they’d get away with it, and to me it seems pretty disrespectful of those speechwriters to put her out there like that.
Yes, I know she says she wrote it herself, but…
@CheddarcheeseMN I’ll take a Sprite :))
Did you also notice the entry to “We are the Champions” after Brian May of Queen had explicitly told the campaign that they did not have Queen’s permission to use that music? That was the first thing I thought of when I saw the entrance.
Maybe academia is it’s own niche. But publishing houses have been forgiving of plagiarism. Famous authors have plagiarized with no repurcussions: Alex Haley and Doris Kearns Goodwin. Stephen Ambrose lifted sections of other books for his books. (Although I think the allegations came out after his death). But it’s not as though bookstores pulled the books containing plagiarized passages from their shelves.
@Pizzagirl Yup. It’s funny actually. I didn’t even know that anyone from Queen spoke about it before hand but as soon as I saw it, I thought “There is zero chance they allowed them to use their song.”
I think this is the first time people paid more attention to what Melania Trump said than how she looked.
She looked great.
@dstark well, one of my fb friends did comment that her face seemed frozen and didn’t move right…
http://radio.com/2016/07/18/brian-may-trump-queen-music/
Here’s a link to the tweet from Brian May indicating that it was unauthorized, as well as a link to his website where he had previously said that permission had neither been sought nor given and it was their policy not to allow Queen music to be used for political purposes.
For those of you who don’t have a Twitter, now is a really great time to see Twitter in all of its glory through the #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes hashtag. It’s GOLD.
It is an interesting idea to discuss with the college students in you life . . . my son and I (homeschooling) have had discussions about what constitutes plagiarism. Good English teachers will help students understand the concept. It’s not always a bright line. It’s even tougher when you realize that great writing builds on other writing and ideas.
I truly do not believe that there was an intent to plagiarize here (no excuse btw, if you’re in an academic setting), and I think it’s entirely possible that someone (Melania? speech writers?) were consciously or subconsciously moved by Michelle Obama’s speech from 2008. They both have interesting life stories and unusual life trajectories.
It was so dumb to raise the issue that it’s hard to believe there was intent. Again, no excuse in an academic setting. But this is not academia, it’s politics.
I really don’t understand how politicians all can legally continue to steal music like this. And I’m pretty sure it happens regularly with every political party. Maybe if we wanted to look at the bright side, we could say that at least they are bipartisan about something.
ETA: I hope that doesn’t count as a political thing against the terms of service because I’m saying all do it and not picking only this one.
This authentic tweet from Donald Trump in Sept. 2012 is being circulated as well.
Of course this is in response to a different speech, but funny nonetheless.
In some ways, the words that are spoken are almost beside the point in a ceremonial speech like this. People are watching to get a sense of the person, not through their words but through their posture, inflection, gestures, etc. In those aspects – what people were really interested in and watching for-- Michelle Obama and Melania Trump could not have been more different. Both were poised, polished and beautiful but they came across as completely and totally different people.
So, in my mind, they were two very different speeches with identical content. It’s not really relevant to whether Melania plagiarized but I find it interesting nonetheless.
@CaliCash at least he was re-using his own work instead of using someone else’s!
I have no idea what the first sentence here means. And I don’t buy that we need to have such low expectations for politics, politicians and the people who work for them.
Melanie came off fine in terms of delivery and poise. I wonder if the other candidate’s spouse has had any practice in speaking in front of large crowds 
??
It was such a blunder by the Trump campaign (i.e., a move against their own interest) that it’s hard to believe that they intended to do it, i.e., intended to plagiarize.
I’m travelling under the idea that people generally do what benefits them.
ETA: as I would tell my son, ‘intent’ will not carry the day in an academic setting. Just so any students reading this are clear.