He Said, He Said: Did Obama Plagiarize Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick?
Barack Obama launched some new lines at his Milwaukee Founder’s Day Dinner Saturday when responding to Senator Clinton’s claims that he is all talk and cannot produce results with flowery prose.
Here’s what he told the Wisconsin Dems:
“Don’t tell me words don’t matter! ‘I have a dream.’ Just words. ‘We hold these truths to be self evident that all me are created equal.’ Just words. ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself.’ Just words. Just speeches. It’s true that speeches don’t solve all problems, but what is also true is if we cannot inspire the country to believe again then it doesn’t matter how many policies and plans we have and that is why I am running for president of the United States of America and that is why we just won eight elections straight, because the American people want to believe in change again. Don’t tell me words don’t matter.”
The problem - as pointed out by the Clinton camp - this is not prose penned by Senator Obama.
Take a look here to see Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick say nearly the same thing back in October of 2006 when he was running for office. The two politicians are friends - Patrick has accompanied Obama on the campaign trail before and, according to news sources, Patrick has since gone on the record via statement, defending Obama.
“Sen. Obama and I are longtime friends and allies. We often share ideas about politics, policy and language. The argument in question, on the value of words in the public square, is one about which he and I have spoken frequently before. Given the recent attacks from Sen. Clinton, I applaud him [for] responding in just the way he did.”
So, how does Senator Obama explain this? Earlier today in Niles, Ohio, the candidate held a press availability, where he was asked about the words. Because the questions are not on microphone, here is a guide:
1. Does this call into question one of your greatest assests as it’s been described, and that’s your words, if the words are yours and if they’re coming from somebody else?
2. Why didn’t you give Deval Patrick credit when you said this the other night?
3. Do you regret this?
4. Who is a better speaker, you or Deval Patrick?
The Obama campaign said the issue is a “sideshow” that is not going to matter to real voters with real problems. The campaign then quickly sent out links to several instances, they say, that Hillary Clinton borrowed a few of Barack Obama’s words. Read them below the jump.
From the Obama Campaign:
Here are a couple of places Clinton freely borrowed rhetoric from Obama…
Clinton Stole The Phrase “Fired Up And Ready To Go” From Obama. “We are fired up and we are ready to go because we know America is ready for change and the process starts right here in Iowa.” In Davenport, Iowa, those words escaped the barriers of a tired Hillary Clinton’s teeth. Without irony. That phrase is associated with Barack Obama. Obama borrows it from a woman in South Carolina who helped remind him what was important in life. It’s the signature, in fact, of Obama’s close. [Marc Ambinder, 1/2/08 <http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/01/clinton_borrows_an_obama_line.php> ]
Clinton Stole Rhetoric From Obama And Said She Wanted “Bring Our Country Together” And How She’s Not Running For President Of The Sates That Voted For Democrats. “One other thing about those Clinton events yesterday: The woman is not at all bashful about stealing from her rivals. Between the two events, I counted six rhetorical turns I’ve heard other candidates employ: She talked about goals ‘I hope will bring our country together,’ a la Barack Obama. In response to a question about excessive partisanship, she talked about how she’s not running to be president of the states that voted for Democrats, she’s running to be president of the United States. This closely resembles Obama’s ‘I don’t want to pit red America against blue America. I want to be the President of the United States of America.’” [Noam Scheiber, TNR, 11/20/07 <http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2007/11/20/hillary-the-thief.aspx> ]
Clinton, Stealing Obama’s Line, “Yes, We Can” Said That Obama Was The “No We Can’t” Candidate And Said In Contrast, “Yes We Can.” Stealing a line, Clinton casts Obama as the “no we can’t” candidate, and herself as saying “yes, we can.” Obama is the “Yes We Can” candidate of the 2008 presidential race, an Elvis-like presence riding a wave of popular enthusiasm unseen in U.S. politics in many years. Democratic strategist Liz Chadderdon said Obama is sweeping Americans off their feet.”It’s this incredibly moving speech about how it’s time for Americans to turn inward and fix America’s problems. You listen to it and you say ‘Yes.’ Not that what’s coming out of her mouth isn’t solid, it just doesn’t have the same emotional connection that we’re feeling with him,” she said [Politico, 2/8/08 <http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0208/Stealing_a_line.html> ; Reuters, 2/15/08 <http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1447544220080215> ]
10/30/07: Clinton Said “We’ve Got To Turn The Page On George Bush And Dick Cheney.” Clinton, speaking about her electability said “In a perverse way, I think that the Republicans and their constant obsession with me demonstrate clearly that they obviously think that I am communicating effectively about what I will do as president. I am trying to do that because it matters greatly. We’ve got to turn the page on George Bush and Dick Cheney. In fact, we have to throw the whole book away.” [Debate, 10/30/07]
5/2/07: Obama Gave “Turn the Page”-Themed Speech To The California Democratic Convention. Speaking to the California Democratic Convention, Obama said, “I’m running for President because the time for the can’t-do, won’t-do, won’t-even-try style of politics is over. It’s time to turn the page…It’s what I learned as a state Senator in Illinois. That you can turn the page on old debates; that it’s possible to compromise so long as you as you never compromise your principles; and that so long as we’re willing to listen to each other, we can assume the best in people instead of the worst…Democrats of California, it’s time to turn the page…It’s time to turn the page on education…It’s time to turn the page on energy…But most of all, we have to turn the page on this disaster in Iraq…We will bring our troops home. It’s time to turn the page…California, if you want a new kind of politics, it’s time to turn the page. If you want an end to the old divisions, and the stale debates, and the score-keeping and the name-calling, it’s time to turn the page…If you want health care for every American and a world-class education for all our children; if you want energy independence and an end to this war in Iraq; if you believe America is still that last, best hope of Earth, then it’s time to turn the page…It’s time to turn the page for hope. It’s time to turn the page for justice. It is time to turn the page and write the next chapter in the great American story. Let’s begin the work. Let’s do this together. Let’s turn that page.” [Speech <http://www.barackobama.com/2007/05/02/remarks_of_senator_obama_to_th.php> , 5/2/07]
Tags: borrow, clinton, deval patrick, just words, obama, plagiarism, speech, steal
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FYI: Obama talking about Hillary Clinton on her period and being down, is disgusting, and an insult to ALL women.
Tell us why you won’t debate Hillary in Wisconsin Obama, tell us the real truth about your years of friendship with Rezco the slum lord who has been indited, tell us the truth about Exilon, and the nuclear bill that you watered down for your big contributors,.. make some more stolen, dream, fairytale speeches. Then tell us why anyone let alone women should vote for you.
oh,,,,,,,,,yeah,,,,,,,,,
obama is a new politics,,,,,,playing arrogant games,,,,,,and cheap shote,,,,,and copying speeches,,,,,,,,,,130 present votes,,,,,,,crack,,,,renzko,,,,,,,
Well, it looks like Obama thought it’s okay to engage in knowledge sharing with Patrick. What he did not know was that his words are scrutinized and disected by the Clinton campain. True, he should have been more careful. I think he learned it now. So, it’s the end of the story for that matter.
What concerns me is the emerging swiftboating tendency by the Clinton campaign. It looks as though someone in the campaign took a class from Carl Rove. Recall the rule #1 attack the known strength of the enemy. Obama is a known orator, so if Clinton campaign can discredit him for his speech, they can destroy this young and promising politician.
I pray to God that Clintons are not the kind of the people who would do ANYTHING to win. I would like to believe Hilary run for the office for our common good, not just because she wanted to keep the power within the family or even because she wanted to break the highest glass ceiling as a woman.
He has a debate scheduled this Thursday. He has had 18 debates to date. These debates where broadcast nationwide. Even if a debate was held in Wisconsin, the issues would not be exclusive to Wisconsin. In this day and age of the internet, Wisconsin citizens can easily replay anyone of the 18 debates that have already taken place on youtube.
This is not an election about race or gender. It is about who can take this country in the best direction. It is obvious that Barack Obama is what this country needs the most.
Go to his website to learn more:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/rjvih
Iam sick of the bias the media has shown with regards to the Demcratic race. Almost all of the news regarding Hillary is negative and Obama is never scrutinzed. He does not have the experience needed to be president. He is just a speaker who overuses the words “yes we can”, “change” and “nows the time”.
There is no substance to this man except his slick campaign strategies.
Before you air your next bit of anti-Hillary news, why dont you all do some investigating on Obamas background? Dont protect this slick polictician who does not represent new politics??????
With regard to the debates, only one of the debates was a real true one on one debate.
Let there be more one on one debates. The last one showed Obama looking uncomfortable and he was unable to answer alot of the questions completely. He was beating around the bush. I hope Russert asks him many detailed questions and asks for complete answers.
Things are coming too easily for this empty suit.
Obama also took some of his campaign speeches out of JFK’s book and the ” I have a dream” came from Martin Luther King. That’s why he refuses to debate, he can’t take the answers out of a book!! Obama is as fake as a three dallor bill. There are sooo many people that are still falling for his fairytale speeches. It’s actually sad to think we have become that desperate to fall victim to a candidate that has so many secrets, past and present. Plus, the fact that our enemies are hoping that Obama wins is really frightening! And then there are those who believe he is the anti-christ.
These next few months should be very interesting. I wonder, though, if the media is ever going to hold themselves responsible to start reporting the stories circulating around ALL the blog sites about Obama. It’s time for some answers….
This is shocking and even more so with Obama saying it’s not a big deal. It IS a big deal. Ask Biden. This is plagiarism and it goes right to the heart of his integrity (or lack of). I can’t believe he would do something like this. This is an entire speech. It shows an utter lack of character to steal someone else’s text.
I can’t believe this is even press worthy. He and Gov. Patrick are friends, it wasn’t a big deal. Seem to me like instead of waking up everyday planning to work for the people, Mrs. Clinton is waking up everyday thinking of how to pull Senator Obama in to the mud with her. She and her husband are as dirty as they come. I am a democrat, but I would not vote for her… ever!
Just saw the Patrick video. It gave me goose bumps. Not quite a Chris Wallace obasm though.
It looks like there is more than one recipe for Kool-aid out there. I guess if I were an Obama cult member this would make me a little skeptical.
Choice #1 - Hillary Clinton
Choice #2 - John McCain
Oh please it shows a lack of character for a sitting President to have an affair on the 1st Lady. Bill WROTE the Book on LIES.
If Hillary wins the Democratic nomination Blacks will NOT vote for her and the Latino vote won’t be enough to win the the White House.
The Democrats will NOT have it together during the Convention and the entire party is divided and a total mess.
Thank goodness McCain is in the middle. He will be our next President. So go ahead and watch the Billary & Obama fights they will get you NO WHERE….LOL…
Why do people think Senator is pulling him in the mud with her. Wake Up. This is politics. Show me one instance in this campaign that Senator Clinton has misrepresented his position with print advertising, media, etc. Zilch. This Obama is bad news. The most appalling is the ads he places in from of the American People stating he has universal health care. I am in the medical field and trust me his plan is not universal. This guy is a big time patsy–for whom I have not quite figured out. This guy lies left and right.
Why won’t Hillary release her financial statement?
It’s just plain naive to think that any one candidate is not borrowing rhetoric from another source. There is a finite number of phrases that anyone can use referring to politics in this country and most of them were coined and invented during the formation of this great nation, over 200 years ago. It is unrealistic to think anyone could coin anything really new.
Senators Clinton and Obama should start campaigning on their own words and not rely on speechwriters. In fact, I would propose a law in the next version of this nation, America 2.0, that makes it a felony for any candidate for office to use a speech not written 100% by themselves. Think about how much easier it would be to see into the soul of a candidate if they were in front of us and speaking with their own words.
George Bush might never have been elected President under this new law because he would have had speeches like some of his Off-The-Cuff remarks, for example:
“Please elect me to the office of The Decider. I would like to be the Decider because my Daddy once said, Fool me once, shame on you - uh, the point is you can only be fooled once.”
He also said, “We have an issue in this country, too many doctors, too many OB-GYNS, are not allowed to share their love with their patients.”
And he also said without the aid of speechwriters, “Humans and fish can coexist peacefully.”
Did we get upset that maybe he borrowed this witicisms from someone else? Of course not, because we knew they were coming from the man.
http://www.realdemocracyinamerica.com - get the Real Truth.
johnzero—Why should she–she has complied to law and will when nominated. Think about it–why should anybody have access to anything personal that they are not entitled to –Think about no matter what it is how the media would make another day of mass destruction to her character. It is a moot point and another dirty trick of Obama to discredit her and incite criticism from the public.
It’s one thing to take a phrase here and there, another to take a whole speech and not give credit. I think this would have totally been a non-starter if he had just acknowledged that it was Gov. Patrick’s speech. Nothing would have been said then.
I’m so sad for my Democratic party, they are ripping each other to shreds…
But I will vote for Hillary, because I’m worried that Obama just doesn’t have enough experience to get things done.
Plagiarism is plagiarism, whetheryou steal it from a friend or not. Unfortunately, I have found that it is a very difficult concept to teach to my students these days. They don’t get it and they don’t care. In their opinion, if it is on the Web, it is public domain…fair game. The question now is will the media be as tough on Senator Obama as it was on Joe Biden. If not, this will be over and forgotten today. For Obama, no harm, no foul. It is an immature response, however, to rely on the defense “Well, she did it, too.”
..LOL…It’s not that Obama lacks experience he LACKS a white face.
Both Democrat candidates are corrupt, just the media is giving Obama a pass, because he is further left than Hillary.
Plagerism is very serious, I don’t mean a few words strung together, I’m talking about the taking of whole sections of someone else’s speech.
Cooper, don’t say such things. Keep this constructive.
A classic clinton strategy…desperate times call for desperate measures…give me a break…clinton will do anything to tear obama down. This is the most ridiculous stunt the clinton campaign has pulled…plagarism! That clearly was not obama’s intention…and I know her team knows that. How pathetic that she thinks that american voters are this naive. GIVE ME A BREAK!
@ Cooper
Personally I wouldn’t vote for Obama if he was a white, black, asian, etc.
I don’t care what his ethnicity is, I really don’t and I’m personally sick of the Democrat garbage of people being racist if they don’t vote for Obama.
I’m not going to vote for Obama because I don’t agree with him on his foreign policy at all.
Why doesn’t anyone report on Obama’s voting record. More acurately his “NOT VOTING” record. Go to http://obama.senate.gov/votes/ and view his record for youselves. Look at the stimulus package vote, and the vote on giving refunds to the poor, and on confirming a judge, and the one that reads “to provide for the safe redeployment of troop from Iraq”. Obama is pathetic, he doesn’t stand for anything, he is nothing more that canned rhetoric, parroting other brilliant leaders’ words.
THANK YOU ANGELA. COME ON THIS IS WHAT HILLARY BRINGS UP, HIM AND HIS FRIEND SPEECH’S OF ALL THINGS!!!!!!! YOU MEAN TO SAY NO INTERNS, ANOTHER WOMAN MAYBE, OR HOW ABOUT HE GAY, OR BETTER YET HE’S CHEATING ON HIS WIFE WITH AN INTERN, NOW THATS NEWS!!!!!!!
This is exactly my concern about Obama. As a politician he has charisma, but so other politicians of the past who didn’t turn out too well. Words are just words, if there is no substance. And worse, if you are just copying other people’s speeches because they sound nice. My greatest hope for Americans is not to buy to rhetoric and superfluous words. Words only have meaning when have been tested and proven that they actually worked (Go Hillary!) and could possibly bring the transformation and change that this country badly needs. Change come not only by just words and hopefully Americans are not swayed by words of Obama.
To a man who gives so much tribute on “words”, this is tragic. If Obama wins the presidency, we might have a head of state whose speeches would have been heard before, and a president who would always say, I was such a bonehead. Clearly, as he has honed his speech (although not original) this man is not ready to head the nation.
UNTIL THEN WHO REALLY FUCCING CARE’S.
Listen, there is a distinct difference between the 2 instances. Obama quoted a great line from a friend, but moreso than that, he quoted a great line that applied to his situation. How many speeches have borrowed lines from other great speeches??? Almost all - everyone quotes great lines from someone else, and they DON’T ALWAYS say “so-and-so once said”.
Hillary, on the other hand, is stealing quotes from the very person she is deciding to bash. That’s hypocritical, at best. If Obama had eluded to saying, “I don’t care much for Patrick”, then quoted him, that would be something entirely… Clintonian.
GO HILLARY !!!!
I am happy to see the media trying to report - fair & balanced - for once.
Just report the facts - without slanting and distorting the truth - it is so obvious that FOX is pulling for Obama - treating him like a baby - will not report one negative comment.
As for Hillary - the media jumps on any tiny word to make her look bad.
I now get my news - facts - from CNN - at least they report all the news on all the candidates.
GO HILLARY!!!!
Obama campaign speeches are that of somebody else’s so his inspiration is that of somebody else’s. Sounds like a fake. If he was in White House does he need help or advice from people before he does stuff sound like he has no faith in himself. Think twice people. This man is not what he seems. The media is portraying him as some kind of God. I wish the media would play just as hard on him as they do Hillary. Obama is trying to down play this. If it was Hillary the media would crucify her. I get tired of hearing the race card being played.
!!!!VOTE!!! HILLARY !!! 2008 !!!
Plagiarism is cheating. We wouldn’t have expected from a Harvard graduate. It’s not surprising that the under forty generation finds nothing wrong with it. In survey after survey the majority of them admitted to cheating in school and think it’s OK because “everybody does it”. Too bad he’s not really another MLK, JFK, RFK et. al. who were truly inspirational.
The Clintons are like Hitler. My way or death. He lied in office and she followed. Do we need liars and crooks in office. I am a ex G.O.P. member and will vote for Obama. At sixty years old I thought I had seen everything ,then came the Clintons. If you vote for Clintons dont blame anyone except yourself. They are not prejudice they will destroy anyone will dont kiss the backsides.
Is there a pattern emerging, which takes it out of the realm of a gaffe and raises questions about honesty and authenticity?
Senator Obama — In your speech on Super Tuesday, perhaps by coincidence, you used key phrases from a 1984 speech by Jesse Jackson (“Our time has come. Our time has come” DNC), a poem by June Jordan (“we are the ones we have been waiting for” — “Poem for South African Women”), and a song by Norman Hutchins (“a change is coming”) – but you did not credit any of them for the key lines in your speech. Isn’t this the kind of speechwriting that doomed Joe Biden’s presidential campaign in the 1980s, and why should your speeches be held to a different standard?
Obama’s speech writers need to be more original. He has come close to plagiarizing Mike Huckabee using terms like Main Street/Wall Street in analogies and up/down or vertical politics instead of horizontal.
look at this Deval Patrick ad from 2006
sounds a lot like obama. change, hope, “together we can” instead of “yes we can”. who’s copying who?
The Clinton camp has devolved into an ineffectual swamp slime at this point…a whole lotta’ random blurps and gurgles with nothing to show for it but a foggy mist and a bad smell.———The End.
You all are taking sound-bites and media blitzes to heart. When you can decide for yourself what you want, you don’t have to say anything (like, I’m voting this way or that…you will stand alone in the voting booth).
On the side of politics, all candidates make mistakes while running….ehmmm, including Hillary and her mess up about MLK…just mistakes. Those running candidates (for any office) willl adopt a speech that gets people to listen, follow, and vote. All of us, at least me, are paying attention to this race because it is very interesting…who knows who will win…but it is interesting.
I don’t know anyone who ran for office (for the first time) that had the experience to be the holder of that office before they ran…so, if you give someone a chance…let them do the job (but don’t expect someone who has never held an office — such as the presidency–to be perfect.
,,,,,,,,,MARK,,,,,,,, thx for the link,,,,,,,,i knew that from the beggining,,,,,,
anybody can give speeches,,,,,you,,me,,,bill,,bush,,,anyone,,,,,but we need someone who can do the job,,,like hillary,,,or mccain
I can’t wait for the Day that Hillary wins the Democratic Nomination then she LOSES the General election. That will teach her & that Man-SLUT husband of hers that “Dirty Politics” gets you what you deserve…
NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!
Come on America WAKE UP Who are the Clintons to call anyone LIARS or Cheats This is the true facts like it or not…How soon everyone forgets these unmorale acts that disgraced the White House…
The Clinton Legacy
The Progressive Review
This list was compiled at the end of the Clinton administration. It was last partially updated in 2000
Our Clinton Scandal Index
The Clintons, to adapt a line from Dr. Johnson, were not only corrupt, they were the cause of corruption in others. Yet seldom in America have so many come to excuse so much mendacity and malfeasance as during the Clinton years. Here are some of the facts that have been buried.
RECORDS SET
- The only president ever impeached on grounds of personal malfeasance
- Most number of convictions and guilty pleas by friends and associates*
- Most number of cabinet officials to come under criminal investigation
- Most number of witnesses to flee country or refuse to testify
- Most number of witnesses to die suddenly
- First president sued for sexual harassment.
- First president accused of rape.
- First first lady to come under criminal investigation
- Largest criminal plea agreement in an illegal campaign contribution case
- First president to establish a legal defense fund.
- First president to be held in contempt of court
- Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions
- Greatest amount of illegal campaign contributions from abroad
- First president disbarred from the US Supreme Court and a state court
* According to our best information, 40 government officials were indicted or convicted in the wake of Watergate. A reader computes that there was a total of 31 Reagan era convictions, including 14 because of Iran-Contra and 16 in the Department of Housing & Urban Development scandal. 47 individuals and businesses associated with the Clinton machine were convicted of or pleaded guilty to crimes with 33 of these occurring during the Clinton administration itself. There were in addition 61 indictments or misdemeanor charges. 14 persons were imprisoned. A key difference between the Clinton story and earlier ones was the number of criminals with whom he was associated before entering the White House.
Using a far looser standard that included resignations, David R. Simon and D. Stanley Eitzen in Elite Deviance, say that 138 appointees of the Reagan administration either resigned under an ethical cloud or were criminally indicted. Curiously Haynes Johnson uses the same figure but with a different standard in “Sleep-Walking Through History: America in the Reagan Years: “By the end of his term, 138 administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations. In terms of number of officials involved, the record of his administration was the worst ever.”
STARR-RAY INVESTIGATION
- Number of Starr-Ray investigation convictions or guilty pleas (including one governor, one associate attorney general and two Clinton business partners): 14
- Number of Clinton Cabinet members who came under criminal investigation: 5
- Number of Reagan cabinet members who came under criminal investigation: 4
- Number of top officials jailed in the Teapot Dome Scandal: 3
CRIME STATS
- Number of individuals and businesses associated with the Clinton machine who have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to crimes: 47
- Number of these convictions during Clinton’s presidency: 33
- Number of indictments/misdemeanor charges: 61
- Number of congressional witnesses who have pleaded the Fifth Amendment, fled the country to avoid testifying, or (in the case of foreign witnesses) refused to be interviewed: 122
SMALTZ INVESTIGATION
- Guilty pleas and convictions obtained by Donald Smaltz in cases involving charges of bribery and fraud against former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy and associated individuals and businesses: 15
- Acquitted or overturned cases (including Espy): 6
- Fines and penalties assessed: $11.5 million
- Amount Tyson Food paid in fines and court costs: $6 million
CAMPAIGN FINANCE INVESTIGATION
- As of June 2000, the Justice Department listed 25 people indicted and 19 convicted because of the 1996 Clinton-Gore fundraising scandals.
- According to the House Committee on Government Reform in September 2000, 79 House and Senate witnesses asserted the Fifth Amendment in the course of investigations into Gore’s last fundraising campaign.
-James Riady entered a plea agreement to pay an $8.5 million fine for campaign finance crimes. This was a record under campaign finance laws.
CLINTON MACHINE CRIMES FOR WHICH CONVICTIONS WERE OBTAINED
Drug trafficking (3), racketeering, extortion, bribery (4), tax evasion, kickbacks, embezzlement (2), fraud (12), conspiracy (5), fraudulent loans, illegal gifts (1), illegal campaign contributions (5), money laundering (6), perjury, obstruction of justice.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
- Number of independent counsel inquiries since the 1978 law was passed: 19
- Number that have produced indictments: 7
- Number that produced more convictions than the Starr investigation: 1
- Median length of investigations that led to convictions: 44 months
- Length of Starr-Ray investigation: 69 months.
- Total cost of the Starr investigation (3/00) $52 million
- Total cost of the Iran-Contra investigation: $48.5 million
- Total cost to taxpayers of the Madison Guarantee failure: $73 million
OTHER MATTERS INVESTIGATED BY SPECIAL PROSECUTORS AND CONGRESS, OR REPORTED IN THE MEDIA
Bank and mail fraud, violations of campaign finance laws, illegal foreign campaign funding, improper exports of sensitive technology, physical violence and threats of violence, solicitation of perjury, intimidation of witnesses, bribery of witnesses, attempted intimidation of prosecutors, perjury before congressional committees, lying in statements to federal investigators and regulatory officials, flight of witnesses, obstruction of justice, bribery of cabinet members, real estate fraud, tax fraud, drug trafficking, failure to investigate drug trafficking, bribery of state officials, use of state police for personal purposes, exchange of promotions or benefits for sexual favors, using state police to provide false court testimony, laundering of drug money through a state agency, false reports by medical examiners and others investigating suspicious deaths, the firing of the RTC and FBI director when these agencies were investigating Clinton and his associates, failure to conduct autopsies in suspicious deaths, providing jobs in return for silence by witnesses, drug abuse, improper acquisition and use of 900 FBI files, improper futures trading, murder, sexual abuse of employees, false testimony before a federal judge, shredding of documents, withholding and concealment of subpoenaed documents, fabricated charges against (and improper firing of) White House employees, inviting drug traffickers, foreign agents and participants in organized crime to the White House.
ARKANSAS ALTZHEIMER’S
Number of times that Clinton figures who testified in court or before Congress said that they didn’t remember, didn’t know, or something similar.
Bill Kennedy 116
Harold Ickes 148
Ricki Seidman 160
Bruce Lindsey 161
Bill Burton 191
Mark Gearan 221
Mack McLarty 233
Neil Egglseston 250
Hillary Clinton 250
John Podesta 264
Jennifer O’Connor 343
Dwight Holton 348
Patsy Thomasson 420
Jeff Eller 697
FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES: In the portions of President Clinton’s Jan. 17 deposition that have been made public in the Paula Jones case, his memory failed him 267 times. This is a list of his answers and how many times he gave each one.
I don’t remember - 71
I don’t know - 62
I’m not sure - 17
I have no idea - 10
I don’t believe so - 9
I don’t recall - 8
I don’t think so - 8
I don’t have any specific recollection - 6
I have no recollection - 4
Not to my knowledge - 4
I just don’t remember - 4
I don’t believe - 4
I have no specific recollection - 3
I might have - 3
I don’t have any recollection of that - 2 I don’t have a specific memory - 2
I don’t have any memory of that - 2
I just can’t say - 2
I have no direct knowledge of that - 2
I don’t have any idea - 2
Not that I recall - 2
I don’t believe I did - 2
I can’t remember - 2
I can’t say - 2
I do not remember doing so - 2
Not that I remember - 2
I’m not aware - 1
I honestly don’t know - 1
I don’t believe that I did - 1
I’m fairly sure - 1
I have no other recollection - 1
I’m not positive - 1
I certainly don’t think so - 1
I don’t really remember - 1
I would have no way of remembering that - 1
That’s what I believe happened - 1
To my knowledge, no - 1
To the best of my knowledge - 1
To the best of my memory - 1
I honestly don’t recall - 1
I honestly don’t remember - 1
That’s all I know - 1
I don’t have an independent recollection of that - 1
I don’t actually have an independent memory of that - 1
As far as I know - 1
I don’t believe I ever did that - 1
That’s all I know about that - 1
I’m just not sure - 1
Nothing that I remember - 1
I simply don’t know - 1
I would have no idea - 1
I don’t know anything about that - 1
I don’t have any direct knowledge of that - 1
I just don’t know - 1
I really don’t know - 1
I can’t deny that, I just — I have no memory of that at all - 1
ARKANSAS SUDDEN DEATH SYNDROME
- Number of persons in the Clinton machine orbit who are alleged to have committed suicide: 9
- Number known to have been murdered: 12
- Number who died in plane crashes: 6
- Number who died in single car automobile accidents: 3
- Number of one-person sking fatalities: 1
- Number of key witnesses who have died of heart attacks while in federal custody under questionable circumstances: 1
- Number of unexplained deaths: 4
- Total suspicious deaths: 46
- Number of northern Mafia killings during peak years of 1968-78: 30
- Number of Dixie Mafia killings during same period: 156
It is important in considering these fatal incidents to bear in mind the following:
The fact that anomalies need to be investigated further carries no presumption of how a death actually occurred, only that there remain serious questions that require answers.
The possibility of foul play must be taken seriously in a major criminal conspiracy in which over two score individuals and firms have been convicted and over 100 witnesses have pled the Fifth Amendment or fled the country.
If foul play did occur in any of these cases, that fact by itself does not carry the presumption that the the Clinton machine was involved. Given the footprints of organized crime, drug trade, foreign espionage, and intelligence agencies on the trail of the Clinton story, such a assumption would not be warranted. It is also well to keep in mind the classic prohibition era movie in which the corrupt poitician’s job was not to engage in illegal acts but to avoid noticing them.
ARKANSAS MONEY MANAGEMENT
- Amount of an alleged electronic transfer from the Arkansas Development Financial Authority to a bank in the Cayman Islands during 1980s: $50 million
- Grand Cayman’s population: 18,000
- Number of commercial banks: 570
- Number of bank regulators: 1
- Amount Arkansas state pension fund invested in high-risk repos in the mid-80s in one purchase in April 1985: $52 million through the Worthen Bank.
- Number of days thereafter that the state’s brokerage firm went belly up: 3
- Amount Arkansas pension fund dropped overnight as a result: 15%
- Percent of Worthen bank that Mochtar Riady bought over the next four months to bail out the bank and the then governor, Bill Clinton: 40%.
- Percent of purchasers from the Clintons and McDougals of resort lots who lost the land because of the sleazy financing provisions: over 50%
THE MEDIA
- Number of journalists covering Whitewater who have been fired, transferred off the beat, resigned or otherwise gotten into trouble because of their work on the scandals (Doug Frantz, Jim Wooten, Richard Behar, Christopher Ruddy, Michael Isikoff, David Eisenstadt, Yinh Chan, Jonathan Broder, James R. Norman, Zoh Hieronimus): 10
FRIENDS OF BILL
- Number of times John Huang took the 5th Amendment in answer to questions during a Judicial Watch deposition: 1,000
- Visits made to the White House by investigation subjects Johnny Chung, James Riady, John Huang, and Charlie Trie. 160
- Number of campaign contributors who got overnights at the White House in the two years before the 1996 election: 577
- Number of members of Thomas Boggs’s law firm who have held top positions in the Clinton administration. 18
- Number of times John Huang was briefed by CIA: 37
- Number of calls Huang made from Commerce Department to Lippo banks: 261
- Number of intelligence reports Huang read while at Commerce Department: 500
UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA
- FBI files misappropriated by the White House: c. 900
- Estimated number of witnesses quoted in FBI files misappropriated by the White House: 18,000
- Number of witnesses who developed medical problems at critical points in Clinton scandals investigation (Tucker, Hale, both McDougals, Lindsey): 5
- Problem areas listed in a memo by Clinton’s own lawyer in preparation for the president’s defense: 40
- Number of witnesses and critics of Clinton subjected to IRS audit: 45
- Number of names placed in a White House secret database without the knowledge of those named: c. 200,000
- Number of women involved with Clinton who claim to have been physically threatened (Sally Perdue, Gennifer Flowers, Kathleen Willey, Linda Tripp, Elizabeth Ward Gracen, Juantia Broaddrick): 6
- Number of men involved in the Clinton scandals who have been beaten up or claimed to have been intimidated: 10
THE HIDDEN ELECTION
USA Today calls it “the hidden election,” in which nearly 7,000 state legislative seats are decided with only minimal media and public attention. But there was an important national story here: evidence of the disaster that Bill Clinton was for the Democratic Party. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Democrats held a 1,542 seat lead in the state bodies in 1990. As of 1998 that lead had shrunk to 288. That’s a loss of over 1,200 state legislative seats, nearly all of them under Clinton. Across the US, the Democrats controled only 65 more state senate seats than the Republicans.
Further, in 1992, the Democrats controlled 17 more state legislatures than the Republicans. After 1998, the Republicans controlled one more than the Democrats. Not only was this a loss of 9 legislatures under Clinton, but it was the first time since 1954 that the GOP had controlled more state legislatures than the Democrats (they tied in 1968).
Here’s what happened to the Democrats under Clinton, based on our latest figures:
- GOP seats gained in House since Clinton became president: 48
- GOP seats gained in Senate since Clinton became president: 8
- GOP governorships gained since Clinton became president: 11
- GOP state legislative seats gained since Clinton became president: 1,254
as of 1998
- State legislatures taken over by GOP since Clinton became president: 9
- Democrat officeholders who have become Republicans since Clinton became
president: 439 as of 1998
- Republican officeholders who have become Democrats since Clinton became president: 3
THE CLINTON LEGACY: LONELY VOICES
Here are some of the all too rare public officials, reporters, and others who spoke truth to the dismally corrupt power of Bill and Hill Clinton’s political machine — some at risk to their careers, others at risk to their lives. A few points to note:
- Those corporatist media reporters who attempted to report the story often found themselves muzzled; some even lost their jobs. The only major dailies that consistently handled the story well were the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times.
- Nobody on this list has gotten rich and many you may not have even heard of. Taking on the Clintons typically has not been a happy or rewarding experience. At least ten reporters were fired, transferred off their beats, resigned, or otherwise got into trouble because of their work on the scandals.
Oh, come on! Patrick and Obama are on the same team. OF COURSE they have the same message. Patrick is advising Obama! Along with many other great Americans. They share the same dream, and are spreading the same ideas. This isn’t an academic paper.
Seriously, does anyone honestly think Hillary Clinton writes her own speeches? GOD forbid we share some good ideas in this corporatist country. It shows that only FOX is carrying this story. Their news reputation hasn’t been the most respected over the last several years.
What’s the BFD (big deal)? Great minds think alike. There are many paths but one truth. One of those truths is words have a huge impact on people. If they are friends and borrow from each other in a speech, it’s not wrong. What is really weak is stealing it from opponents. which Hillary does to Barack. Especially “Fired Up, Ready to Go” which came from a woman who is in public office in SC. Do you expect him to give her credit every time he says this?? Neither does she!!
Hillary is right, words don’t mean noting. “ I did not have sex with that women”
Obama’s starting to look awfully shady…why doesn’t he have an honest answer for the borrowed speech? I am always suspicious of politicians who rather than answer a question instead point the finger at the opponent and try to divert attention. What is going on with him lately?!
I wish they could all just get along. LOL. This is politics and it is DIRTY game. They were friends before the election race. They even supported each other.
I don’t think they are going to be friends after this, then again I could be wrong.
I was wrong about Obama.
Hillary 2008
go hillary
go hillary
go hillary
obama could not come up with his own answers ,,,,,,,,so he borrowed
poor””””””””’obama””””””””crack head””””””””’borrowed someone speech
[...] like Barack has come under fire again today, this time for possible plagiarism in a speech. I haven’t been able to debunk or [...]
I just hope everybody closely examines the issues and make decisions based on policy, not spin doctoring!
Sen. Obama is definitely trying to dance around the issue. When Sen. Biden plagiarized a Neil Kinnock speech his credibility became an issue. Why shouldn’t credibility be an issue now?
Actually Hillary has a legitimate point for once, truth be told I don’t like Hillary at all, but it’s fair game to call Obama on this.
According to today’s New York Times, Patrick last week GAVE Obama the permission to use these speech lines.
“In a telephone interview on Sunday, Mr. Patrick said that he and Mr. Obama first talked about the attacks from their respective rivals last summer, when Mrs. Clinton was raising questions about Mr. Obama’s experience, and that they discussed them again last week.
“Both men had anticipated that Mr. Obama’s rhetorical strength would provide a point of criticism. Mr. Patrick said he told Mr. Obama that he should respond to the criticism, and he shared language from his campaign with Mr. Obama’s speechwriters.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/us/politics/18video.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=deval+patrick&st=nyt&oref=slogin
It’s not plagiarism if the source tells you to use it. Sorry Hillary.
oh yeah,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,130,,present votes
90%of black people only vote for obama,,,,why
why obama did not marry a white girl
if obama wants to change old politics;;;;;;;;;;;;why he is running from ,,,dnc,,,,,why not ,,,independent ,,,,status
@ Julie
Didn’t the New York Times or was it TIME Magazine get in trouble for plagerism and dishonest journalism?
The speech was not a coincidence since advisor David Axelrod is on Obama’s team and was on Deval Patrick’s team.
The situation is ironic since both candidates were attacked by their opponents for using “Just Words.”
If Hillary didn’t go on the attack in the first place then this speech would have not been necessary.
Things like this happen all of the time. Alot of Politicos plagiarize.
Since Deval and Obama are friends and exchange ideas I don’t think its as big of a deal that the Clinton campaign is making it out to be.
However this could effect Obama with some folks since he has been establishing himself as being above the fray. I am not a naive person and I do not hold Obama to be a demagog but he has got to be careful since he is presenting himself as a person who is not part of the same politics. He has set himself to be held at a higher standard. If this happened to other candidates its no big deal and would have not been newsworthy since its politics as usual but this involves Obama.
He should have just given Deval the credit and all of this could have been avoided in th first place instead of having Deval to hold a press conference telling the public that they are frineds and that it was not plagiarism.
Today Hillary announces that she wants to co-sponsor Obama’s Bill to Reward Companies that Help American Workers
Hillary and the Clinton campaign are rediculous.
All of the attacks that she and her camp have made on Obama for not having substance and now she wants to co-sponsor a bill authored by Obama. Unbelievable. This makes her look pathetic with her attacks.
A good idea is a good idea no matter who its comming from even if its comes from someone that you frequently disagree with. The attacks are rediculous.
If she is so full of substance then why didn’t she author the bill. If she is so concerned about our economy and jobs going oversees etc. then why didn’t she author this bill. She has served more years in the U.S. senate than Obama yet she never once thought to author a bill like this in all of her years in the senate. What a coincidence, she is running for President and is now concerned about the ecomony so much that she is going to piggy-back on Obama. Polictics in the U.S. is garbage.
We have got to change this garbage
Bee writes…
What’s the BFD (big deal)? Great minds think alike. There are many paths but one truth. <<<
because Obama presents himself as a revolutionary mind and if he is stealing ideas then where does that leave him in that capacity. Frankly I don’t really care but if it’s used properly it could be very damaging to him.
BTW….great minds think divergently. Sheep all think alike.
[...] Click here to see more of Obama’s remarks on the Clinton camp accusations. [...]
Wow, the Hillary camp is full of lies and smears as usual.
Obama would never say anything about Hillary being on her period and being down. For one, Hillary’s past menopause already. For another, this is just a way the Hillary camp has lied and slandered Obama in order to get a knee-jerk response from women - but today’s woman is way too smart for the Hillary camp’s lies and smear.
Only Hillary’s campaign is so good as smearing Obama’s good name. She had to publicly rebuke her own staffers for passing out false rumours about Obama being Muslim before! Unfortunately, those shrills who want Hillary have already swallowed the falsities hook, line, and sinker and still keep blabbing it out.
Whether Patrick and Obama are friends or Patrick gave permission for Obama to use his words is not the point. The point is, he did not say the words were from Patrick. All allong I and the people thought that those were his own words and ideas. Decieved? Oh yes. How do you face up to those college students who are inspired and continue to follow now? In their daily works, they face the danger of plagiarism everyday. In the past I remeber two who were accused of plagiarism and they
went down to dirt and shame.
So he also copied Hillary’s message “Two for the price of one”, but much better, because he is “two or maybe even more for the price of one” For now is just one, Patrick. With Obama the GOP is going to have fun (a lot of fun).