This is Weak

The Post has a story by Dana Milbank on the new "accusation" that Obama is plagiarizing phrases for his speeches. It's probably the stupidest thing I've read in the Post this year.

"Criticizing pharmaceutical companies' ads, Obama joked: "You know those ads where people are running around the fields, you know, they're smiling, you don't know what the drug is for?"

Compare that with this staple of the 2004 Edwards stump speech: "I love the ads. Buy their medicine, take it, and the next day you and your spouse will be skipping through the fields."

This is so completely stupid it makes me cringe. I have made the exact same "joke" about those ads--as have thousands, I'm betting--and it's not even phrased the same way.

Of course, Milbank has other "examples" and most of them are completely useless. Another:

Edwards, accepting the party's vice presidential nomination in 2004, said, "Hard work should be valued in this country, so we're going to reward work, not just wealth." Obama, in turn, has been heard to say, "We shouldn't just be respecting wealth in this country, we should be respecting work."

How are these the same quote? The same sentiment, for sure--but if you are going to plagiarize you have to steal it without changing the point. Otherwise you're just improving.

Honestly, I'm not sure if this is supposed to be an article or an opinion piece; I've been away for too long to remember what Milbank's deal is. But this is just pathetic. Of all the quotations cited, only one (near the end) is identical. And the explanation is clear--an adviser who worked on the previous campaigns.

I'd make a bigger point about media attacks, or Obama backlash, or something, but unlike Milbank I'm smart enough to know when I don't have the information to back up my argument. Well, okay, I do that all the time. But I won't here.