Did McCain Plagiarize His Speech on the Georgia Crisis?

By Taegan Goddard | August 11, 2008 1:13 PM

A Wikipedia editor emailed Political Wire to point out some similarities between Sen. John McCain's speech today on the crisis in Georgia and the Wikipedia article on the country Georgia. Given the closeness of the words and sentence structure, most would consider parts of McCain's speech to be derived directly from Wikipedia.

First instance:

one of the first countries in the world to adopt Christianity as an official religion (Wikipedia)

vs.

one of the world's first nations to adopt Christianity as an official religion (McCain)

Second instance:

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Georgia had a brief period of independence as a Democratic Republic (1918-1921), which was terminated by the Red Army invasion of Georgia. Georgia became part of the Soviet Union in 1922 and regained its independence in 1991. Early post-Soviet years was marked by a civil unrest and economic crisis. (Wikipedia)

vs.

After a brief period of independence following the Russian revolution, the Red Army forced Georgia to join the Soviet Union in 1922. As the Soviet Union crumbled at the end of the Cold War, Georgia regained its independence in 1991, but its early years were marked by instability, corruption, and economic crises. (McCain)

Third instance:

In 2003, Shevardnadze (who won reelection in 2000) was deposed by the Rose Revolution, after Georgian opposition and international monitors asserted that the 2 November parliamentary elections were marred by fraud. The revolution was led by Mikheil Saakashvili, Zurab Zhvania and Nino Burjanadze, former members and leaders of Shavarnadze's ruling party. Mikheil Saakashvili was elected as President of Georgia in 2004. Following the Rose Revolution, a series of reforms was launched to strengthen the country's military and economic capabilities. (Wikipedia)

vs.

Following fraudulent parliamentary elections in 2003, a peaceful, democratic revolution took place, led by the U.S.-educated lawyer Mikheil Saakashvili. The Rose Revolution changed things dramatically and, following his election, President Saakashvili embarked on a series of wide-ranging and successful reforms. (McCain)


Granted the third instance isn't as close as the first two, which seem quite obviously taken from Wikipedia.

It should be noted that Wikipedia material can be freely used but always requires attribution under its terms of use. Whether a presidential candidate should base policy speeches on material from Wikipedia is another question entirely.

See also: Dan Conley on how the candidates are reacting to the crisis in Georgia.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/politicalinsid...-his-speec.html

It would not surprise me really. It seems a common thing these days.

lol yes . but to make something part of your life that wasn't .

I think most can honestly say Bush never quoted anyone ... he tried , like Obama has in his speeches , but he always screwed it up to make it uniquely his own !!

"There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on --shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again." --Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002

Well hopefully it will all blow up in his face in the end and show what a fool he is for doing such a thing.

What he said are those facts?
Now, do you have to say facts quite different always?

who cares? They don't write their own speeches anyway.

your not making sense. McCain said a story about something that happened to him that never did. He got the story elsewhere. that's plagiarism.

THIS JUS IN:

Politicians revealed to be Liars!

wait, so you guys are getting pissy because his speech (most likely not written by him) contains similar phrasing regarding statements of historical fact about Georgia?

Sorry, but plagiarism is a long tradition in politics.

Maybe you're familiar with this gem: Back when JFK went to college, there wass a statue of the founder in front of the student center, with a bronze plaque stating "Ask not what Choat can do for you, ask what you can do for Choat."

How could you possibly say that phrase using different words and still mean the same thing ?

I understand plagiarism. But many phrases like this require using the same words every time. There aren't too many variations of " World's First Official Religion " you could use.

Yup, and if McCain tried to say it differently Rip would then have posted that McCain lied.

Missed it by a mile, Rip. But keep trying, and copy/paste other people's thoughts to your heart's content.

Funny. I don't remember too many here complaining when Obama used other people's speeches.

You got a point Plainbob.

Which Obama speech did he plagurize?

His "Just Words" speech. Heres a link.

http://www.slate.com/id/2184070/

funny , there was a 'pissy' posting when Obama used lines in his speeches from others ......... yet he never claimed those words were his or that he lived that senario's . big difference. McCain is claiming this was his life but it has never ever come up before. not even in his biographies and it's such a great story for one to leave out. because it's not his !!

Obama ' borrowing ' phrases in his speechs

on that note as well - a quote from a Republican speech writer on the subject about Obama..

But, taken as a whole, the evidence seemingly paints a different picture than Obama as a "serial-borrower." Indeed, as other Republican word-smiths note, candidates of all political stripes frequently and liberally take lines from each other.

"When I used to write for Republicans in the late 1990s and up through a few years ago, I wrote language books for them and they all used it," said Frank Luntz, the Republican political strategist and "framing" guru. "And it wasn't what we call plagiarism. It was written for them to use. It was written for them to stay on message... I'm sorry but Hillary Clinton does not deliver her own speeches. People write words for her. Unless you create your own language you have no right to criticize some else, especially if it comes from a friend or ally."

McCain Plagiarize?! WOW

And i thought Obama was the king....


Just Words


Maybe 1984

Take a chance


Like i said, whoever gets in, America is screwed either way. None of them have any plans/change for the future, their just telling what you want to hear.