# Obama's speech today had wording identical to some of Bush's speeches. Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267 "2009-05-22T03:15:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/1 "2009-05-22T03:15:55Z")
On the Daily Show today they played clips from Obama’s speech followed by clips from Bush’s speech(es?), showing that some of Obama’s wording was taken, in some cases exactly, in others very closely, from some passages from the Bush speech(es?) My question is, exactly how does this happen? They don’t share speechwriters I’m assuming. Do all of Obama’s words in these speeches come directly from his speechwriters, or do his writers serve sometimes as filters for words written by adminstrative agencies? Or what? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/2 "2009-05-22T04:42:01Z")
No idea, but I’d guess that it’s largely a matter that the job itself requires you to approach things in a particular way. A president doesn’t make decrees so much he mediates conflict among the hundreds (or hundreds of millions) of people all tugging on him. There’s a specific envelope in which he has freedom of movement, but outside of it, his latitude disappears sizably. ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/3 "2009-05-22T12:47:52Z")
Or perhaps there are legal reasons to phrase things in certain ways. Obama is working in the same legal environment that Bush is, so that might drive certain ways of stating things. The ubiquity of the “Immanent Threat” phrase from the leadup to the Iraq War was because of that. Hard to say more without concrete examples. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/4 "2009-05-22T13:15:47Z")
Also much harder to accuse Obama of gutting Bush policies when he’s using the same exact language to state them. Not that Rightards won’t make that claim anyway. ---
**Author:** ![hopesperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@hopesperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hopesperson)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/5 "2009-05-22T13:19:37Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Also much harder to accuse Obama of gutting Bush policies when he’s using the same exact language to state them. > > Not that Rightards won’t make that claim anyway. “Rightards”! Hilarious! Gamesetmatch! Also much harder to accuse Obama of the change from Bush’s policies that he promised during the campaign when he’s using the exact same language to state them. As an Obama voter, I find this disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![hopesperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@hopesperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hopesperson)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/6 "2009-05-22T15:06:50Z")
> [@hopesperson](#): > > “Rightards”! Hilarious! Gamesetmatch! > > Also much harder to accuse Obama of the change from Bush’s policies that he promised during the campaign when he’s using the exact same language to state them. As an Obama voter, I find this disappointing. Wrong forum for this. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/7 "2009-05-22T15:30:09Z")
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**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/8 "2009-05-22T15:41:37Z")
Probably because Obama and Bush are talking about the same sorts of things, and share most of their values. Not because the Republican and Democratic parties aren’t different. They are. They value the same things, and have different beliefs about the best way to achieve them. Plus, American political rhetoric uses a number of stock phrases and ideas. They are always going to talk about the bravery of our men and women in uniform, point with pride to our history, condemn terrorism, etc. That’s standard-issue boilerplate. Bush and Obama are both graduates of the elite universities, both Christian, they are part (now) of the Washington culture, and are doing the same job. Of course they are going to give speeches that have a lot of the same phrases and content. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/9 "2009-05-22T16:02:02Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > On the Daily Show today they played clips from Obama’s speech followed by clips from Bush’s speech(es?), showing that some of Obama’s wording was taken, in some cases exactly, in others very closely, from some passages from the Bush speech(es?) > > My question is, exactly how does this happen? They don’t share speechwriters I’m assuming. Do all of Obama’s words in these speeches come directly from his speechwriters, or do his writers serve sometimes as filters for words written by adminstrative agencies? Or what? Because, minus certain issues, like abortion, gay rights, and stem-cell research and maybe health care, Obama is a lot like Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/10 "2009-05-22T17:31:44Z")
This would be a lot easier to answer with some specific examples. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/11 "2009-05-22T20:13:16Z")
I just watched the Daily Show clip, and none of the parts of the speech were word-for-word identical, they were all paraphrased generic phrases. [Link](http://www.hulu.com/watch/74189/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-thu-may-21-2009) with relevant section starting at about 4:00 in. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/12 "2009-05-22T21:45:53Z")
I did find it strange when he mentioned putting food on your family, and that fool me can’t get fooled again. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/13 "2009-05-22T22:07:11Z")
Also, the excerpts were all from different speeches. Bush has said a lot of stuff over the years, comb through enough old footage and you can generally find something that sounds similar to something else. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/14 "2009-05-22T23:24:29Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I just watched the Daily Show clip, and none of the parts of the speech were word-for-word identical, they were all paraphrased generic phrases. I just saw it myself, and you’re right. Some of the wording was very similar, but they were generic boilerplate about safety and security being important and terrorists being bad. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-speech-today-had-wording-identical-to-some-of-bushs-speeches-why/497267/15 "2009-05-23T01:50:13Z")
Just watched the ep. TDS is genius at this type of skillful editing. And that’s all it was. They were similar phrases, but taken entirely out of context. Very entertaining, tho.