# The Republican national Convention **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 18, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729 "2016-06-18T21:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/401 "2016-07-19T15:54:05Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It looks like the USA Today article has been modified in the past hour, and Manafort’s comment was shortened in the revision. > > From the BBC: > > [US election: Melania Trump 'plagiarised' Michelle Obama - BBC News](http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-36832095) You know, if that was really the case, I’d be even more in favor of Clinton than I currently am (and I really like her, now). I mean, the woman managed to brainwash the speechwriter into stealing Michelle Obama’s speech - not Clinton’s speech, mind you - and then somehow go after all of the media and make them call her out…I mean damn! ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/402 "2016-07-19T15:55:42Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > There is no distinction. “Consultant” just sounds better in the budget back home. I’m very close to someone who was a security consultant in Afghanistan. They don’t like the word “mercenary”. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t fit, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/403 "2016-07-19T16:06:54Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I’m very close to someone who was a security consultant in Afghanistan. They don’t like the word “mercenary”. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t fit, of course. If he is willing to work for any nation that pays him, he is a mercenary. The vast majority of DOD civilians and contractors are not, and are therefore not mercenaries. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/404 "2016-07-19T16:08:45Z")
Someone was bound to do this: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KtzdP7mR-4) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/405 "2016-07-19T16:09:38Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > No way, plagiarizing Michelle Obama and then tossing in a Rick Roll on top of it is a sign of deliberate torpedoing of the speech. Someone wanted to screw her up in the most deliberate way possible. Do you not think the speech was vetted? Are you arguing that the speech was not read by Donald Trump and that the speech that his wife delivered was completely un-screened by her candidate husband? Far, far easier to believe that Donald is responsible for this wording - if there was somebody to fire, they would have been fired already. The longer it takes to fire somebody indicates two things: 1. Somebody WAY high up in the campaign approved the wording 2. They’re searching desperately for a willing fall guy… and are having trouble finding one. The Donald himself cribbed the speech and added the rickroll line himself - hell, he probably thought he came up with the phrasing and was clueless that it was from a 30 year-old song. Also, if this was sabotage, everybody would be shouting “That’s not the speech we wrote and approved!” Since it is the speech they wrote and approved… We will see. Some patsy will take the blame for this, a person who we’ll end up asking “Why is _this_ guy writing speeches?” But I would place a few bucks on it being the Donald himself who put those lines in there. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/406 "2016-07-19T16:11:25Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Remember when the Republicans lambasted Joe Biden for plagiarism? Neither do they. > [@running\_coach](#): > > Christie was a prosecutor. I wonder if a valid defense would be “Hey, 93% of my life has been crime-free”. Best lines of the day. Manaforte, Christie et al. deny there was any plagiarism? Whew. There are none so blind as will not see. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/407 "2016-07-19T16:18:21Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Best lines of the day. > > Manaforte, Christie et al. deny there was any plagiarism? Whew. **There are none so blind as will not see.** That sounds familiar. Is that yours? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/408 "2016-07-19T16:20:36Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > After Melania spoke, NBC had Newt Gingrich on. He, of course, said it was a wonderful speech and that he was looking forward to comparing it to Bill Clinton’s speech next week. That could be an interesting comparison; maybe she got hold of an advance copy somehow and plagiarized from him, too. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/409 "2016-07-19T16:23:33Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Do you not think the speech was vetted? Are you arguing that the speech was not read by Donald Trump and that the speech that his wife delivered was completely un-screened by her candidate husband? > > Far, far easier to believe that Donald is responsible for this wording - if there was somebody to fire, they would have been fired already. The longer it takes to fire somebody indicates two things: > > 1. Somebody WAY high up in the campaign approved the wording > 2. They’re searching desperately for a willing fall guy… and are having trouble finding one. > > The Donald himself cribbed the speech and added the rickroll line himself - hell, he probably thought he came up with the phrasing and was clueless that it was from a 30 year-old song. > > Also, if this was sabotage, everybody would be shouting “That’s not the speech we wrote and approved!” Since it is the speech they wrote and approved… > > We will see. Some patsy will take the blame for this, a person who we’ll end up asking “Why is _this_ guy writing speeches?” But I would place a few bucks on it being the Donald himself who put those lines in there. I think it’s just straightforward incompetence and lack of process. Sure, a normal campaign would vet the hell out of every speech, with a dozen or more quality checks and reviews. But this campaign hasn’t shown any sort of competence for this kind of thing. I think some speechwriter stuck it in to fuck with them, and no one caught it because they’re incompetent. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/410 "2016-07-19T16:23:39Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > it’s so nice to see a pretty, elegant, classy woman on the podium serving as a symbol of hard work The only concept someone who steals a speech about hard work and integrity could possibly symbolize is “irony”. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/411 "2016-07-19T16:24:19Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > And, now, satire is truly dead: > > [Trump campaign denies plagiarism in Melania's speech, blames reaction on Clinton](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/07/19/trump-campaign-denies-plagiarism-melanias-speech-blames-reaction-clinton/87282068/) Here are my two favorite things from that article; one of them is a statement of pure “duh” and the other is an excellent non-denial denial: > [@Paul Manafort](#): > > There is a political tint to this whole issue. > [@Paul Manafort](#): > > We don’t believe there is anything in that speech that doesn’t reflect her thinking. I wish the reporter had followed that one with “By ‘her’ do you mean Melania Trump or Michelle Obama?” ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/412 "2016-07-19T16:25:44Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > More likely this a result of the bargain basement campaign these yahoos are running. It’s not necessarily cheapness – once you get a reputation for stiffing your contractors, you soon can’t hire anybody at any price. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/413 "2016-07-19T16:26:31Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > The only concept someone who steals a speech about hard work and integrity could possibly symbolize is “irony”. And if by “hard work” one means “gold digging opportunist”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/414 "2016-07-19T16:27:00Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Well, part of the problem is that the anti-Trump, pro-Obama posters have attempted to move the goalposts on the issue. When it first became apparent Melania’s speech closely resembled Michelle Obama’s, the criticism and mockery had nothing to do with having not asked Michelle’s permission and everything to do with she didn’t write it herself and either copied it from Michelle or her speechwriter did. So the issue was she didn’t write her own speech and copied from what she or her speechwriter thought was a good speech delivered previously by Michelle Obama. > > Now all of a sudden it’s become a case of who had permission and who didn’t, a question that never arose until after I posted a Youtube video of Obama earnestly and passionately delivering another guy’s speech. > > So I’m inclined to think the original objection should stand because that’s what my opponents were initially all het up over. They now disagree because then their guy is just as bad as Melania. So now they want to change horses midstream and make it an issue of permission because that way they can win. > > Such is life at the Straight Dope Message Board. So, just to make this clear, your argument boils down to “he did it, too.” (Nevermind that it’s splitting hairs to try to twist a situation that isn’t remotely the same for your own purposes.) Yeah, that argument _always_ works. Just ask Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/415 "2016-07-19T16:27:10Z")
> [@duality72](#): > > Between the plagiarizing and “He will never, ever give up and most importantly he will never ever let you down,” some speechwriter somewhere must be having a huge laugh. My guess is that the check bounced before the writer turned in the final copy. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/416 "2016-07-19T16:27:16Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > If he is willing to work for any nation that pays him, he is a mercenary. The vast majority of DOD civilians and contractors are not, and are therefore not mercenaries. Agree, and ‘Anglo Saxon bullet heads’ would be deemed racist I believe, if it were almost any other group. Altogether the theme of personal attack on the people involved on the ground in Benghazi is bush league. You don’t have to be in uniform or paid less than a certain amount in order to to serve your country at risk of your life. The security people were doing so, as were the State Dept diplomatic staff. You can debate all you want about whether the impression of some people on the ground of what happened there is relevant to Clinton’s fitness to be Pres or not, that’s a different topic. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/417 "2016-07-19T16:27:20Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think it’s just straightforward incompetence and lack of process. Sure, a normal campaign would vet the hell out of every speech, with a dozen or more quality checks and reviews. But this campaign hasn’t shown any sort of competence for this kind of thing. I think some speechwriter stuck it in to fuck with them, and no one caught it because they’re incompetent. Tragic thing is, both theories are completely believable, aren’t they? Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that both are true: Someone sabotaged a speech and, just like a comedy of errors, the candidate liked the speech so much he over-ruled any changes made by his level(er)-headed minions who were wise to the problem. It’s like an episode of Veep, to be honest. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/418 "2016-07-19T16:27:21Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > It’s not necessarily cheapness – once you get a reputation for stiffing your contractors, you soon can’t hire anybody at any price. Stiffing contractors is a form of cheapness. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/419 "2016-07-19T16:29:10Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Did you catch that Donald called FoxNews for an interview during the mother’s speech? I assumed he got bored with listening to this woman talk about a subject other than how great Donald Trump is. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/420 "2016-07-19T16:29:11Z")
Clearly, it is the other way around. Michelle stole it from Melania. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=22)