A liberal super PAC, American Bridge 21st Century, somehow noticed that a passage full of inspirational cliches on Massachusetts senator Scott Brown’s website was lifted directly from a speech given by former North Carolina senator Elizabeth Dole.
“I was raised to believe that there are no limits to individual achievement and no excuses to justify indifference,” said the message from Brown, which was removed later yesterday. “From an early age, I was taught that success is measured not in material accumulations, but in service to others. I was encouraged to join causes larger than myself, to pursue positive change through a sense of mission, and to stand up for what I believe.”
Brown’s spokesman admitted the error, explaining that the website was modeled after Dole’s and the speech had been “inadvertently transferred without being rewritten.” We guess that kind of mistake can happen, especially with remarks so platitudinal that basically every politician on Earth has said something like it at some point. But American Bridge 21st Century president Rodell Mollineau sees larger implications in the discovery. “This kind of plagiarism makes me wonder how many things about Scott Brown are really genuine,” he says.
Probably nothing! Does Scott Brown even have a genuine six pack, for example? We should probably rip off all of his clothes off just to be sure.
Scott Brown web message mirrors Elizabeth Dole’s remarks on site [Boston Globe]
