Tomás Ó Flatharta

Stephen King – the Unionist who once wrote a regular Irish Examiner column looks trapped –

Reports say his column is suspended.

His big mistake – plagiarism.

But, let us remind ourselves that the rot usually starts at the top : Enda Kenny, Taoiseach (Prime Minster) of the Republic of Ireland (a failing state, covering a little more than two-thirds of a large island situated to the west of Britain) has form.

Kenny, elected regularly to Dáil Éireann, since 1975, spoke with US president Barack Obama in Dublin’s College Green, and delivered a speech lifted directly from his Yankee colleague.

A letter writer to the Irish Times cut through some pathetic excuses :

Madam, – I was very pleasantly surprised to hear An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, deliver such a powerful and passionate speech to the crowds in College Green on Monday before he introduced President Barack Obama. My delight was shortlived, however, as I learned on Wednesday that Mr Kenny had used direct quotes from President Obama’s inaugural address. Was this blatant plagiarism or, as Mr Kenny claimed today, a tribute to the American president? Sadly, I must concur that Mr Kenny committed an act of plagiarism.

When one quotes from text written by another, one is expected to attribute the quotation used to its original author. If this is not done then one is claiming the words used as one’s own. This is basic etiquette and applies across the board. It is even more urgently applicable when the speech in question is being delivered by An Taoiseach, is being broadcast around the world and, when the words being used belong to the President of the United States, who just happens to be standing right behind you at the time. Mr President, he quite literally took the words right out of your mouth. – Yours, etc,

Dr BERNADETTE BRADY,

Hillside Park,

Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.

It might be worth exploring the curriculum vitae of the Connacht Deputy to see if this was an isolated example.

And there is a wider point worth exploring :

Madam, – It should be noted that while Barack Obama basks in the adulation of the Irish media, he is held in low regard among progressives in the United States and Canada. In Windsor, we live across the river from Detroit where banks bailed out by the Bush and Obama administrations still foreclose on mortgages. Windsor is an outpost observing the American empire.

There is no discernable difference between the monstrous Bush regime and its policy of torture and complicity in crimes against humanity and the Obama regime. Obama came to power with a promise of change because of the hard work of millions who believed in him. They had the same sense of hope in him as I’m sure the 50,000 people in your country did listening to him speak in Dublin. All that hope has been betrayed. Today, Obama is just another celebrated assassin, with regular drone attacks in Pakistan and a military hit squad sent to kill Osama Bin Laden. He presides over the Guantánamo gulag and the illegal wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He protects Israel even as that country continues to commit atrocities against the Palestinians. He protects the same bankers who caused the global economic disaster that Ireland is a victim of. Why cheer this man? His high-sounding rhetoric has fallen flat for North Americans who can see a servant of the global power elites when they see one.

I’m sure many in Ireland shunned Obama’s visit as surely as they did the Queen’s. – Yours, etc,

PAUL CHISLETT,

(Mother’s maiden name

Hickey),

Moy Avenue,

Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Both letters here :

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2011/0526/1224297786118.html

Mister Obama’s speeches contradict directly many of his actions.

Emperor’s New Clothes Time – Should we follow the example of the little boy who was not taken in by the propaganda of the fawning courtiers (also known as forelock tuggers and knee-benders) and explore this issue independently and collectively?

World by Storm gets to the heart of it :

To me the problem is two fold, a complete disinterest in seeking out anything but the most obvious sources and secondly an unwillingness to engage with the subject at hand. So the learning aspect becomes minimal. And although rephrasing factual information in ones own words sounds, and often is, tedious, it is a key way of getting to grips with a topic so that it can then be analysed further.

http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/copy-and-patse/#comment-106432