Tories admit plagiarism in Harper speech (about Iraq)

[Newsjock]

Source: Globe and Mail

OTTAWA — A senior Conservative campaign official has resigned after the Liberals revealed Tuesday that nearly half of Stephen Harper's 2003 speech urging Canada to send troops into Iraq was copied word-for-word from then Australian prime minister John Howard.

In a statement, Owen Lippert says he was working in Mr. Harper's office in 2003 when he was asked to write a speech for then leader of the opposition.

"Pressed for time, I was overzealous in copying segments of another world leader's speech ... I apologize to all involved and have resigned my position from the Conservative campaign."

... Liberal MP Bob Rae said the copied speech is damning evidence of the fact Canada is losing its own voice in foreign policy under a Conservative government. The country has become a parrot of right-wing interests from the U.S. and other foreign countries under Harper's Conservatives, Mr. Rae said.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080930.welexnplagiarism0930/BNStory/politics/home

[HeresyLives]

1. Harper writes his own speeches.

BTC: ‘An oratory double-threat’
By Aaron Wherry | Email | September 30th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Posted to: Capital Read, The Commons |

“Like most political leaders Harper rarely writes his own speeches from scratch, and usually just edits off a computer from the early drafts penned by his full-time speechwriters. But the prime minister plugged away at his Saturday speech over several days, pulling out his laptop between campaign stops and putting on the finishing touches as he flew in from Calgary this week.”
—Canadian Press, Sept. 27, 2008
“Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has written his own speech for the Press Gallery Dinner tonight, and he will be ready with his goofy impersonations of Revenue Minister John McCallum and former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien.”
—Globe and Mail, Oct. 22, 2005
“I’ve been told that Harper writes many of his own speeches, so if this is true, he represents an oratory double-threat (he can write it and he can speak it).”
—Stephen Taylor, Mar. 19, 2005.
http://blog.macleans.ca/category/blog-central/

[Swagman]

2. and Howard's was written by Dick Cheney

[HeresyLives]

4. Oh very likely.

I'm sure it all comes back to Bush in the end. We had a 4 country scam going there for awhile, US, UK, Australia and Canada.

The 'anglosphere' it was called. New Zealand wouldn't play ball though.

[Happysomeone]

3. An intellectually bankrupt philosophy?

I guess that's why conservatives are always talking about their gut.

[HeresyLives]

5. In Harper's case, literally his gut.

:rofl:

[Lisa]

6. They really are all the same!

I guess I shouldn't be surprised ...

[applegrove]

7. No kidding. Unfortunately there are three parties going for the anti-Harper vote. So they

will split the vote and Harper will end up with another minority (I pray it isn't a majority).

[anakie]

8. may he suffer the same fate as

as that of whose speech he copied.


Peace

[grantdevine]

9. Kicked and Rec. PLEASE GO RATE THE YOUTUBE VID!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8YwJC_nBgw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8YwJC_nBgw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8YwJC_nBgw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8YwJC_nBgw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8YwJC_nBgw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8YwJC_nBgw