The plague of political plagiarism

The British opposition leader mused in May 1987 at the Welsh Labour Party conference:

“Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Why is Glenys (his wife and now an MEP) the first woman in her family in a thousand generations to be able to get to college? Was it because our predecessors were thick? Does anyone really think that they didn’t get we had because they didn’t have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?  Of course not. It was because there was no platform upon which they could stand.”

A Biden speech in September 1987 went:

“I started thinking as I was coming over here, why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to university? Why is it that my wife who is sitting out there in the audience is the first in her family ever to go to college?  Is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright?…Is it because they didn’t work hard? My ancestors worked in the coal mines of northeast Pennsylvania and come home after 12 hours and play football for four hours. It’s because they didn’t have a platform on which to stand.”

Biden is now the proverbial heartbeat away from the Oval Office, but what of Ms. Julia Gillard, who, come Saturday night, will make history as either Australia’s shortest-ever serving Prime Minister or as Australia’s first elected female Head of Government? Polls show it is the closest election in decades with late money coming in for the right-of-center coalition parties led by the eccentric Tony Abbott who gave up priesthood to go into politics. Still often referred to as “The Mad Monk,” Abbott is best known for his cringe worthy tight swimming costumes known as “budgie smugglers.” A used pair of sold at auction for AUS$3400 earlier this year.

Apart from the American campaign-style plagiarism in “Yes We Will” – which does not sit well with Australians who still have the proverbial chip on their shoulder when it comes to differentiating themselves from the ‘old country’ (Mother Britain) and the ‘new country’ (Uncle Sam), this cliffhanger Australian election shares the same issues as the UK and US: illegal immigration, cap and trade/climate change policies, overblown health care budgets and deficit spending and the threat of increased taxation to pay for it all.

This Saturday, as most Australians are compelled by federal law to fit in a visit to their local polling place and cast their vote, they may take comfort in the knowledge that this election has already been decided. In another form of plagiarism (or example of imitation as the sincerest form of flattery), a psychic crocodile from Darwin, named Harry, took only a couple of minutes to snap up a chicken with Gillard’s picture, snubbing the other chicken carcass with Mr. Abbot’s photo. This follows Paul, the psychic octopus who shot to fame during the soccer World Cup.

Gillard and her Labor supporters can take heart from this endorsement after the clairvoyant croc correctly picked Spain to win the final against the Netherlands.

Karyn McDermott has two decades of experience in politics and communications in the U.S., U.K. and Australia. Presently, she is the creator and director of the DailyKaz.com a libertarian/conservative website. She has been published both internationally and locally.