I know Obama draws on Ronald Reagan for inspiration. But in his time of need drawing from George Bush is very revealing.

Look, the problem with Obama's "borrowing" of Patrick's "Just words" speech is that it wasn't just a portion of a sentence, but an entire passage.

I repeat, an entire passage. An entire passage.

I just don't think the guy is very bright. He really doesn't see with real force how wrong he is on the logic. His mind seems to be vague and woolly enough that the countervailing arguments just don't penetrate.

So, defending him against charges of copying inspiring language by saying "all politicians do it" undermines the most important part of his campaign.

the huge adoring crowds, the nearly messianic worship of his followers, the rousing "me and you against the entrenched monied interests" speeches. heck, he dresses almost as nattily as sen. long did too. i wonder if he smokes cigars?

in fairness, sen. obama's not been accused of the type of graft and corruption long was often associated with, to get what he wanted. of course, sen. obama doesn't have nearly the resume' long had, by the time he reached the senate.

in fairness to long, it's also true he accomplished much for the poor and downtrodden of louisiana; their lives were measurably better for his work. huey long also scared the living daylights out of the monied and power classes, because he threatened their money and power.

George Bush didn't personally savage John McCain in the SC primary with innuendo about having a (gasp) black baby. But he sure took advantage of the advantage that despicable tactic gave him.

Every time a Hillary supporter or surrogate  opens their mouth and sticks their foot in it means that Hillary is excoriated. Non stop on blogs and in the media. She is playing dirty or she's lying or spinning or whatever comes to mind to smear her with at the time.

Obama surrogates continually bring up Bill Clinton and the Lewinsky drivel and he remains above it all. And for me, once he savaged Bill Clinton, and the only successful Democratic Administration in 40 years he lost any chance he ever had of getting my vote. He may have done himself some good, but he did the Democratic Party a great deal of harm. Unforgivable.

  First off, I think we need to remember that it was said in response to criticism that he has no substance or plan behind his vague words. He responded with a soundbite, rather than a substantive answer, and as it turns out, a soundbite that had been used before to answer similar criticism of Patrick.

  Secondly, the "just words" quip really SAYS nothing. In the end it also is "just words". By that I mean that it is intended to evoke the Declaration of Independence, MLK's speech, and FDR's inaugural address. But what makes those three snippets memorable is not merely those few lines, but the idea and platform that was proposed and intended in the speeches, or writings, they are a part of.

 "We hold these truths .." would not be remembered, was it not a part of a bold idea and a concrete assertion that the governed had a right to abolish and reform their own government. Nor would "I have a dream" mean anything if King did not lay out exactly what that dream of his was, and had he not already walked the walk, and  pledged to keep walking that walk. And FDR's "fear" line would have meant nothing if it wasn't  a part of a bold plan he outlined to move the US out of the Depression.

In the end, the "just words" soudbite said nothing, because it never answered the question of  the lack of spoken substance behind Obama's "believe in me, believe in you", "hope" and "change" message. And the fact that it was a borrowed line made it all the more meaningless as a retort- not only was it a non-answer, but it was a previously contrived one.

It's not even clear who first said "I only steal from the best!" I dimly recall reading that it was some novelist, but the sentiment could easily be depicted on later Cave Paintings.

We live in times where people put their fingerprints all over other people's legitimate creativity, call it a mash-up and then do a self-congratulatory victory dance about it. It's fun but also kind of lame, a notch below music geeks who drool over owning a rare '45 and descending into geeks who brag they DOWNLOADED something. (Here's a fun one that gets kids from one to ninety-two on the dance floor.)

If Obama presents the brilliance of others as his own, IMO he's not exactly insincere or phony, but someone who's selling his youthful following Harry Connick Jr. tunes as if they're Sinatra classics.

Nothing tastes like the real thing, though, whether it's straight up Tequila, Sinatra or the Voice of a Generation.

Sort of been my point for a while now.

There are two differences:

1.  I don't represent myself as an inspirational speaker, I just represent myself as someone who has studied certain issues and knows what the data says and what people involved in the debate have said.

2.  When I steal more than just a felicitous phrase of a couple-three words, I give credit.  All Obama had to do was say, "As my friend Deval Patrick said...".  But he didn't.  He took ownership of what was essentially a full quotation.  That was stupid.

Today we need INSPIRATION. That is where Obama is different and where he shows himself to be a politician and more.

I appreciate that both Clinton and Obama are thoughtful, intelligent, quick-witted, political, ambitious, and wish to change the country and the world in a good way. We are fortunate to have such choices.

But Barak Obama is INSPIRING. He helps me WANT to work with others to make this a better country. And he inspires my husband's very-conservative niece to want to work together to make changes. THAT is why it's great that he's the likely Democratic candidate.

The question is not who is "a politician" or "more than a politician." The question is who can make a more immediate impact -- both in getting elected against slimey St. McCain, and in causing the ocean liner of the congress and citizenry to move in a different direction.