Cartoons Of The Day: Imitation's The Sincerest Form of Flattery

(click to enlarge)

Day Two after Ms. Rump's embarrassing plagiarism and no one's been fired from neo-fascist narcissist Donald "Rump" Trump's pathetic campaign. "Never admit a mistake" is apparently a new slogan of theirs.  Also, "take no responsibility." (Update: Meredith McIver, a campaign speechwriter says Ms. Rump read portions of Ms. Obama's speech to her as an "example" of what she wanted to say, but she took the words and used them without editing).

As someone pointed out yesterday, it's not so much that she or her speechwriters lifted several lines directly from Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic Convention speech, it's that the description of her husband by way of those lines is so jarringly dishonest and opposite of the selfish, petty and born-to-the-manor reality of Rump.

BONUS: For good measure, you have to see this satire from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The actress that impersonates Ms. Rump is phenomenal. (It's actress/singer Laura Benanti).



(cartoons: top, Steve Breen, bottom, Nick Anderson, via Gocomics.com)

Not Authentic! Melania Trump Plagiarizes... Michelle Obama Speech

Trophy wife and spokesmodel Melania Trump had her big moment on stage at the Republican National Convention Sh*tshow last night, in a bid to introduce herself to the nation and "soften" the image of neo- fascist satyr Donald "Rump" Trump.  The result?  Sad!



Of course, this has led to much amusement on Twitter, with #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes like these:

"I have a dream" #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) July 19, 2016

"In West Philadelphia born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days." #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— Manny Herrera (@ManFred1701) July 19, 2016

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

— Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) July 19, 2016

And our favorite:

@JDiamond1 pic.twitter.com/olHa46vbEb

— (((Fire Woman))) (@mamaofautistic) July 19, 2016

More mockery here.

On a serious note, Brian Beutler talks about the implications of this disastrous performance:

Whether Melania knew she was reading plagiarized text or not (and I think it’s quite likely she did not) it’s just devastating to see a campaign premised on the imagined notion of Obama incompetence get caught stealing from Obama’s own operation.  

But the power of the images is actually much deeper. They don’t just negate something central to Trump’s appeal. They amplify one (actually more than one) of the main knocks on Trump himself: That he’s sloppy, erratic, in so many ways the opposite of the virtues he claims to embody. And, let’s not gloss over it, this is a depiction of a campaign—a campaign that nurtures white grievance and resentment—trying to profit off the work of a black woman, from an African American family that Trump and his supporters regularly belittle. The fact that the plagiarized text in question was about the value of hard work just makes matters worse. A mortifying, calamitous, self-immolating moment. 

BONUS:  David Nir agrees.  Sad!

BONUS II:  There are reports that Ms. Trump has also misrepresented her educational background, claiming that she received a degree from the University of Slovenia when she didn't. Crooked Melania!