Plagiarism is (D)ifferent when Democrats (D)o it (10-18-2024--Hour2)

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_00]: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content, like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I mentioned this the other day. Kamala Harris has apparently been caught plagiarizing portions of a book that she wrote back in 2009 with a co-author, and if we're being honest, probably the real author, right? I mean, that's where I see this going.

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00]: This scandal. If in fact, I mean, look, keep in mind, journalism-ing rule number one, or sorry, number two, is that when the scandal involves a Republican, then the story is the scandal.

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: That's where you focus on the actual scandalous issue, the story, the thing, the event, whatever. But if the scandal is about a Democrat, then the way you report that as a journalism-er is about the Republican reaction to the Democrat scandal.

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_00]: See, it's not even about the scandal. It's about the Republicans' reaction. In fact, I mentioned some of this in the first hour, the warning to, you know, Republicans not to overreach on a scandal or on an issue that usually is, you know, reflecting badly or negatively impacting Democrats.

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_00]: And you get these admonitions slash helpful advice from media folks that are like, well, be careful you don't overreach on this Republicans.

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Like, you got to be careful you don't go too far in your criticizing that corrupt official, right? Stuff like that.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And so we see this same sort of approach playing out with the plagiarism story.

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_00]: When they are not just flat out ignoring the story, they, the legacy media outlets that are in fact covering it to some extent, they are covering it through the Republicans pounce prism.

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Or Republicans seize upon either way, pouncing and seizing. It's all part of the same operation.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Operation Seizey Pounce. That's what Republicans always activated.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I got my email. The e-blast came down yesterday. Operation Seizey Pounce on plagiarism.

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: So in 2009, Harris co-authored a book, probably actually written by this other person, named Joan O.C. Hamilton. O apostrophe C.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't even know what kind of name that is, but whatever.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I suspect Joan is the actual author of the book. It's not a very big book, but it was called Smart on Crime.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_00]: A career prosecutor's... Did you know Kamala Harris is a former prosecutor? Did you know that?

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: She was... Yeah, she was.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: A career prosecutor's plan to make us safer.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_00]: The purpose of that book was to outline her criminal justice policies in advance of her campaign for California Attorney General.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Robbie Sov, writing at Reason.com, says that there are at least 12 sections of the book, according to this guy, Stefan Weber, or Stefan Weber.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: This guy is like a plagiarism hunter.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay? This is what he does. This is his jam.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And he found 12 sections of the book in which sentences or entire paragraphs were copied from another source without proper attribution.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Plagiarism is often taken seriously when politicians are caught engaging in it.

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: He says, in fact, do you remember that there was a presidential candidate?

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm old enough to remember this.

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I was a young child at the time, but I remember that there was a guy running for president,

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_00]: and it came out that he had plagiarized a speech.

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And the speech was from some leader of the British Labor Party.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Which, by the way, did you know that they're now in America?

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, like they've been paid, apparently, to come to America to try to whip up votes for Kamala Harris.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Which, like, sounds just a smidge like foreign election interference.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Right? Just a little bit.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_00]: When you've got a political party from another country sending people to knock on our doors to tell us,

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Please, sir, love for Kamala.

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_00]: The first thing I would be like, are you from England?

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Are you from the Labor Party?

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And then once they confirmed that they are, in fact, from England,

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_00]: I would say something along the lines of, yeah, I could tell because I could see your teeth.

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Like, that's the...

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I kid. I kid.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: They're notoriously bad teeth.

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, yeah, there was a presidential candidate.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: This would have been 1988 presidential race.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: The guy's name was, um...

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that's right.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Joe Biden.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Joe Biden.

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Joseph Robinette Biden.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Current president of the United States.

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: He had to quit the race in 88 because it was shown how he was just a compulsive liar and a plagiarist.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And he had to drop out.

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And there's a famous clip of Sam Donaldson doing a fact check on some voter interaction that Biden had.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, he's at some campaign stop.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And the guy asks him a question.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And Biden starts rattling off, like, how smart he is.

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_00]: He's like, I graduated the top in this class.

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_00]: I did this.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Two degrees.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Top.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: He's, like, going through all these things.

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And then Sam Donaldson comes on afterwards.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Sam Donaldson was no right winger.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay?

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Sam Donaldson then comes on right after the clip plays.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And he's just like, boom, boom, boom, boom.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, in fact, Joe Biden did not finish first.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: He finished last.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Joe Biden did not do this.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: It was this.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: And he did not do that.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: It was this other thing.

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Just boom, boom, right down the list of things.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_00]: So Biden just, like, goes on this tear, this rant of, like, four or five bullet points.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And every single one of them was a lie.

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that, like, that speaks to something in your head.

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_00]: That speaks to a deeper flaw.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: You know?

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't, I could not just make up five, four or five, like, biographical things about me

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_00]: that would just be complete fabrications as quickly as Joe Biden did.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: That's why I know he, that, like, that's why I could tell he's in cognitive decline.

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Because he can't make up as many lies as quickly anymore.

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_00]: But he also plagiarized.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: He lifted portions of this speech.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And it was so scandalous he had to drop out of the race.

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: It was the Democrat primary.

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: But he dropped out.

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Fast forward 30 years.

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Boom.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Nominee.

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: So it tells me that in, like, 2060 or so, Kamala Harris is, like, a shoo-in.

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_00]: If she doesn't win this time around, she can always come back.

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So do you remember Melania Trump wrote a book?

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Remember?

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Or no.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_00]: She just wrote the book.

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_00]: It's actually on the New York Times bestseller, which that's got to anger a bunch of people.

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: But no.

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: She gave a speech.

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Remember?

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_00]: She gave a speech.

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_00]: This would have been around, this was 2016.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Melania Trump gives a speech.

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_00]: It was at the Republican National Convention.

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And do you remember that there were some phrases in the speech that were a little too similar to a speech that was made by noted Republican conservative Michelle Obama?

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Remember?

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And so the media just unloaded on Melania Trump.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it was vicious.

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Like she had worn some jacket with, like, a slogan that said, I don't care.

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, whatever.

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_00]: They went after her.

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_00]: In recapping the incident, Vox reported that the plagiarism episode was, quote, one of the biggest stories from the RNC.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_00]: They said Trump's campaign, the Trump campaign's refusal to address it had made a bad situation even worse.

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_00]: They really need to address this.

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And by not addressing it, it is even worse than apocalyptic.

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like two apocalypses.

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe three.

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Vox even wondered whether the plagiarism allegations would damage Trump's image with voters, which was just really wish casting.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: So you would expect then that if that was the kind of treatment they gave to Donald Trump's wife, the candidate's wife, you would think that the candidate herself in this case might draw some similar kind of approbation.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Then you would be incorrect.

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Because in this case, the candidate is a Democrat.

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And don't you know, it's different when Democrats do it.

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[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Somebody thinks he's got a point.

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Mike, welcome to the program.

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Hello, Pete.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, Mike.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Mothers, tell your children not to do what I have done.

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I do that all the time.

[00:11:06] [SPEAKER_02]: Exactly.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I said, do not do what Mike has done.

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_02]: I got it.

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_02]: I was calling to maybe suggest some other topics that might be with however many 18, 19 days out.

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_00]: You really don't want to hear about Kamala Harris's plagiarism and the way the media treats a Democrat that's caught plagiarizing versus Melania Trump.

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I understand.

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_02]: Because that sort of leaves open the opportunity to talk about, you know, the art of the deal and how much of that was actually written by Donald Trump, which is not all that important.

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_00]: No, he had a ghostwriter.

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we already know all of that.

[00:11:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And that was talked about back like seven years ago.

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Got it.

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Mm-hmm.

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_00]: This is new.

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_00]: You realize, like, this is new, which is like 75% of the word news is new.

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like 75% of that word.

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, exactly.

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, one of the brand new things that has come out, and I don't know whether you caught it or not, but for the case that's in Washington, an additional 1,900 pages of documents, a lot of us are redacted.

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_02]: But pages of documents have come out outlining and documenting the allegations that Jack Smith made last August.

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_02]: So all the things that were alleged are now coming out as part of the case that, you know, got delayed.

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm happy to wait for the court proceeding to run its course on that.

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, you got facts now, but can we talk about that?

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_00]: No, I have filings from a contemptible prosecutor.

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what I've got.

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_00]: So I've got a lawyer on a witch hunt filing basically a rehash of stuff he's already filed.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And so I'm just happy to let the court, you know, once we get into a trial, I'm happy to wait for all of that to play out in the trial.

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And then I can assess when I get both sides of it, you know, in a trial because it's a trial.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Granted, that's easier than looking at the allegations and seeing.

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, no, I don't know what the allegations are.

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_02]: So you think those, and we've talked about this, you have, they're not made out of thin air unless you're saying that.

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Was that just Jack Smith getting high one weekend and making all that stuff up?

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Are you saying Jack Smith gets high?

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you know something about Jack Smith's drug use?

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I mean, you said he was getting high doing stuff.

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no.

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_00]: That's why I was wondering.

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_00]: No, I attributed, I attributed to, to partisan politics and advancing one's career by going after the orange man.

[00:13:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I think he's got a pretty clear history there.

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Could it also be attributed to that what's written there is actually factually correct?

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that would be for the court.

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_00]: That would be for the court to determine in that venue.

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_00]: That's where you would test these things as to whether they are true or not, because I have learned over the years that lawyers, when they become prosecutors, they get to go in front of grand juries and put all sorts of stuff out to the public, especially when it's concerning the orange man bad.

[00:14:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And then you have to wait for the court proceeding to rebut that stuff.

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm fine waiting for the trial on that.

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And if it turns out that Donald Trump did a whole bunch of bad stuff, then we can, yeah, we'll talk about it at that point when the trial starts.

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's true.

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I know you don't want to talk about Kamala.

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_00]: So let me ask you, why do you think it's, so do you think it is unimportant?

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you think a plagiarism, do you think this plagiarism story is not important for people to know?

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Compared to.

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_00]: No, not compared to anything.

[00:14:50] [SPEAKER_00]: It's just a state, it's not a comparison.

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just asking you whether or not you think it's important.

[00:14:56] [SPEAKER_02]: It's absolutely a comparison because compared to.

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_02]: No, no, it's not.

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_02]: It's not a comparison, Mike.

[00:15:01] [SPEAKER_00]: It's just a standard question.

[00:15:03] [SPEAKER_00]: It's just, is there a standard here that a plagiarism charge, a plagiarism story that pops like this, do you think that this is something that people should know?

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And they can know about the Jack Smith stuff too.

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And by way of, you say it's important to compare.

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what I've been doing actually is comparing the coverage, the difference in coverage.

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_00]: See, that's really the story that I've been focusing on is the way that one gets covered and one doesn't.

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_00]: But you seem to be of a mind that it's not important for people to know of the story at all.

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Compare the importance between that and whether a sitting friend.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not asking about that, Mike.

[00:15:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm asking you whether or not.

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm asking you, Mike.

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't say I didn't want to know that.

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm asking you a very simple, straightforward question.

[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you think it's important for people to know?

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's important for people to have lots of facts.

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you think it's important for people to know that?

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Sure.

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_00]: About this plagiarism story?

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_02]: And then, right after that, make it comparison as to which is more important.

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you think it's important for people to know the story?

[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a simple yes or no.

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you think it's important for people to know the story?

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I said yes.

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, good.

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Then we agree.

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I appreciate it.

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_00]: So when I was a kid, my grandpa died with Alzheimer's.

[00:16:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And before he died, my mom and my dad and all of us really helped take care of him as he got progressively worse.

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Forty years ago, there were no treatments and not much support for caregivers and family.

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Things are different today because of the work of so many people, including the Alzheimer's Association of Western North Carolina.

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a great organization with awesome people.

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_00]: They've got huge hearts.

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_00]: I've been a supporter for like 25 years.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_00]: This cause means a lot to me.

[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I participate in the annual walk to end Alzheimer's.

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And I am leading a Charlotte team this year.

[00:16:50] [SPEAKER_00]: It's called Pete's Pack.

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_00]: You can sign up and join the team and walk with me.

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_00]: It's on October 19th at Truist Field in Uptown.

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Sign up at alz.org slash walk and then just look for my team, Pete's Pack.

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And there's also a link in the podcast description here.

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Also, I'm going to be emceeing the Gastonia Walk on October 5th.

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_00]: So make a team and join us.

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Or make a donation to help me hit my goal.

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I would really appreciate it.

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_00]: There are a bunch of other walks around the Carolinas.

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_00]: And you can go to alz.org for all of the dates and locations.

[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_00]: We are closer than ever to stopping Alzheimer's.

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And if you can help us get there, we would really appreciate it.

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Will you come walk with me for a different future?

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_00]: For families?

[00:17:31] [SPEAKER_00]: For more time?

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_00]: For treatments?

[00:17:34] [SPEAKER_00]: This is why I walk.

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_00]: The kicker here is that I would have already been done with this story.

[00:17:40] [SPEAKER_00]: But for Mike's call, which has now extended the coverage of the story that he says really shouldn't be covered.

[00:17:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Because this is, I call these the program director calls or emails.

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Just by way of background here at WBT and at really all radio stations, you have what's called a program director or programming director.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, they are the ones who hire the staff, the on-air talent and stuff.

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_00]: They create the clocks.

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Our guy is Mike Schaefer.

[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_00]: You've heard his name.

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Great guy.

[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, he builds the lineup.

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And so he's our boss.

[00:18:20] [SPEAKER_00]: All of the hosts.

[00:18:22] [SPEAKER_00]: He's our first boss.

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Because then there's like a sales director and, you know, different positions.

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, I've never had a programming director that has ever told me, don't talk about something or you need to talk about this more.

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I've never had a programming director that told me that.

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_00]: But when you get calls like Mike's that say you should talk about this other thing or you shouldn't talk about this thing that you're talking about, I call those program director calls.

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_00]: They are never based on good faith.

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay?

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Those are never coming from a position of good faith.

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Mike does not care if my show is successful.

[00:19:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Mike wants me to do a show that echoes what he wants to hear.

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what he would prefer.

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And he would like me to talk about Jack Smith or talk about stuff that hurts Trump.

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER_00]: He wants me to bash Donald Trump because he wants me to try to influence you to vote against Donald Trump.

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_00]: That's what that's about.

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's why I kept asking him the very simple question of whether or not you think it's important that people know this story about Kamala Harris's plagiarism.

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Because it just happened.

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Like we are we've just learned about this within the last 48 hours.

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And look, the news cycle is crazy.

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I get it.

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of stuff going on.

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I am highly sensitive to this.

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay?

[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I read a lot of news.

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER_00]: And there's a lot of stuff.

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like drinking from a fire hose.

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And so sometimes I don't get to everything immediately.

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Because here's the other thing.

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes I let stories breathe a little bit so I can do some more research.

[00:20:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Because I know as a former reporter I can tell you that oftentimes the first version of a story is not correct.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_00]: So that is also the case, by the way, with indictments.

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_00]: That's why you go to trial.

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Because if the indictment is always correct, then why bother with the trial?

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I know constitutional protections in the system and blah, blah, blah.

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_00]: But just because people get charged with something doesn't mean that they're actually guilty.

[00:20:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And Mike is a lawyer, by the way.

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_00]: He knows that you're innocent until proven guilty.

[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_00]: But he just wants everybody to know more bad stuff about Donald Trump.

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And so here's the thing.

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_00]: All of that's already baked in.

[00:20:48] [SPEAKER_00]: It's already baked in.

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_00]: And my focus of the Harris plagiarism story is actually about the media coverage of it.

[00:20:58] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not even about the story.

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_00]: It's about highlighting, because that's what Robbie Sohev does in his piece at Reason.com that I've been referencing.

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Because now that you've had a couple days, like two days worth of this story being out there,

[00:21:15] [SPEAKER_00]: the reaction in the legacy corporate media has been pretty uniform.

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Which is to either ignore it or to minimize it.

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And that is a different approach than is taken with Republicans that are facing a very similar kind of charge.

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_00]: And so that's what has been my focus.

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Because coming from the background I come from,

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I am highly critical of where our institution of the media, of the free press, has gone.

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, as I wrote at that op-ed at theblaze.com a couple of weeks ago,

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_00]: that my contempt and disdain for these legacy media types has become so pronounced

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_00]: that they have now convinced me that the only way to punish them is to vote for Donald Trump.

[00:22:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not happy about that.

[00:22:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to do that.

[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I've never done that before.

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Never voted for a Republican or a Democrat for president.

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Ever.

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And now Donald Trump is going to be the first freaking one I do.

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Why?

[00:22:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Because I know that Mike's story that he wants me to talk about,

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Jack Smith's indictment and all of that,

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_00]: he obviously believes that I need to talk about that story more.

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Because what?

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not getting enough play?

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_00]: I know that the media is covering that.

[00:22:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I know that the media is watching Donald Trump's every move.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Attacking him for everything.

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_00]: They are amplifying everything.

[00:23:03] [SPEAKER_00]: We brought to you the numbers a couple of weeks ago.

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_00]: The coverage of Donald Trump has been 92, I think, or 96% negative.

[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And the coverage of Kamala Harris has been inversely positive.

[00:23:18] [SPEAKER_00]: So if I can't trust the media to fulfill its constitutional duty as a watchdog of government,

[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm looking at the two candidates,

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_00]: one who gets constantly attacked and one who gets constantly covered for,

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_00]: then in order to protect the democracy,

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I need to vote for the one that the media hates.

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Because I know that they're going to do their job against him.

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_00]: And I know they're not going to do their job against her.

[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_00]: So, in that vein, CNN had a field day

[00:23:54] [SPEAKER_00]: with the Melania Trump plagiarizing Michelle Obama story.

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Publishing half a dozen articles and videos about it.

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Featuring side-by-side comparisons of Melania's remarks with Michelle's remarks.

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_00]: The Associated Press reported that plagiarism had marred Melania Trump's moment.

[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_00]: The Washington Post didn't hold back either,

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_00]: describing the Trump campaign's defense of Melania as ridiculous.

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_00]: The word ridiculous actually appears twice in the same headline.

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_00]: The higher education news site, called Inside Higher Ed,

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_00]: an authority on plagiarism, one would think,

[00:24:28] [SPEAKER_00]: said, yes, it was plagiarism.

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_00]: And the scandal should not be trivialized.

[00:24:34] [SPEAKER_00]: The plagiarism allegation was covered by NPR,

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_00]: The New Yorker, The Guardian, BBC,

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_00]: of course, the New York Times.

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_00]: They said how Melania's speech veered off course and caused an uproar.

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_00]: One might expect plagiarism allegations against an actual presidential candidate,

[00:24:55] [SPEAKER_00]: rather than their spouse,

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_00]: might merit similar or maybe even greater outrage from the media.

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_00]: But the Harris allegations have not attracted nearly the same level of interest.

[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, their ire is directed not at Harris for plagiarizing,

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_00]: but for Christopher Rufo for uncovering it.

[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Conservatives complain all the time.

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_00]: All the time.

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And not without reason, by the way,

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_00]: that scandals involving Republicans,

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_00]: conservatives, and Trump world personalities

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_00]: are reported in straightforward fashion,

[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_00]: whereas scandals involving Democrats, liberals, and the media itself are not.

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_00]: In these latter cases,

[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_00]: the media focuses on the motivations

[00:25:34] [SPEAKER_00]: and the agendas

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_00]: and the responses of conservatives

[00:25:38] [SPEAKER_00]: who are involved in surfacing the controversy.

[00:25:41] [SPEAKER_00]: This is often done in headlines using the exact phrasing.

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Republicans pounce.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Republicans seize on whatever.

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_00]: And the whatever is the thing that Democrats did wrong.

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER_00]: This is such a well-worn trope by now

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_00]: that one might have expected mainstream media institutions

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_00]: to take greater pains to avoid it,

[00:26:04] [SPEAKER_00]: if only to try to deprive conservatives of ammo.

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_00]: But yet, the New York Times,

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_00]: in its write-up of this story,

[00:26:14] [SPEAKER_00]: headline, quote,

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_00]: conservative activist seizes on passages from Harris' book.

[00:26:23] [SPEAKER_00]: It's the Republican reaction.

[00:26:25] [SPEAKER_00]: That's the story.

[00:26:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's chat with Robert.

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Hello, Robert.

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the show.

[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Good afternoon.

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Hey.

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_00]: What's up?

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_01]: It is a beautiful day here in the Charlotte area.

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Indeed.

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:26:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I just heard your conversation with Mike,

[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and of course I'm a long-time listener,

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_01]: and I've heard Mike many times.

[00:26:48] [SPEAKER_01]: He's so nuanced,

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_01]: and he's very thoughtful,

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and he's just so measured.

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Those are the kind of qualities

[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_01]: that you just don't find that often.

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm going to be at my first news and brews.

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm really looking forward to it.

[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm looking forward to hopefully meeting you there.

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah.

[00:27:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I would just love to talk with Mike

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and just see if he's so good on his feet

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_01]: as he portrays himself to be on the radio.

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Did you think that he sounded good on his feet there?

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Pete, I may not be doing a very good job of this.

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Every word that I've said has been tongue-in-cheek.

[00:27:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, okay.

[00:27:32] [SPEAKER_00]: There you go.

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_00]: That's right.

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_00]: No, I got you.

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, except the part about coming to News and Brews, right?

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_01]: No, no, no.

[00:27:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, that's true,

[00:27:42] [SPEAKER_01]: and that's a good point.

[00:27:44] [SPEAKER_01]: It'll be my first one,

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'm really looking forward to it.

[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I always hang around.

[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I talk with everybody.

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_00]: As long as people are there hanging around

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_00]: wanting to talk,

[00:27:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I stick around.

[00:27:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And most of the hosts do

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_00]: unless they've got to run for their early morning ships

[00:27:58] [SPEAKER_00]: or whatever.

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, so yeah,

[00:28:00] [SPEAKER_00]: make sure you come find me.

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll be milling around.

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And are you coming to the one on the 30th?

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, sir.

[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I have it on my calendar, the 30th.

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_01]: It's great that it's right before the election,

[00:28:12] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'm looking forward to speaking with you,

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'm looking forward to meeting Brett Winterbill.

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I hope Pam will be there.

[00:28:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think she is expected to be there.

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, it's a big event,

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'm glad that you all are doing it,

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_01]: and that's it from me, sir.

[00:28:30] [SPEAKER_00]: All right, Robert, I appreciate it.

[00:28:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Good to hear from you.

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Look forward to meeting you.

[00:28:34] [SPEAKER_00]: The News and Brews event is at Heist Brewery

[00:28:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and Barrel Arts on the 30th.

[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Hancock will be there as well.

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_00]: John Hancock is going to be there.

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_00]: The details are at WBT.com.

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Look, I get along fine with Mike.

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I've known Mike for years.

[00:28:48] [SPEAKER_00]: When I was a reporter, I think is when I first ran into Mike,

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and Mike was the lawyer for the Mecklenburg County Democrat Party.

[00:28:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I think he's run for office a couple of times,

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_00]: if I remember correctly, but I don't remember which office is,

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_00]: or office.

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how many elections.

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I forget, but I'm pretty sure he was a candidate at least once.

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Mike does come across, as I think Robert accurately described him,

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_00]: as measured and thoughtful.

[00:29:21] [SPEAKER_00]: He comes across that way.

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_00]: But that doesn't make your argument better.

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Just because of the way you deliver an argument,

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER_00]: it doesn't make the argument good.

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER_00]: There is a benefit, don't get me wrong.

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_00]: If you're yelling and screaming about your position,

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and you're coming across like a jerk,

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_00]: then you're undermining your ability to persuade.

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_00]: But the argument stands on its own merit.

[00:29:50] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what I try to get to,

[00:29:52] [SPEAKER_00]: because again, with this discussion,

[00:29:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I was going to do this story and move on.

[00:29:57] [SPEAKER_00]: This was only going to be two segments of the show.

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And now it's turned into four.

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Because truth be told, I have self-awareness here.

[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Truth be told, when someone tells me

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_00]: that I shouldn't be talking about something,

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I kind of start talking about it more.

[00:30:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I have a bit of a contrarian streak to me.

[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_00]: I recognize this.

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I have had this my whole life.

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_00]: So, and I feel like that's what made me

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_00]: a pretty decent reporter,

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_00]: decent enough to be recognized with state awards for it.

[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, a little bit of skepticism goes a long way.

[00:30:35] [SPEAKER_00]: So, when someone presents an argument,

[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I attempt to get to the bottom of the argument.

[00:30:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's why I say, you know,

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Mike's argument isn't about the plagiarism.

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't want me talking about a story

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_00]: that looks bad for Kamala Harris.

[00:30:50] [SPEAKER_00]: He wants me to talk about a story

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_00]: that looks bad for Donald Trump,

[00:30:53] [SPEAKER_00]: because he hopes that it will persuade Trump voters

[00:30:57] [SPEAKER_00]: to stay home and not vote,

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_00]: or to flip their vote and vote for Kamala Harris.

[00:31:03] [SPEAKER_00]: That's the purpose of his call.

[00:31:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And truth be told, that's the purpose of his call

[00:31:06] [SPEAKER_00]: virtually every single time.

[00:31:08] [SPEAKER_00]: It's an attempt to get people to vote for Democrats.

[00:31:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And I admire the effort.

[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm fine having, like,

[00:31:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm fine having a discussion

[00:31:20] [SPEAKER_00]: about any political topic

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and policy position and philosophy.

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Fine to have it.

[00:31:26] [SPEAKER_00]: What I don't suffer very patiently, though,

[00:31:29] [SPEAKER_00]: is the bad faith,

[00:31:31] [SPEAKER_00]: or is the hide-the-ball argument, you know?

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER_00]: By the way, one last point on this plagiarism story

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_00]: was that the New York Times,

[00:31:42] [SPEAKER_00]: they quoted a plagiarism expert named Jonathan Bailey,

[00:31:46] [SPEAKER_00]: who said that Christopher Ruffa was making a big deal

[00:31:50] [SPEAKER_00]: out of relatively minor transgressions.

[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_00]: So the New York Times used that

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_00]: as sort of the foundation for their article.

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_00]: But it turns out that the Times did not give him

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_00]: the full list of the plagiarized passages from the book.

[00:32:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And on his website later,

[00:32:07] [SPEAKER_00]: he said after reviewing all of the allegations,

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_00]: the case is, quote,

[00:32:10] [SPEAKER_00]: more serious than he first thought.

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's the state of our media.

[00:32:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what has prompted me

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_00]: to hold them in such contempt.

[00:32:19] [SPEAKER_00]: All right, that'll do it for this episode.

[00:32:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening.

[00:32:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I could not do the show without your support

[00:32:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and the support of the businesses

[00:32:26] [SPEAKER_00]: that advertise on the podcast.

[00:32:28] [SPEAKER_00]: So if you'd like, please support them too

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_00]: and tell them you heard it here.

[00:32:31] [SPEAKER_00]: You can also become a patron

[00:32:32] [SPEAKER_00]: at my Patreon page

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_00]: or go to thepetecalendorshow.com.

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Again, thank you so much for listening

[00:32:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and don't break anything while I'm gone.