Essays in Idleness

Was Melania’s speechwriter being droll, in using lines resembling those in an old speech by Michelle? Or perhaps Melania’s husband let her write the speech herself? Or did Democrat hackers break into her teleprompter? In which case, why didn’t they just change the text to Hindi as she came on stage? (Hindi not being among her five languages.) Maybe her spellcheck inserted clichés as she typed? (Mine did that, until I found a way to disable it.) Has anyone checked where Michelle got the lines?

They were scintillating, to the media, when Michelle uttered them. She praised hard work, and family values. No one must have thought of doing that before, in a stump speech. How her words must have resonated over the last eight years, for liberal journalists spotted them in seconds. According to my chief social media observer, the charge of “plagiarism” was filling the twittersphere before Melania finished speaking; possibly before she started. He is checking the time logs now.

A question: Were the journalists plagiarizing each other?

Or had they all decided on the meme in advance?

Melania is the whipping girl “du jour”; the new Sarah Palin. A quick bark, and the whole pack is on her. Every dog wants his piece of her flesh. It is not true, however, that they are misogynist. Their war is only on Republican women.

And this is what has come to pass for “investigative journalism.” It was the top story everywhere before I retired last night; it was still the top story in the morning. By now, any Internet search that includes the word “plagiarism” will stream innumerable attacks on Melania Trump. Too, any search that includes the word “Melania.”

But between us, gentle reader, don’t you think she’s pretty hot for forty-six? Shouldn’t we be asking what moisturizer she uses?