Scandal! Did Cindy McCain steal her cookie recipe?
Posted 20 weeks 5 days ago byNow here's a scandal! Cindy McCain's cookie recipes on her husband's web site were apparently lifted from the Food Network:
This past Sunday, Lauren Handel, an eagle-eyed attorney from New York, was searching for a specific recipe from Giada DeLaurentis, a chef on the Food Network. Yet whenever she Googled the different ingredients in the recipe, the oddest thing happened: not only did the Food Network's site come up, as expected, but so did John McCain's campaign site.
On a section of McCain's site called "Cindy's Recipes," you can find seven recipes attributed to Cindy McCain, each with the heading "McCain Family Recipe." Ms. Handel quickly realized that some of the "McCain Family Recipes," were in fact, word-for-word copies of recipes on the Food Network site.
Where oh where is the candidate who can restore honor and integrity to the White House pantry? Must we endure another four years of chocolate-chocolate chip ignominy at the highest corridors of power? Why can't ... oh, heck, I can't keep this up with a straight face. It's a modest amount of ado about nothing.
As it turns out, the McCain campaign is claiming -- I'm guessing accurately -- that the plagairism was the fault of an intern. But it's a nice place to pause and consider the charges of "elitism" that have been hurled at Barack Obama the last few days.
Make no mistake: Obama's comments were ... dumb. But it's silly to think of either Hillary Clinton or John McCain as "common people." Clinton is Ivy League educated and spent eight years living in the White House; John McCain was the son of a Navy admiral who is married to a beer heiress. If there wasn't a real "McCain Family Recipe" to share, it's probably because Cindy McCain has long had "people" to take care of the cookie baking for her.
There's nothing wrong with that. The point is, all of our remaining candidates are comfortably wedged into the elite -- and, to some extent, the race for president is about seeing who can be most elite. But candidates and their families have to pretend otherwise -- why else would cookie recipies be on a campaign web site? -- and that leads to the kinds of gaffes we've seen this week.
Thoughts
according to the u.s. copyright website
Submitted on June 16th, 2008 by AnonymousMere listings of ingredients as in recipes, formulas, compounds or prescriptions are not subject to copyright protection. However, where a recipe or formula is accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook, there may be a basis for copyright protection.
gee... looks like this is much ado about nothing.
Once a thief always a thief
Submitted on April 16th, 2008 by Bull MooseShe already stole from her charity to support her drug habit.
Too bad if you right wingers think it's harsh, but the woman stole and we know how self righteous Republicans are, so give no quarter ala Karl Rove.
So?
Submitted on April 15th, 2008 by MathManThis makes for a fun discussion, but it is completely irrelevant for understanding John McCain.
They both stole it!
Submitted on April 15th, 2008 by The Big KlosowskiThey stole that recipe from Nieman Marcus and now they owe them $250!
Okay, maybe not. But it reminded me of the urban legend so I had to "chip" in. Get it? Get it? Lame....
It's not about being "common"
Submitted on April 15th, 2008 by AnonymousJoel, I think you miss the point. The difference between an elitist and a non-elitist has nothing to do with their respective backgrounds or whether or not one can saddle them with the appellation of "common." (Indeed . . . "common" used to be--and really should be--a term of disapprobation.) The difference between an elitist and a non-elitist has everything to do with attitude. Obama assumes that people who live in small towns and who do not embrace him and his message as the route to true political salvation must be dupes and fools. He has contempt for them. He cannot believe that they actually have an authentic disagreement with him. He doesn't think they are capable of it. If Cindy McCain has a recipe on John's website that is not really "hers" I can't say I'm shocked by that because I doubt, very much, that she spends a lot of time baking (let alone developing recipes). But in her case, she's pretending (or the intern is pretending) that she does. She is aspiring to be as she imagines other folks are. It's a minor-league infraction at best, but it's not admirable. Nevertheless, it's also not condescension. I'll bet she actually does wish she could make delicious cookies and has no scorn for but, rather, admiration for people who can.