Leaders Connecting Dots: Clinton and Steele

Checking recent transcripts of public officials speaking, I've spotted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and RNC chief Michael Steele linking some values and behaviors.Clinton held a news conference to discuss approaches to the difficulties in Pakistan. And she challenged Americans who say they are concerned about the humanitarian issues to put their technolgy where their mouth is. The mouthpiece to their cellphones, that is:

Now, Americans can use technology to help, as well. Using your cell phones, Americans can text the word "swat" -- to the number 20222 and make a $5 contribution that will help the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees provide tents, clothing, food, and medicine to hundreds of thousands of affected people. And before I came over here, we did that in the State Department. So we are making some of the first donations to this fund.

Steele gave an exceedingly odd speech to the RNC State Chairman's Meeting. Why do I say "odd?" Because he uses most of the speech to declare that the GOP will be the party of new ideas, speaking truth to power, offering new alternatives to the Obama agenda. But you'd need an electron microscope to find examples of those new ideas in this speech. Look for yourself.

He does, however, offer a list of principles worth noting. He calls them "timeless truths":

"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift."

"You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong."

"You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer."

"You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred."

"You cannot establish security by borrowing money."

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich."

"You cannot build character and courage by taking away one's initiative and incentive."

"You cannot help individuals permanently by doing for them what they should do for themselves."

We will be watching for the dot-connection between those principles and proposed GOP policies. (And as a commenter points out, Steele is using a quote without attribution. The actual author appears to be a Presbyterian minister named William J. H. Boetcker. Don't we call that plagiarism? Which is not a timeless value...)