Firstly, I want to say that I do not like politics. I know it's super important and I do wish I knew more about it and was more involved, but I don't and I'm not. This includes the upcoming presidential election. I know I'm a bit late on the uptake, but recently, instead of avoiding the news, I've actually been trying to watch anything that has to do with the candidates and the election, so as you can imagine, like most other people I'm sure, I heard about Melania Trump and her plagiarized speech.
Now, I know that when Ted Cruz was still in the race, he and Trump both threw a lot of unnecessary and in my opinion very irrelevant, things at each other regarding their wives. All in all though, I thought it was irrelevant. Fast forward to Melania's speech and it's undeniable resemblance to that of one of Michelle Obama's speeches. Melania's speech was so similar that it was called plagiarism and I agree. That's exactly what it was, and I think that any one of my high school teachers or college professors would agree with me. I say this because throughout all of my years in the education system, one of the rules of utmost importance was not to plagiarize. It is grounds for suspension or even expulsion, as well as a grade of zero on the assignment. Therefore, I have learned to have a real problem with plagiarism.
The reason I am bringing this up is because I find this particular act of plagiarism highly disconcerting, but even worse than that is the dismissal I have been hearing on the grounds that, "she may have plagiarized, but it doesn't matter, it's not like she's the one running for president." I have been hearing this loosely worded reasoning from various people and it has me both worried and confused.
I can't vouch for any president other than President Obama, because in all reality every president before him I was too young to really pay attention to. The same goes for first ladies. However, in the past eight years, I have seen that the First Lady is not just the wife of the President. She is so much more than that and she plays a huge role in the running of this country. That fact cannot be dismissed. Nor, can a first gentleman in regards to this years election.
Both the President and the First Lady are looked up to by children, and even adults, all across the country. Therefore, plagiarism is not alright. It is not something to aspire to and not only that, but it teaches people that taking the easy way out is alright. Having your own ideas and ways of expressing them is not necessary when you can just take someone else's that people seemed to like and then they'll like you too.
Michelle Obama, apart from her own extensive education and career before entering the White House, has continually been an advocate for higher education and equal education for males and females, as well as for living a healthy lifestyle with diet and exercise. She has launched numerous initiatives and worked tirelessly at getting these messages out to the public and trying to help them become more attainable for everyone. Mrs. Obama has been working for the past eight years on a lot of social issues that need to be addressed, while President Obama works in the political field. Both are important roles of the First Family and in order to do this, the First Lady has to be able to take on incredible responsibility. The First Lady has to have her own ideas about how she can help the country within her role, not take ideas from other people and claim them as her own.
Yes, the President of the United States may be the greatest role/ responsibility in the country, but we all need to be aware that he or she does not fill that role alone. The President has a whole team of people to help them take on their immense responsibility and that includes their spouse. We cannot forget that role and it needs recognition. Accordingly, with this election, we must take the role of the first spouse into consideration and whether or not they are also able to fulfill their role and support their spouse as President of the United States, because it does matter.
