Where's My Lawyer?

I finally got around to reading Paul Martin's full speech (PDF online at Warren Kinsella's website) to Parliament at the opening of the debate on gay marriage. In short, it's really good stuff - I didn't vote for the guy, but I'm proud of him today.

There is one troubling thing, though - I want to sue the Liberal party for plagiarism. My post on this matter was up on February 10th, a full six days before Paul Martin's purloined speech. I can see no other explanation for the numerous similarities between our writings except that the PMO has violated my copyright.

A few excerpts to make my case:

Our deliberations will be not merely about a piece of legislation or sections of legal text – more deeply, they will be about the kind of nation we are today, and the nation we want to be.

Whereas I said:

Supporting anything short of full equality says nothing about gays or marriage, but says a great deal about who we are as a country.

Excerpt 2:

The Charter was enshrined to ensure that the rights of minorities are not subjected, are never subjected, to the will of the majority. The rights of Canadians who belong to a minority group must always be protected by virtue of their status as citizens, regardless of their numbers.

Me:

Why should we put equality up for a referendum? We've never put any other fundamental rights up for a vote - we just did it. Often, much later than we should have.

Excerpt 3:

Third, some have counseled the government to extend to gays and lesbians the right to “civil union.” This would give same-sex couples many of the rights of a wedded couple, but their relationships would not legally be considered marriage. In other words, they would be equal, but not quite as equal as the rest of Canadians... Put simply, we must always remember that “separate but equal” is not equal.

Me:

Rex Murphy, for example, thinks that Civil Unions are a "compromise position" that the government should have gone with, not full equality. Now, never mind that the phrase "separate but equal" has no place, and should never have a place in Canadian law.

Creepy. Now, I'm entirely willing to forego a costly and embarassing lawsuit (which the government would of course lose) in exchange for some of the good 'ole fashioned Liberal graft. In the words of Jay, "where's my motherfucking money?"

Now, some might argue that nowhere have I copyrighted anything on this website. Others would argue that these excerpts aren't really all the similar to begin with. Still others might argue that both my post and the PM's speech are not plagiarism, but an example of two separate writers overusing tired cliches and demonstrating only that mediocrity is plentiful in politics. To them I say, you are Communists. Go back to Massachusetts, pinko.