CQ reader John Gault notes that the valediction that John Kerry's mother gave him, according to his answer at the debate, has a ring of familiarity to it. Band of Brothers member Jim Rassmann, while campaigning for Kerry in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, said this from the stump last month:

After serving with John Kerry, a veteran says Kerry is better suited to serve in the White House. Jim Rassman was in Eau Claire on Tuesday to campaign for Kerry. Rassman says Kerry saved his life when he pulled him out of a river during a battle in Vietnam. Rassman says he voted for Bush in 2000, but says he doesn't plan to back the President this time around. "There are three character traits John has that George Bush does not have and they are integrity, integrity, integrity [emph mine - CE]. I trust John Kerry implicitly. I don't trust a thing George Bush tells me," said Rassman.

There are four possible explanations for this:

1. Jim Rassmann is channelling Kerry's mother on the stump.
2. Rassmann plagiarizes dead people.
3. Kerry plagiarizes Rassmann.
4. This may be another of Kerry's canned stump stories, which makes it even more pathetic. Does it not occur to him that most mothers don't find it necessary to lecture their sons on integrity with their dying breath?

And doesn't it sound like Kerry plagiarized this from Rassmann?

UPDATE: More fun with 'Integrity' cubed ... Commenters are claiming that this is a quote from Singing In The Rain, the Gene Kelly/Debbie Reynolds movie from 1952. Can anyone find a script on the Internet with the quote?

UPDATE II: According to this Newsweek article, found by CQ reader Regret, Rosemary Kerry's last words were 'Integrity, integrity,' although no explanation is given of their context (as in, was she really responding to her son's intention to run for President?). Maybe this is going to be Kerry Campaign v22.0's new slogan.

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Tracked on October 24, 2004 6:14 PM