The Washington Times dumps Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) for plagiarism
Good. The Washington Times has ended Rand Paul’s column. This is definitely deserved as it appears plagiarism is not an uncommon practice by Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky.
Just last week, Rachel Maddow caught Rand Paul plagiarizing Wikipedia’s description of the movie “Gattaca” in his speech he gave in support of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli.
Since Paul has written hundreds of columns for the Washington Times, it appears they decided to take a deeper look into his previous “writings.” According to Buzzfeed:
“Sections of an op-ed Kentucky Paul wrote on mandatory minimum sentencing in the paper in September appeared nearly identical to an article by Dan Stewart of The Week that ran earlier.
“Paul also delivered testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 16, 2013, that included the copied sections from The Week.
“’We expect our columnists to submit original work and to properly attribute material, and we appreciate that the senator and his staff have taken responsibility for an oversight in one column,’ Washington Times’ editor John Solomon told the paper Tuesday.
“Paul had written hundreds of columns for the paper.”
Buzzfeed also shared how Paul took more information from Wikipedia by using text verbatim the Wiki entry of the movie “Stand and Deliver” when Paul gave a speech about immigration. So white of you, Paulie. Like you would have a single clue about what it’s like for the youth of our immigrants in school. Or any underprivileged school district. They are shit on and you know it. Don’t pretend like you have a heart because if you did, you would do something about it.
Back to plagiarism… and education…..
In defending himself, Rand Paul declared that he gave credit to Gattaca and blames the “haters” for all the ruckus.
Um, no. All Paulie had to do was simply state, “According to the movie description given in Wikipedia….” and all would have been fine. But by simply leaving out that little tidbit of information, making the speech appear as though they were all his own words, crosses the line into the world of plagiarism.
The penalty for plagiarism is typically heavy. Students are suspended – often expelled. If you are a grad student, you can kiss your future degree goodbye. Plagiarism is NOT tolerated, nor treated lightly. Rand Paul should not be an exception.
Kudos to the Washington Times for doing what is right.
An Afterthought:
I have not watched the entire speech as I honestly cannot tolerate listening to Paulie. I watched the portions of the video that I needed to in order to see for myself that he did, indeed, rip off the description of “Gattaca” from Wikipedia. Why is Rand Paul talking about Eugenics anyway? The speech was primarily an anti-abortion speech. Did Paul try to tie this Eugenics-themed movie into a reason why pro-choice supporters are defending keeping abortion legal? Now that is really weak and very sick. Very sick. A complete and total fear-mongering move as he knows damn well it is a complete fabrication. Apparently Senator Rand Paul will do whatever he needs to do to gain support for his proposed upcoming Presidential run. Well, hopefully Paul just ended his chance at any success.
Yes… more of my handiwork…
Related articles
- Fresh Plagiarism Charges Raised Against Rand Paul (talkingpointsmemo.com)
- Washington Times Ends Rand Paul’s Column After Plagiarism (buzzfeed.com)
- Rand Paul’s Washington Times Column Put To An End Amid Plagiarism Charges (huffingtonpost.com)
- Rand Paul on plagiarism: promises footnotes ‘if it will make people leave me the hell alone’ (dailykos.com)
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I saw the Rachel Maddow broadcast and all she did was show the quote in print from Wikipedia and then a clip of Paul, repeating almost word-for-word without giving credit for the source. You’re right, just adding that one line would have cleared him. She said nothing hateful, just reported the incident. Now the idiot would like to settle it with a duel ( A DUEL???) but they’re illegal in Kentucky. Wow, could he not think of something better to say? Maybe he’s scouring Wikipedia or AP for an answer.
I wondered if he knew about the verbatim from Wiki, or if it was purely his staff and he truly didn’t know. Then I remembered that he plagiarized his column from another writer’s column. Guilty. Unless he doesn’t write any of the stuff being posted in the Washington Times. That would be just about as bad.
It also came out that he plagiarized three pages from a news letter ( I believe) from The Heritage Foundation for his book. I think it shows laziness, either on his part or his speech/ghostwriters to just lift material and present it as his. But when he responded to the allegations, it sounded like he really didn’t know what plagiarism is.
It didn’t look like he knew, did it. And he’s a senator??
Not only a plagiarist, but a stupid plagiarist. Most would copy obscure passages from obscure but lofty works. Not Paul. It’s just so much easier to grab a Wikipedia passage. The guy has no class.
Perhaps the vetting process should include some basic high school info, like that plagiarism can get you expelled and some knowledge of civics like being about to name a Supreme Court case, which Sarah Palin was unable to do…Is it me or are Republicans proud of their stupidity?
They’re proud. Their shit don’t stink.
ayup…posting re this tomorrow Michelle. continue…
🙂 Cool!!!