I feel like standards are getting lower and lower for what kind of behavior is disqualifying for a politician seeking election or reelection. Certainly, it used to be the case that getting caught as a serial plagiarist would preclude you from being a serious presidential candidate. Is that still the case? Is it even possible for Rand Paul to be taken seriously? Does he know that the jig is up? Is he just using his wife as a convenient excuse to explain why he won’t run for president in 2016?
After a speech at the Detroit Economic Club today, Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky, was asked whether he plans to run in 2016, and he revealed his wife’s displeasure with the idea of a run for the White House.
“Where’s my cellphone? Can I call my wife?” Paul joked. “There’s two votes in my family. My wife has both of them, and both of them are ‘no’ votes right now.
“If I’m a very able politician, I’ll tell you in a year whether I’m able to persuade my wife. Right now, I don’t know yet, but I thank you for your interest,” he added.
He expanded on that today on Fox News Sunday, explaining that he worries about how his family would be treated if he ran for president. That’s all very convenient, but I think he realizes that his plagiarism has really damaged his prospects.
On the other hand, Vice-President Joe Biden was caught plagiarizing in 1988. But he had to wait 20 years before he was able to get on a national ticket. So, maybe Rand Paul should wait a while to run.
I think a 2036 candidacy sounds about right.
The thing about Biden’s plagiarism is that it wasn’t actively plagiarizing as he almost every time cited the true author, but that one time didn’t. IMO that’s different from Rand’s serial and active plagiarism.
that only reinforces my point. No?
No. Biden is a Democrat who got a reputation from the media for making “gaffes”. Rand Paul is a Republican who’s considered a deep thinker by the media. So obviously, the penalty for Biden’s one-time inadvertent mistake in a speech should be much greater than Paul’s serial plagiarism. Like somebody said (maybe Josh Marshall) Washington is hard-wired for the GOP.
he is a fraud, plain and simple.
..there’s one rule..
Libertarism is self limiting when reality bites..
The mindset leads directly to fail because the world simply doesn’t work they way they think it does.
Hopefully by 2036, technology and funding for treating sociopaths will have improved to the point where Paul won’t be a factor.
Just employing one of the various excuses politicians use not to disclose their aspirations too soon. A bit more disingenuous in his case because daddy ran several times without breaking a sweat and had no impact on his family except for the additional jobs it provided them.
In theory, as long as you meet the requirements in the constitution NOTHING disqualifies you from seeking office.
Paul is taking time off from the campaign to bring freedom/liberty and free market $5 a hr. jobs to Detroit.
Rand Paul is a Republican who’s considered a deep thinker by the media. So obviously, the penalty for Biden’s one-time inadvertent mistake in a speech should be much greater than Paul’s serial plagiarism. url=Mua iphone[/url] | url=Mua ipad[/url] | url=dien thoai sony Xperia[/url]
I honestly don’t get it. In what universe would Rand Paul have a tinker’s chance of being elected President?
I’ll grant you that my dog (Tolstoi) could take the old South, Wy, ID, IN and maybe Rand could scratch together enough for NH. But the rest of the country?
Most of the country wants nothing to do with Ayn Rand and her courageous band of monkey sex atheists. The only reason Atlas Shrugged is still allowed on Southern bookshelves is that the Main Stream media has not played the atheist declarations, the utter disdain for anyone not of her intellectual ilk and her lack of anything approaching compassion. And they will. Rand Paul would do better to stick with Aqua Buddha.
I am reminded of Casey Stengal’s lament: Can’t anybody here play this game???
We already had an Ayn Rand devotee run for VP–Paulie Ryan handed copies of the goddam book out to his staffers and addressed some Aynnie Rand conclave, if I remember right. He had happily declared her to be integral to his “thinking”.
The corporate media made not the slightest attempt to report this intellectual discipleship, nor anything about A. Rand’s more “controversial” views.
And I seriously wonder how many “independents” it would make the slightest difference to. Von Ryan could probably have handed out Mein Kampf for all the corporate media and boob voters would care…Das Kapital would be another matter, of course!
Christ, exactly with whom does this lame-ass “ask my wife” schtick succeed? beyond stupid.
as for all moral turpitude issues, IOKIYAR.
Jeebus always forgives his Repubs as soon as the scandal/misdeed is revealed….immaculate cleansing!