# Rand Paul apparently really likes Wikipedia **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 30, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621 "2013-10-30T03:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/41 "2013-10-31T02:58:17Z")
Let’s focus here on the real issues regarding Paul’s statement in question, which are neither plagiarism nor sloth, but idiocy and hypocrisy. I mean, an anti-choice Libertarian?! I suppose next he’ll be telling us that legalized sodomy is a slippery (with sufficient lube) slope to single-payer health care! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/42 "2013-10-31T03:05:40Z")
> [@Bob's Zombie](#): > > And the revelation that Rand Paul’s (former, now!) director of communications and co-author was a white supremacist who hosted a radio show as a Confederate flag-mask-wearing character called The Southern Avenger. It’s weird how this keeps happening. I’m getting confused - did this really happen, or is it a bit of pre-Hallowe’en hyperbole? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/43 "2013-10-31T03:11:02Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’m getting confused - did this really happen, or is it a bit of pre-Hallowe’en hyperbole? 😕 [It’s real.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Hunter_%28radio_host%29) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/44 "2013-10-31T03:18:37Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’m getting confused - did this really happen, or is it a bit of pre-Hallowe’en hyperbole? 😕 There’s no need to choose! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/45 "2013-10-31T06:53:36Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I think he is an awful person. The fact that he uses Wikipedia to research his speeches, and does not rewrite every bit of information he finds there into his own words, is, however, **about as relevant to his awfulness as is the fact that he breathes air**. I’d be hesitant to vote for a candidate who _inhales_ – Wouldn’t you? They bashed on Clinton for that, remember? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/46 "2013-10-31T14:02:42Z")
Where do people get the idea that either of the Pauls is in any way a libertarian? Ron Paul is a bog-standard hard-right conservative, except that he likes pot. Rand is the same, except without the pot. Wait, OK, I guess Ron also has the bit about wanting a government takeover of the precious metals industry. But that’s the opposite of libertarian. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/47 "2013-10-31T15:23:36Z")
It was also a wandering, mind-numbingly stupid speech. If my staff gave me that to read, I’d be out looking for better writers. Pretty sure I could find some in any middle school. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/48 "2013-10-31T17:50:28Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > It was also a wandering, mind-numbingly stupid speech. If my staff gave me that to read, I’d be out looking for better writers. Pretty sure I could find some in any middle school. When Rand was first making the rounds of the Tea Party groups in Kentucky he liked to start his speeches by quoting Rush lyrics. So I think it’s best to imagine his speeches as coming from that one guy you used to smoke pot with in college. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/49 "2013-10-31T17:51:56Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > So I think it’s best to imagine his speeches as coming from that one guy you used to smoke pot with in college. Who thought it’d be funny to get really baked and kind of kidnap a girl. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/50 "2013-10-31T20:25:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Where do people get the idea that either of the Pauls is in any way a libertarian? Ron Paul is a bog-standard hard-right conservative, except that he likes pot. Ron Paul, typical? The same dude who got booed at conventions for arguing for anti-war isolationism, understanding terrorist motives, and supporting civil liberties? Plus he’s a goldbug, which is always fun. /It’s not happening.jpg ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/51 "2013-11-02T06:09:42Z")
Still, it’s hard to hate the guy when he has brought so much joy into Rachel Maddow’s life. I love to watch her reveling in this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/52 "2013-11-02T16:00:40Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s amazing how often these sentences have been written since 2008. Oh, those sentences have been written plenty of times since before 2008. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/53 "2013-11-03T15:00:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Where do people get the idea that either of the Pauls is in any way a libertarian? Ron Paul is a bog-standard hard-right conservative, except that he likes pot. Rand is the same, except without the pot. Ron did get the Libertarian Party nomination for President in 1988, and Lew Rockwell , who is definitely a libertarian, was his chief of staff when he was in Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/54 "2013-11-03T16:34:35Z")
[It’s not just Wikipedia.](http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/entire-section-of-rand-pauls-book-copied-verbatim-from-case) About three pages of _Government Bullies_ were copied from a 10-year-old Heritage Foundation report. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/55 "2013-11-03T16:37:48Z")
I don’t really know that this is meaningful at all. Plagiarism in itself is a vaguely defined, mostly pointless term outside of academics and journalism where there are more definite rules about it. Paul was obviously talking about a movie, and I actually did a search on the first paragraph of the Wikipedia article and you see _extremely similar_ content all over the internet, on imdb, on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) describing the DVD etc. The passage from Wikipedia in itself might very well be cribbed from somewhere else or even just a slight modification of the summary of the movie found on the back of the DVD/VHS tape of the film. I doubt very many people would be shocked to find out Paul’s speechwriters borrowed the summary description of a film from some popular source. I think that Biden’s plagiarism was also more notable because there had already been a mini-scandal when it came out that Biden had plagiarized portions of a law review article he wrote while in law school–in a context where such plagiarism actually has a definite meaning and violates established rules. By and large the only people who care about “failure to attribute” are academics and journalists and people who already disliked the person involved. Martin Luther King heavily plagiarized for example, and that’s done little to harm his reputation. Paul has too many political problems with his positions on the issues to win the GOP primary, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t even run. But plagiarism scandals certainly will have nothing to do with that. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/56 "2013-11-03T17:26:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Where do people get the idea that either of the Pauls is in any way a libertarian? Ron Paul is a bog-standard hard-right conservative, except that he likes pot. Rand is the same, except without the pot. > > Wait, OK, I guess Ron also has the bit about wanting a government takeover of the precious metals industry. But that’s the opposite of libertarian. In the run up to the 1980 election, Congressman Paul spoke at my high school as it was in his district. After the assembly he stayed and talked to a small group of us. At the time the Libertarians were getting a good deal of press and one of us asked him what he thought of the party. I recall him saying they certainly had a lot of interesting ideas. He also recommended we check out the book “A New Beginning” by Ed Clark, the Libertarian nominee for President at the time. I’ve basically considered him libertarian in philosophy since then. The only reason he ever ran as a Republican was because it was the only way to get elected and I honestly think he believed he could affect change from within rather than being on the fringe. > [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Ron did get the Libertarian Party nomination for President in 1988, and Lew Rockwell , who is definitely a libertarian, was his chief of staff when he was in Congress. And of course, this ^. Unless you don’t consider the Libertarian Party to be libertarian that is. Randy is a bit of a different story because I see him as more of an opportunist, but most of his positions are definitely rooted in libertarian philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/57 "2013-11-03T17:45:50Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I don’t really know that this is meaningful at all. I don’t think it’s very important at all, but it’s lazy as shit- and yes, it’s reasonable to expect better. “Don’t take credit for other people’s work” isn’t that complicated. The stuff in Paul’s book was at least vaguely cited, but real attribution or footnotes are not too much to ask for. We’re supposed to believe this is a very intelligent man. > [@](#): > > Paul was obviously talking about a movie, and I actually did a search on the first paragraph of the Wikipedia article and you see _extremely similar_ content all over the internet, on imdb, on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) describing the DVD etc. The passage from Wikipedia in itself might very well be cribbed from somewhere else or even just a slight modification of the summary of the movie found on the back of the DVD/VHS tape of the film. That’s because plagiarism is rampant online. There are entire sites that do nothing except mirror the content of Wikipedia, for example. It’s all the more reason to be careful with online sourcing. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/58 "2013-11-03T18:36:29Z")
Rand Paul’s not a plagiarist. [He’s just being singled out by haters.](http://thinkprogress.org/home/2013/11/03/2880511/rand-paul-hacks-haters/) ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/59 "2013-11-03T21:48:09Z")
And now he will challenge all his ‘haters’ to a duel! If only he could! “And like I say, if, you know, if dueling were legal in Kentucky, if they keep it up, you know, it would be a duel challenge. But I can’t do that, because I can’t hold office in Kentucky then.” [Rand Paul Responds To Plagiarism Accusations: 'If Dueling Were Legal In Kentucky..' | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/03/rand-paul-plagiarism_n_4208469.html) Really? That’s how you answer charges of plagiarism? First by making weird, convoluted claims that lifting words from a Wikipedia article about a movie means you weren’t claiming to be the screenwriter of said movie, and then by duel? And the only thing that prevents you from dueling is the office you hold? He is one strange dude. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621/60 "2013-11-03T22:18:03Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [It’s not just Wikipedia.](http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/entire-section-of-rand-pauls-book-copied-verbatim-from-case) About three pages of _Government Bullies_ were copied from a 10-year-old Heritage Foundation report. Well, that’s a little more respectable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-paul-apparently-really-likes-wikipedia/672621.md?page=4)