Comments

1
Except that the movie is called Gattaca, not Gattica.
2
Here's a quick suggestion for anybody planning to plagiarize something: don't. But if you still decide to do it, at least run a couple sentences through Google first (like this). When your speech comes out, someone will probably actually do that (all it takes is a highlight and a right click on most browsers). This is how you find plagiarism on Wikipedia and this is how you find plagiarism of Wikipedia.
3
Sorry Rand, there's no way you're going to out-stupid Ted Cruz in 2016.
4
I guess blaming the errant staffer is too obvious these days. Too bad - since his speech was doubtlessly written for him, it's the one time that would be a truthful explanation.
5
@1 Seriously.

Paul... you're putting your nerd cred on the line here with not knowing how to spell the movie you're talking about.
6
@3: There is a lot of competition. Who thought anybody could out-stupid Herman Cain in the last primaries until Michelle Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and Rick Perry came along? When it comes to dumbass politicians, never underestimate the depth of the Republican dugout. There is plenty of more stupid ready to introduce itself to the world from their roster. Maybe they will have a Sarah Palin/Joe the Plumber ticket? Use your imagination and then despair.
7
Anybody remember when Obama plagiarized a speech in his first presidential bid? It would be interesting to see if Rand Paul made any public statements about that one.
8
Dude... GATTACA.
Adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine.

Get it? It's clever.
9
To Rand Paul: Dumb Nonetheless, Asshole
10
I think it's weird that so many people are focusing on the source of his speech instead of the fact that he accused his opponents of wanting to weed out the gene pool. He just gets to say crazy shit whenever he wants and the media responds with "but did he plagiarize Wikipedia?!" Where's this liberal media I was promised?
11
@10: That is an excellent point. Low fucking standards, I guess.
12
He should have said it all in Esperanto to get the full effect.
13
@1 & others: Thanks! Fixed.
14
@3: These flubs only endear him to the Palin-lubbin masses.
15
@10 Being too lazy a dumb motherfucker to write his own damned speech from scratch has to count against him personally, regardless of any possible merits of his completely meritless argument.

Other than, "Rand, you stupid, whiny, demagoguing, manipulative motherfucker, your argument is completely transparent, self-serving, paranoiac bullshit," what would you see as an appropriate, and perhaps more calibrated, response from the "liberal media"?

On a tangential point, I have a technical question on the issue of plagiarizing a community-donated, public-domain source that specifically grants rights to everyone to use. Is it simply that the act of claiming the words as your own constitutes plagiarism, or do you have to be stealing it from someone? Is there some other word to express the moral laziness of using someone else's work as your own when it wasn't stealing? Or does "plagiarize" cover both bases just fine?
17
Rand Paul calling people "haters" is rich.

On the other hand, conservatives seem to have a knack for manipulating language in the minds of their followers. Haters was a word from the LGBT community to describe social conservatives' homophobic tendencies. Now, a leading social conservative, who has said some hateful things against the LGBT community himself, is taking it to describe his opponents?

What next, rabid anti-LGBT Evangelical Christians claiming to be a persecuted minority?
18
Also a pertinent question: why was he giving a synopsis of a sci-fi bomb from the late '90s? Is his next speech going to be a review of Showgirls? If we're lucky, he'll rip off David Schmader's commentary.
19
@ 15, "Being too lazy a dumb motherfucker to write his own damned speech from scratch has to count against him personally..."

Be prepared to be disappointed with almost every politician who serves at the national level, in that case, and many major state and city levels as well. Major officeholders and those aspiring to be employ speechwriters on their staffs. Even those who participate in the speech writing process. It's simply a time saving measure and isn't anything to criticize, in and of itself. Sure, Rand's guy is lazy and sloppy. Or perhaps he was put under a sudden deadline. Or maybe he included all the necessary attributes and someone else, maybe Rand himself, excised that because it didn't "flow." Who knows? Not me, I wasn't there.

The main takeaway from this is that Rand is not taking responsibility, and is instead deflecting. Or @ 10 is right and we should be focusing on the message he was trying to convey. (I disagree - few people will be able to grasp that, but many can get mad at an irresponsible plagiarist who digs himself deeper. Therefore if we want this man's reputation to sustain damage in the popular eye, keep banging away at this.)
20
Dan Savage's HEADLINE misspelled Gattaca -- was dear Eli just copying him?

Still misspelled, too..... oh, the curse of noticing things....
21
"wikipedia says this about gattaca..."

that's all it would take, rand paul's newly fired speechwriter.
22
This is stupid. Making these mole hills into mountains demeans the political process. We all say we want more substantive policy discussion, so let's smack down these bullshit stories that get in the way of those discussions.
23
@20 - BREAKING! Eli Sanders caught plagiarizing Dan Savage headlines!
24
Wikipedia is a wiki, an aggregation of supposed facts from contributors. Paul should have given Wikipedia credit, but it is not the same as direct lifting of an author's content - like what happened to Doris Kearns Goodwin.
25
@ 24, or Scott McInnis. Boy, did that ever have major repercussions here in Colorado.
26
@24: Copy an essay from Wikipedia or from a site that sells them, your teacher will penalize you equally.
27
24, so what you're saying is that he was plagiarizing the lowest common denominator available. So not only is he so stupid as plagiarizing something that any schmoe on the internet could spot, he's also incredibly lazy, not bothering to steal words of the slightest quality.

Yep, that's a *real* good defense, there. You must feel so proud.
28
Oh, well. On the plus side, maybe Paul's speech will get some of his followers to watch Gattaca, although I doubt one thoughtful, arty, sci-fi film is going to bring any sort of enlightenment to the type of NASCAR fans who voted for Paul.
29
@15:
Is it simply that the act of claiming the words as your own constitutes plagiarism, or do you have to be stealing it from someone?

The former. Plagiarism is using another's work and presenting it as your own. It is distinct from copyright violation, which would be reproducing someone else's work without permission - i.e. "stealing" it. If you post the text of a published novel on your blog while crediting the author, you aren't plagiarizing but you are violating copyright. If you claimed it as your own work, you'd be doing both.

@24:
Paul should have given Wikipedia credit, but it is not the same as direct lifting of an author's content.

No, it is exactly the same. If he copied text from Wikipedia and used it in his speech without saying "Wikipedia says that..." first, then he is directly lifting an author's content.

Wikipedia operates under a Creative Commons licensing model. Text from Wikipedia can be freely reproduced without violating copyright, but not without attribution. The license specifically states "You must attribute the work."
30
@29 Thanks for the clarification.

So... Rand Paul violated the Wikipedia license? Hmmm... They should sue him. Especially him, of the libertarian Ayn Rand personal responsibility school of self interest. If he doesn't settle out of court, he'll look like a complete ass. And if he does, well, still ditto.
31
What next, rabid anti-LGBT Evangelical Christians claiming to be a persecuted minority?


Are you being sarcastic?
32
Weak.
33
@7
"Anybody remember when Obama plagiarized a speech in his first presidential bid? "

I don't. Obama said he didn't, and Deval Patrick said he didn't. They both used lines they had developed together in strategy sessions, and Patrick "urged him" to use the lines. I think that story is over.

Please wait...

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