[A frivolous bit of snarking for a chilly November morning.]
All of us in the political left blogosphere have been enjoying the Rand Paul plagiarism "scandal," to wit, his habit of inserting sections of Wikipedia entries into his speeches and writings. [By the way, I am a big fan of Wikipedia -- at least ever since they corrected the initial impression they created that I am dead -- so let's not have any complaints about the quality of the sources from which he stole.] But no one, to my knowledge, has commented on the most revealing of his many reactions to the plagiarism charges. I refer of course to his rather plaintive question, "Do I have to be in detention for the rest of my career?"
Now Paul, although a United States Senator, has somewhat the look of a teenager already, so perhaps it is not smart for him to call attention to his youthfulness, should he aspire to even higher office. The remark about detention makes it clear that he thinks of himself as a high school student, and despite the fact that the electorate is changing demographically, I do not think America is quite ready for a presidential candidate who might have to be carded before drinking a beer with some guys at an Iowa tavern.
On the other hand, a Republican primary debate between Paul and Chris Christie would be a makeover artist's dream: The guy with the stapled stomach up against the kid whose biggest personal problem is a zit.
Dr. Wolff,
ReplyDeleteArnold wants to do away with citizen status as a qualification for the presidential business, and I, in turn, think there is nothing wrong with lowering the age limit for that too. Jesus, himself, could have ran the entire ancient world at the age of 12. And, if I were Rand Paul, and I read your post, I would take your words as a compliment. Almost everyone these days wants to look and feel much younger than they actually are.
Dr. Wolff,
ReplyDeleteI meant to say 'born in the USA status' and not citizen status. My mistake.