Fundraiser Day Four: In Which Senator Rand Paul Disqualifies Himself

From America's Premier Young Adult Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest.

From Crooks and Liars:

Rachel Maddow detailed yet another instance of Rand Paul lifting entire passages from wikipedia pages about movies for his speeches, this time the 1988 film Stand and Deliver, with Edward James Olmos. 

Rand Paul's hometown newspaper the Louisville Courier-Journal is taking notice as well...

From the rules page of the Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest:

Eligibility: 12th Graders, College Undergraduates, and Graduate Students

Entry Deadline: September 17, 2013

FIRST PRIZE: $10,000
3 SECOND PRIZES: $2,000
5 THIRD PRIZES: $1,000
25 FINALISTS: $100
50 SEMIFINALISTS: $50

And here's the important bit (emphasis added):

Essay must be solely the work of the entrant. Plagiarism will result in disqualification. Essays must not infringe on any third party rights or intellectual property of any person, company, or organization. By submitting an essay to this Contest, the entrant agrees to indemnify the Ayn Rand Institute for any claim, demand, judgment, or other allegation arising from possible violation of someone’s trademark, copyright, or other legally protected interest in any way in the entrant’s essay.

If Ayn Rand's entire body of work could be summarized in a single sentence it would be this: One, long, often poorly-written and two-dimensional primal scream against anyone ever expropriating someone else's labor for any reason whatsoever.

If Rand Paul's entire career could be summarized in a single sentence it would be this: One, long, vicious and often hilariously incoherent act of Randite idolatry.

It is, therefor, an absolutely perfect, IOKIYAR moment to discover that:

A) Rand Paul has built some of his hilariously incoherent speeches on work he stole from others, and;

B) Rand Paul clearly does not have the slightest fucking clue as to why it would be wrong of him to do this.