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Rand Paul, if I may be so bold, will never, ever, ever be president, and the revelation that he lied about his college record is just another entry on the long list of reasons why. On February 12th, at Lincoln Labs “Reboot Congress” conference, Paul twice referred to his “biology degree.” The only problem is that, while he attended Baylor College, from 1981 to 1983, he never actually graduated. Oops. His communication director later tried to finesse the issue with the odd claim that, since Paul has a medical degree and medicine involves biology then that counts as a biology degree and words mean exactly what Rand Paul intends them to mean, not what they actually mean.
Right.
Despite this all, Rand Paul marches blithely on. Funny thing is that, out in the world of lesser folk like you and I, getting caught lying about your college degree is the sort of thing that ends careers. Just last fall, Wal-Mart’s Chief Spokesman, David Tovar, was forced to resign after it was revealed that he lied about his college degree. In 2007, Marilee Jones, dean of admissions at MIT, resigned after being caught in a resume lie dating back to 1979. This sort of thing tends to have actual consequences, out in the real world. Anyone think Rand Paul is going to be stepping down anytime soon? Didn’t think so.
The problem is that this latest lie is part of a long pattern of lies, exaggerations, fibs, and misstatements on the part of Rand Paul. Just last month, he got himself into trouble talking about the Social Security Disability Program:
Paul’s statement was, of course, demonstrably false. And then there was the time, back in 2013, when Paul tried to claim that he had “never been against the Civil Rights Act, ever,” despite being caught multiple times, expressing opposition to it. And then there was the time when Paul attempted to make some sort of point about the Affordable Care Act by claiming his son had been “forcibly” enrolled in Medicaid, something which simply does not happen in Paul’s home state of Kentucky. Are your starting to see the pattern? Rand Paul’s relationship with the truth is, at best, tenuous.
And lies aside, Paul isn’t exactly wonderful on policy. He’s joined New Jersey buffoon Chris Christie in questioning the wisdom of vaccinations (looks his “degree” in biology didn’t quite sink in). He apparently believes that having a right to health care will lead to slavery. And he seems to be a bit confused as to what the president actually, you know, does.
But Rand Paul’s positions, while tending towards the extreme and horribly misguided, are of a piece with the Republican Party as a whole. Yes, he’s a bit of an idiot, but it isn’t as though his party has the best record when it comes to idiotic politicians. His continued aversion to telling the truth is more troubling. This is a man who is quite likely to seek the Republican nomination for president. Yes, standards are different for politicians, and even more different for Republican politicians, who embrace eye-watering hypocrisy as a matter of course, but still, one might thank that being a serial liar would raise a question or two about Rand Paul’s suitability for the job.
No, Rand Paul will never be president. (And he knows it, as he is actively trying to change Kentucky law to allow him to simultaneously run for president and for another term in the Senate.) But, with the collection of carnival freaks that makes up the current Republican field, his occasional blunder into a non-awful position, and with polls in Iowa showing him near the front of the slavering pack, it’s quite possible that we’ll be in for a few weeks of Paul being the anointed front-runner. Hell, in the 2012 primaries, Michelle freaking Bachmann was declared the front-runner for a surreal and unsettling period. At some point, in the next year or so, don’t be surprised if Paul is elevated to that noble and meaningless title.
If that does come to pass, and we see Rand Paul’s smug face leering at us from the covers of assorted magazines, it would be well to keep in mind what we’ve learned of him: his positions are questionable, his character more so, and he wouldn’t recognize the truth if it punched him in the face.
http://reverbpress.com/politics/rand-paul-will-never-ever-ever-be-president/
Right.
Despite this all, Rand Paul marches blithely on. Funny thing is that, out in the world of lesser folk like you and I, getting caught lying about your college degree is the sort of thing that ends careers. Just last fall, Wal-Mart’s Chief Spokesman, David Tovar, was forced to resign after it was revealed that he lied about his college degree. In 2007, Marilee Jones, dean of admissions at MIT, resigned after being caught in a resume lie dating back to 1979. This sort of thing tends to have actual consequences, out in the real world. Anyone think Rand Paul is going to be stepping down anytime soon? Didn’t think so.
The problem is that this latest lie is part of a long pattern of lies, exaggerations, fibs, and misstatements on the part of Rand Paul. Just last month, he got himself into trouble talking about the Social Security Disability Program:
Paul’s statement was, of course, demonstrably false. And then there was the time, back in 2013, when Paul tried to claim that he had “never been against the Civil Rights Act, ever,” despite being caught multiple times, expressing opposition to it. And then there was the time when Paul attempted to make some sort of point about the Affordable Care Act by claiming his son had been “forcibly” enrolled in Medicaid, something which simply does not happen in Paul’s home state of Kentucky. Are your starting to see the pattern? Rand Paul’s relationship with the truth is, at best, tenuous.
And lies aside, Paul isn’t exactly wonderful on policy. He’s joined New Jersey buffoon Chris Christie in questioning the wisdom of vaccinations (looks his “degree” in biology didn’t quite sink in). He apparently believes that having a right to health care will lead to slavery. And he seems to be a bit confused as to what the president actually, you know, does.
But Rand Paul’s positions, while tending towards the extreme and horribly misguided, are of a piece with the Republican Party as a whole. Yes, he’s a bit of an idiot, but it isn’t as though his party has the best record when it comes to idiotic politicians. His continued aversion to telling the truth is more troubling. This is a man who is quite likely to seek the Republican nomination for president. Yes, standards are different for politicians, and even more different for Republican politicians, who embrace eye-watering hypocrisy as a matter of course, but still, one might thank that being a serial liar would raise a question or two about Rand Paul’s suitability for the job.
No, Rand Paul will never be president. (And he knows it, as he is actively trying to change Kentucky law to allow him to simultaneously run for president and for another term in the Senate.) But, with the collection of carnival freaks that makes up the current Republican field, his occasional blunder into a non-awful position, and with polls in Iowa showing him near the front of the slavering pack, it’s quite possible that we’ll be in for a few weeks of Paul being the anointed front-runner. Hell, in the 2012 primaries, Michelle freaking Bachmann was declared the front-runner for a surreal and unsettling period. At some point, in the next year or so, don’t be surprised if Paul is elevated to that noble and meaningless title.
If that does come to pass, and we see Rand Paul’s smug face leering at us from the covers of assorted magazines, it would be well to keep in mind what we’ve learned of him: his positions are questionable, his character more so, and he wouldn’t recognize the truth if it punched him in the face.
http://reverbpress.com/politics/rand-paul-will-never-ever-ever-be-president/
