Bill Singer And Senator Rand Paul

November 6, 2013

You go to sleep just another poor old shlub with a law practice and a semi-popular blog, and you awake to learn that you slept through your 15 minutes of fame.  I once authored a column for Forbes.com. Then Forbes and I had a falling out months ago. A nasty one at that. I took a hike and severed any further relationship with the publisher. I don't like them and they don't like me. We apparently arrived at an understanding. Now we're both happy. 

Yesterday and today the media is abuzz with stories that Senator Rand Paul plagiarized my Forbes column in his book "Government Bullies."  Oddly, he chose a column that I wrote about Kentucky caviar and a federal prosecution of the caviar harvesters. Not exactly one of my hard hitting jeremiads about Wall Street corruption. As I was quoted saying, plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery. Nice to know that the high and mighty in Washington, DC like what I say -- enough so to put my words in their mouths. 

On October 20, 2009, in comments on the floor of the United States Senate about the need to reform short-selling rules and to protect against the pernicious influence of unrestrained naked short selling, then Senator Ted Kaufman (D. Del) cited my Forbes column: "At the Head of the Roundtable" (October 2, 2009) and quoted my observation with full attribution that "We have become a nation that ponders everything without resolution." It was nice to learn that former Senator Kaufman read my commentaries and thought enough of them to quote a line of mine on the floor of the Senate. It was equally nice to learn that Senator Paul sort of borrowed some of my thoughts for his book.

I don't have anything against Senator Paul. Never met him. Never spoke with him. I learned about our relationship just like you did -- from reading about it in the news. If he or his staff were to call me, I'd respond as my old affable self.  Maybe Senator Paul will take a page from President Obama's book (figuratively, that is) when he invited Sgt. James Crowley, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Vice President Biden to the White House for some brewskies. I'm hoping that Senator Paul will offer me some Kentucky caviar and pour me a glass of Woodford Reserve Bourbon, and then we can have a nice chat. About what? Ya got me on that one. I'm not angry with the Senator and I don't think he has any idea who I am -- well, okay, maybe now he knows me as that goddamn writer at Forbes. Still, I had nothing to do with unearthing the plagiarism story or leaking anything to the press; I never read his book and didn't know he had copied some of my language.

If you would like to read the source article that Senator Paul purportedly relied upon, you could go to Forbes.com and see the original caviar expose; however, I would prefer that you read the article on my BrokeAndBroker Blog because, like I said earlier, I don't write for Forbes any longer and, hey, why should your clicks benefit them?  Last I looked, this story was trending in the Top 10 on Google. Here is some of the recent coverage:

  1. Rand Paul admits his plagiarism 'is my fault'

    USA TODAY-1 hour ago
    STORY: Rand Paul mum after plagiarism allegations ... in Paul's book, "Government Bullies," that is nearly identical to a portion of a Forbesmagazine article.
  2. The Washington Times suspends Rand Paul's columns

    Politico (blog)-3 hours ago
    Rand Paul's weekly columns after instances of plagiarism... note to Paul's September column in which the Senator failed to attribute a passage to Forbes.
  3. Another Rand Paul plagiarism incident reported

    Businessweek-7 hours ago
    Another Rand Paul plagiarism incident reported ... Bill Singer, who wrote the Forbesarticle, told BuzzFeed his work on the article made extensive use of a U.S. ... 
  4. Wash. Times Ends Rand Paul Column Amid PlagiarismConcerns

    Newsmax.com-14 hours ago
    Times Ends Rand Paul Column Amid Plagiarism Concerns. Tuesday, 05 ... 20 column that hadn't attributed a passage that first appeared inForbes. Ending the ...
  5. Rand Paul on plagiarism accusations: 'it is my fault,' promises to be ...

    The Courier-Journal-17 hours ago
    Rand Paul on plagiarism accusations: 'it is my fault,' promises to be more careful ... Bullies," that is nearly identical to a portion of a Forbesmagazine article.
  6. What's Rand Paul Been Caught Plagiarizing This Time? The Week.

    Slate Magazine (blog)-by Josh Voorhees-18 hours ago
    Another day, another example of Rand Paul playing fast and loose with the rules ... this time of Paul apparently passing off portions of a Forbesarticle as his own ...
  7. Rand Paul finally admits he has a problem

    MSNBC-by Steve Benen-21 hours ago
    Rand Paul (R-Ky.) ... Andrew Kaczynski found yet another instance in which part of the senator's most recent book plagiarized an article fromForbes magazine.
  8. Paul Shakes Up Staff

    Daily Beast-22 hours ago
    If Rand Paul cut class the day that footnoting was taught, he didn't miss the ... BuzzFeed accused Paul of plagiarizing a section of his book from a Forbes article.
  9. Section Of Rand Paul's Book Plagiarized Forbes Article

    BuzzFeed-Nov 5, 2013
    A section of Rand Paul's 2012 book Government Bullies appears to be plagiarizedfrom a Forbes article from earlier in that year. BuzzFeed had previously ...