Rand Paul Denies Kidnapping, Says He Can’t Remember The Rest
Talking Points Memo
by Evan McMorris-Santoro
August 10, 2010
Rand Paul said on Fox News today that his lawyers would be all over GQ magazine if it wasn’t for that pesky First Amendment. But he didn’t completely deny yesterday’s crazy tale of his college years published by the magazine, which included allegations of a "prank" in which Paul and a buddy picked up a female member of the swim team, blindfolded her, and forced her to kneel in a creek and pray to the god "Aqua Buddha."
"Well I’m not gonna really try and go back 27 years and remember everything I did in college," Paul told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto when asked about the Aqua Buddha thing. "But the thing is, I don’t think that, really, politicians should be asked to answer anonymous accusers from 27 years ago — but I will categorically deny that I ever kidnapped anyone or forced anyone to use drugs."
Paul said that the idea that he kidnapped anyone — which was widely reported across the media yesterday – came from headline writers, not the GQ story itself. He pointed out that the woman who made the anonymous allegation to the magazine said that Paul and his friend "never hurt me," and "never did anything wrong."
Then he offered his plan to limit freedom of speech and took the predictable stab at the media. "I think they deserve a lawsuit," he said of GQ. "The problem is that in our country, they make it almost impossible for politicians to win anything"…
The features of the prank seem well beyond “goofy”. They seem to enter the realm of moral judgment and probity. I think too, that no matter how unexamined, strong-willed, and self-righteous a person may be, there is a class of memory that doesn’t go away. Instead, it springs to the front-lines of thought seemingly unprovoked and detached from the quotidian mechanisms of behavior. The material comes from instances where lapses in judgment (or an absence of prior experience/knowing) result in violation of a social code, where a person has a “close call” that threatened his or her continued presence on the planet, or where commission of an error somehow undermines the integrity of the self and its journey through the plan, as it were. It is very difficult to believe that Mr. Paul hasn’t been obliged to go over this particular boneheaded stunt over and over – if even for fleeting moments. One wonders only, given his apparent desire to thrust himself into the public eye, why he did not some time ago return apologetically to the woman, make amends, and, having convinced her of his sincerity and the exemplary life he has since led and commits to live during the rest of his days, enlisted her support (or at least silence).
Excellent point. If only he were not still a cocky frat boy as
an adulta candidatea grown-upa big boy. Would “jerk” be a good synonym?…It is a good synonym except for the fact that it denigrates the portrayal, given by Steve Martin, of the eponymously named film. How about jizzball?