Rachel Maddow and Rand Paul are back to trading blows, with Maddow calling out Paul for plagiarism. This certainly isn’t anything new between the television host and the Kentucky senator. They have been at heated odds for years.

The Christian Science Monitor says Paul is in big trouble if he decides to throw his hat into the 2016 presidential campaign. He, however, has tried (rather unsuccessfully, according to most people) downplaying his plagiarism, attributing it to the way a high school student might become too comfortable with the convenience of Wikipedia.

Maddow was the first person to report instances of Rand Paul’s plagiarism in his speeches. Multiple media outlets followed suit, by uncovering similar instances in other speeches.

“The terrible hometown press that Rand Paul is getting right now might explain why the senator is melting down over this issue,” Maddow said. “Now he’s come to the point where he is threatening to quit and leave politics altogether unless people stop criticizing him over his plagiarism problems and reporting on them.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/rachel-maddow-rand-paul-plagiarism-accusations-99516.html#ixzz2kMOZhlXw
Lest Americans forget, however, then-Senator Joe Biden was caught plagiarizing and the result was his withdrawal from the 1988 presidential campaign. Oh, boy. Look where he is now.

Rachel Maddow is absolutely right for calling out Rand Paul. If politicians can lie their way into the White House, then where is the United States headed? Oh, wait–that happens on a pretty regular basis these days. Still she should be commended for her attempt at instilling truth into government.

Time magazine has highlighted some of the goings-on between Rachel Maddow and Rand Paul in the past few years. One interesting example follows.

“I think you’re an intelligent person. I like being on your show. But I think that — what is the totality of what I’m saying? Am I a bad person? Do I believe in awful things? No, I really think that discrimination and racism is a horrible thing and I don’t want any form of it in our government, in our public sphere,” Paul said to Maddow on her show back in 2010.

Cable News Smackdown: The Battle Between Rand Paul and Rachel Maddow Heats Up http://t.co/x9TLjvWKCr via @TIMEPolitics

— theshex (@theshex) November 10, 2013

Should Rachel Maddow and Rand Paul simply agree to disagree? Absolutely not! She needs to lean on him hard–as do other talk show hosts and reporters–until the truth is fully revealed.

In defense of Rand Paul, however, his office has admitted that some material in some of his speeches wasn’t properly vetted. They are pledging to use a new process in his speechwriting from this point on.

In addition, Paul and his staff call Rachel Maddow’s accusations politically motivated. She has also been dubbed the footnote police.

Photo via Wikimedia