Rand Paul really, really doesn't want you to think he's a plagiarist. (Well, not anymore, anyway.) After being accused of lifting content from uncredited sources on multiple occasions, the Kentucky senator included no fewer than 33 footnotes in the speech he gave at the Citadel today.

You may remember that two weeks ago it was discovered that Paul apparently lifted whole sections of another speech from Wikipedia's article on the 90s sci-fi classic Gattaca, but it got worse from there. Then Buzzfeed discovered that over three pages of his book were plagiarized as well. And to top it all off, he's been fired from the Washington Times for, you guessed it, column plagiarism. But he's not going to just take that criticism and—oh, wait. That's exactly what he's doing.

The possibly excessive, definitely passive-aggressive inclusion of nearly three dozen footnotes in his brief speech today definitely clarifies where he got his information. But in citing everything from Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address to the vote tally on a bill he himself sponsored, Paul also comes off as a bit of a petulant brat.

At least he did his homework.

[image via AP]