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White House Commits Plagiarism, Avoids Academic Probation

In a recent speech, President Bush stated that Fidel Castro supports prostitution, citing a quote by the Cuban leader:

“The dictator welcomes sex tourism. Here’s how he bragged about the industry. This is his quote: ‘Cuba has the cleanest and most educated prostitutes in the world.'”

It would be quite a revealing admission coming from Castro, except that the quote was taken out of context and lifted out of a Dartmouth undergraduate’s paper. Furthermore, the quote’s source in the student’s paper wasn’t even footnoted.

Speaking in 1992 to the Cuban parliament, Castro actually said, There are prostitutes, but prostitution is not allowed in our country. There are no women forced to sell themselves to a man, to a foreigner, to a tourist. Those who do so do it on their own, voluntarily. We can say that they are highly educated hookers and quite healthy, because we are the country with the lowest number of AIDS cases.”

Castro retorted on Monday and charged that Bush, due to his history with alcoholism, could be having a difficult time distinguishing between relevant and inconsequential information.

Here’s an interesting interview with the student, now a law student at Vanderbilt University. (LA Times registration required, or go to BugMeNot.com to avoid registration).

  1. Sho says:

    Nice links Olly. One wonders if Castro will get around to quoting an alum from the OC someday.

  2. Olly says:

    Actually, here’s Slate’s Tim Noah, also cited by the old bastard.

  3. Olly says:

    Nice catch, Sho.

    Turnabout is fair play, of course: Castro’s allegations, and the Joseph Frank book that inspired them, are completely fucking ludicrous. (Hitchens has an enjoyable piece in the latest Vanity Fair demolishing them.)

    And how, pray tell, did Cuba end up with such low incidence of AIDS? Funny you should ask.In the mid-1980s, when little was known about the virus, Cuba compulsorily tested thousands of its citizens for HIV. Those who tested positive were taken to Los Cocos [Sanitorium]. They were not allowed to leave.

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