Ben Domenech Has Resigned – And It’s the Right Move
I was getting antsy about posting on this, but I held off, because I frankly had a feeling events would overtake my post – and for once, my instincts were right.
More in a few minutes…
UPDATE 1:08 p.m.: As I said, I wanted to address the controversy, but I was waiting to see if Domenech would post today about the allegations. I was quite vocal in welcoming the concept of Red America to the Washington Post, and that hasn’t changed. Unfortunately, Domenech was a poor standard-bearer. The left, of course, were having a field day with the plagiarism allegations, and to their credit, they were right.
Let’s have none of this half-hearted grudging acknowledgment – we were right with RatherGate, and they were right here. Furthermore, they did us a service, believe it or not, by finding these examples of ‘idea theft’ and bringing them to light. We don’t want the conservative viewpoint, in such a high-profile outlet, to be represented by a plagiarist.
To their credit, some on the right had begun the call for Domenech’s resignation; I’m thinking in particular of Michelle Malkin, Rick Moran, and Dan Riehl.
I’m glad Ben did the right thing – I’m sorry for the embarrassment this must cause him, but actions have consequences. Plagiarism is a very, very serious matter for a writer. It was the only decision that could be taken under the circumstances. This need not be embarrassing for other conservatives – as I said, the idea of reaching out to the right by the WaPo was a good one. It will turn into an embarrassment, however, if we pretend this is anything other than what it is. It’s not a leftwing conspiracy – it’s a problem Domenech brought on himself.
Maybe they can give the job to Joe Biden –
Ben Domenech Has Resigned
When the dust settles, I wonder if the left will be just as interested in cleaning the plagiarists out of its ranks. I assume the left won’t gloat until Biden is gone.
It’s not a leftwing conspiracy – it’s a problem Domenech brought on himself.
Let’s be clear, though: the only reason the left was interested in this, the only reason for the Kos Kidz sudden sanctimonious fealty to journalistic integrity, is because it was a convenient angle upon which to attack a political foe. In point of fact the left was hurling absolutely contemptible calumnies at Domenech for days before the plagiarism allegations ever came to light.
It’s not to excuse Domenech’s sins to regard the lefty blogswarm as nothing more than a collection of loathesome opportunists who, in their foaming-at-the-mouth zeal to discredit a political opponent, merely demonstrated that even a broken clock is right twice a day.
#1, that what I was thinking. AND #3, yep it was a sop to the right is all they carred about, but what it really is, is FASCIST
topsecretk9 : You’re incoherent.
Brett, you’re quite right that the initial reaction was completely partisan and unfounded – however, I give the left props for the detective work on the plagiarism – when I first started reading the examples they accumulated last night, I can tell you that I had the urge to post right away – but I wanted to wait and see what happened today first. It was clear, though, that there was a big problem here…
jsh26
You are right.
Here:
Joe Biden has not been hurt. Domenech did the right thing (by resigning) and he made mistakes for which he needs to answer, but the left did not engage this attack because they sensed he was a plagiarizer, they were angry the WAPO had the audacity to host a conservative blogger and they set out to censor it and that is fascist.
Better?
“It’s not to excuse Domenech’s sins to regard the lefty blogswarm as nothing more than a collection of loathesome opportunists who, in their foaming-at-the-mouth zeal to discredit a political opponent, merely demonstrated that even a broken clock is right twice a day.”
Soooo… is your insinuation that nothing like, well, exactly this, exists on the right? I mean, over at Redstate, they had a post that managed to attack some posters and commenters that had said nasty things about Ben personally as “indecent” but in the same few paragraphs called them all Nazis, Stalinists, and facists. I mean, that’s really a pretty bizarre sort of logical disconnect.
Ben was never a careful, measured writer. He called his enemies names, attacked them and their character constantly. So the idea that people being nasty to him is somehow undignified is remarkable in its partisan blindness. If you dislike indecency and personal attacks, then there are plenty of people on the right and the left whom you should not much like. And guess what? Ben was one of them, right in the gaggle with the rest of the name callers and personal attackers.
Fatherless Boys, Rathergate, and Davids
I’m out the door and will be on the Treo for most of the day. While I’m gone, turn your attention to these book reviews:
Review of An Army of Davids in the context of “Rathergate” at the CBS PublicEye blog.
Review of Rais…
I’m a bit puzzled why this should bother anyone on the right at all. What the guy did was wrong and I’m glad he’s gone. But it doesn’t have anything to do with his politics (unless, as the Kossacks like to fantasize, it’s just a symptom of the character flaws that must naturally flow from daring to disagree with them).
And if the score is Conservative blogs: caused the early retirement of a network news anchor who used a forged document to defame the president; and Liberal blogs: revealed a reporter for an obscure conservative outfit asks softball questions and short-circuited a partisan blog authored by a guy who still gets carded at bars, I think the left still needs to find a few more scalps.
Dennis, I agree up to a point – my only fear is that it will make the WaPo and other outlets gunshy about these sorts of efforts in the future…
“Let’s be clear, though: the only reason the left was interested in this, the only reason for the Kos Kidz sudden sanctimonious fealty to journalistic integrity, is because it was a convenient angle upon which to attack a political foe. In point of fact the left was hurling absolutely contemptible calumnies at Domenech for days before the plagiarism allegations ever came to light.”
You are not seiously suggesting that since it was the left that was correct in it’s allegations, it somehow justifies Ben’s plagiarism? Not to mention the fact that, had the boot been on the other foot, you would have been equally sancitmonous.
Sorry OT but thought you might like to know.
New Judge appointed to FISA court to replace Judge Robertson:
via C-Span:
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/14179120.htm
Appointed by our new Chief Justice John Roberts.
Carol
left that was correct in it’s allegations, it somehow justifies Ben’s plagiarism?
No. We’re just not dumb enough to accept the left’s intentions were to save the WAPO from Ben vs. censor a conservative voice.
Mark: If WaPo (and other outlets) are going to be gunshy about anything then it should be their failure to properly vett this guy. And the leftie bloggers motivation for investigating this guy are irrelevant to the veracity of their claims – especially that we now know the allegations have proved true.
The Pachyderm Has Left the Big Top
This was a quick and unfortunate end to WaPo’s laudable experiment in in-house conservative blogging.
topsecretk9
I am not saying that the was the left’s intention. However irrespective of who made the charge, it still stands. And most importantly it is a serious one which undermines the credibility of the author and the viewpoint he was trying to put across. In fact conservatives should not be too bothered too see him go. The real test is of WP’s commitment to a balanced viewpoint by getting a non-plagiarising replacement pronto.
Ben has posted a response to all of this and answered some accusations at Red State.
Keith – I saw it and linked to it in my newest post…but thanks for the heads up…
Mark, I think the only reason the WaPo signed up a conservative blogger in the first place was to prop up sagging circulation by drawing attention to themselves as a ‘balanced” news outlet. If that’s so, they’ll be back with another conservative blogger (it’s too much to hope that it would be PJ O’Rourke), hopefully after a better background check.
AFA the left’s manic glee over the downing of Domenech, I admit that Dan “Fake but Accurate” Rather’s forced retirement is like a precious gem that I take out and fondle from time to time – truly a high point of the last election cycle.
You are not seiously suggesting that since it was the left that was correct in it’s allegations, it somehow justifies Ben’s plagiarism? Not to mention the fact that, had the boot been on the other foot, you would have been equally sancitmonous.
No, Rik. I’m not seriously suggesting that. What I’m seriously suggesting is that I didn’t just fall off the back of the turnip truck, and that I’m thus not dumb enough to believe that the left attacked Domenech out of pure, lily-white, and high-minded concern for journalistic ethics and the reputation of the Washington Post; since:
(a) The left’s vitriolic attacks on Domenech preceded the plagiarism allegations by a few days; and
(b) The left’s fealty to the principle of honest sourcing hasn’t led, in the past, to widespread condemnation of fellow-travellers such as Lawrence Tribe and Joe Biden. For God’s sake, some of you are still defending Dan Rather.
This was about scalp-hunting, pure and simple. That you happened to find a good sharp knife doesn’t make your motives any less cretinous.
Does it really matter why the left caught Ben’s plagarism – No! Of course they had an agenda, but it doesn’t really matter. In their vitriol, they discovered blatant plagarism – a disservice to all professional writers.
My suggestion is the Washington Post hire another conservative writer that holds to the high standards of the profession and who maintains integrity, someone like Michelle Malkin or of that caliber comes to mind.
Mark
What about the right’s attacks on Dan Rather and Memogate? Sure, they proved to be right, but they hated the story from the get-go, before they had any reason to actively claim its falsity. It’s the same exact situation, except this one matters less.
Ri
In fact conservatives should not be too bothered too see him go.
I think you read my post above yours, you’ll see I said Domenech did the right thing (by resigning) and he made mistakes for which he needs to answer.
Too Many
And the leftie bloggers motivation for investigating this guy are irrelevant to the veracity of their claims
Then leave his schooling, his parents and pure speculation about his sexual preferences and other various unsavory innuendo out of it and you’ll get a gold star next time. You don’t have to tear the flesh of a person in order to get your way.
Fargus
It’s the same exact situation, except this one matters less.
No it’s not. It started when someone actually looked at the docs, Rather used toaccuse someone of something. Ben plagiarized and Ben resigned.
…”someone like Michelle Malkin or of that caliber comes to mind.”
It will never happen – Malkin’s too smart and doesn’t take any crap from anyone, no matter how vile. Past postings at her site are some of the most hateful and personal things that you can imagine. Witty repostes such as “you’re an Asian whore and you like to —- Bush all the time,” are per usual over there.
Granted, some of this stuff also goes on at conservative blogs as well, but Malkin is a true professional, and one can only imagine the type of comments her appointment would generate from the trolls. I believe that’s one of the reasons why Reynolds doesn’t have a comments section on his blog: too many frothers – at – the – mouth.
There was an insane deluge of hatred from the left at Ben Domenech when he was hired at WP, I was laughing my ass off. But they actually found real evidence of plagerism so that’s that.
If so Domenech’s so stupid as to cut and past other people’s work he’s got to take the consequences. Annoying as it is to give the moonbats a win, what’s right is right and he has to step down.
This demonstrates the simple principle that the leftist jackasses only win when conservitives defeat themselves, they cant beat us otherwise.
“Soooo… is your insinuation that nothing like, well, exactly this, exists on the right?”
Exactly. Two wrongs make a right. Let us know when you move beyond second-grade ethics.
This seems like as good a time as any to reflect on the possibility that so much discourse on the internet is so vapid precisely because we spend so much time tearing down the other guy that we haven’t bothered to know ourselves.
Fargus, had Dan Rather been subjected to an unremitting river of bile from the right-wing “netroots” for two straight days prior to anyone discovering any substantive problems with the TANG memos, then you might have a point.
But he wasn’t.
So you don’t.
On the Ben Domenech resignation
The blogosphere and the MSM were and are abuzz over the scandal involving RedState blog co-founder Ben Domenech, the conservative blogger the Washington Post chose to write for it’s conservative “Red America” blog.
As I noted in thi…
Actually, I do, considering that Rather had been subjected to an unremitting river of bile from pretty much the entire united right for years and years. Were they right in the case that ultimately proved his undoing? Yup. Did they hate him for who he was long before that? Of course. You belittle yourself to pretend otherwise.
The WaPO did the right thing, if a little late. Too bad newspapers are held to higher standards of credibility than our political leaders. Iraq, Medicare “reform,” Abramhoff, and Katrina come immediately to mind, but the list of possible items is very long. Forget the labels, forget the political rhetoric, it’s the poor leadership (in both major parties) and stench of incompetence and corruption pervading government today that really matter.
Washington Post’s Resigned Conservative Blogger Calls His Former Bosses “Fools” (UPDATED)
The Washington Post’s former conservative blogger Ben Domenech who resigned yesterday amid allegations that he plagiarized past work has ripped into his former editors, calling them “fools”.
His fiery retort comes in a story on the …
Pu**y hypocritical leftists run an opposing voice out of their midst over “allegations.” Guilty until proven innocent. Nothing more, nothing less.
Yes, viktor, even though Ben admitted the plagiarism himself…
Enough with the conspiracy theories, please…
What they said.
* * * * * Anything I add would sound like…well, plagiarism. The guy lied, got caught, lied again to cover it up, got caught again, then begrudgingly owned up to it. And people lined up to forgive him completely, without expressing any degree of disap…