- This once again proves my point about conservatism being unable to exist outside of its self-created echo chamber. At the top level you’ve got George Bush talking about a “heck of job” as Louisiana and Mississippi drown, and at a lower level you’ve got a political hack who worked his way up the conservative food chain until the browbeaten mainstream media made a kneejerk hire, only to have his plagiarism blow up in their faces.
- The Redstaters again issue a call to arms for the defense of Domenech – he asks Glenn Reynolds (who announced Domenech’s hiring), Rush Limbaugh, Hugh Hewitt (on launch day he said “Domenech is a superb writer/reporter and very well wired on all things conservative. He’s also coming to his job from Regnery, where he has just finished editing my new book.” Uh oh, wonder if any of Hugh’s book got the unique Domenech treatment?) and Michelle Malkin (who wrote three entries delighting in how “unhinged” her pal would make liberals) where are they? I ask the same question: why are we only hearing crickets?
- About that so-called liberal media. Supposedly the pipeline goes right from Howard Dean’s desk and out to those legions of reporters, so why the silence so far? Salon’s the only established media outlet I’ve seen reporting on this, in addition to numerous blogs, Wonkette, and Media Matters (where I work).
- Whither the Washington Post? Deborah Howell is now reduced to saying that the Post is separate from their website, though she made no such distinction when she upbraided online columnist Dan Froomkin for alleged liberalism. Funny how that works.
- The Post must not simply “disappear” the Red America blog (if they even decide to let him go, I don’t expect much from the media nowadays and wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some sort of plagiarism/bigotry out clause for conservative writers – maybe Fox will hire him), but explain why their vetting process seems to have ruled out the simple use of Google, and why their paper chose to hire a Republican activist with no counter or credibility. Deborah Howell, James Brady, Len Downie deserve to answer for their decisions.
- Washington Post ethical guidelines: “Attribution of material from other newspapers and other media must be total. Plagiarism is one of journalism s unforgivable sins. It is the policy of this newspaper to give credit to other publications that develop exclusive stories worthy of coverage by The Post. ”
- The only conservative I’ve seen so far who’s written how it might be a problem that the Washington Post’s conservative blogger is a plagiarist and probable racist is Don Surber. I thought you guys were the vanguard of the new journalism, roasting your ‘Smores on the carcass of the dreaded “MSM”?
- One of the defenses of Domenech’s plagiarism is that he was young. First off he was anywhere between 16-20, quite old enough to know plagiarism is bad. Secondly, I’ve known that you aren’t supposed to copy since I was in kindergarten. Now, I know I only went to lowly public school and didn’t have a right-wing home schooled education, but still.
>> Comprehensive (to date) Domenech plagiarism
>> What the Washington Post is Teaching Your Children About ‘Plagiarism’
>> Domenech, Washington Post fiasco reminiscent of MSNBC flap
Janet Cooke, Jayson Blair, Stephen Glass… meet Ben Domenech and the rest of the modern conservative movement.
UPDATE: Howard Kurtz has a column on Domenech, but never asked the Post higher-ups about the plagiarism. Domenech’s defense is hilarious:
Domenech said he needed to research the examples but that he never used material without attribution and had complained about a college editor improperly adding language to some of his articles.
Those crazzzy editors! Adding entire paragraphs in multiple publications to poor Ben’s writing. (via skippy)
Related
The Right’s Fakeroots
Lets Play That Game, Then
Haterade
Machiavelli is the 2nd poster @ Redstate to plead for someone else to
toss the lifesaver to Domenech. He (or she?) says the current crisis
amongst many for the right wing, is actually a milestone for the end
of the Lefty Bloggers rather than the right. I emailed Reynolds to add
my voice to the tiny chorus of Domdefenders asking him to take a
stand for one of his own. I don’t expect a response from InstafearofGlennGreenwald.
Obsess much?
So Oliver is a left wing blogger, living in one of the most liberal states in the Union, working in a liberal dominated industry (publishing), employed by a liberal foundation created by a liberal bazillionaire for the purpose of promoting liberal ideas — but he says that conservative pundits live in an echo chamber.
My my.
NY ain’t the center by which all things are judged, y’know.
I wasn’t sure what I ws looking at, when I followed the links. This plagiarism happened a long time ago. I really don’t see what it has to do with his blogging today.
You’re not trying to get him fired, are you? (Hehe)
What happened to getting a libera; blogger?
JWG, give Ollie and company a break. Victories for them are few and far between so if they can get the WaPo to dismiss Domenech, they’ll take it. I find it rather amusing to be honest. The way lefty bloggers are reacting this, one would think it was the literary crime of the century. Puzzling though, is Oliver’s comparison of Domenech to Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair. In case you’ve forgotten Oliver, Glass and Blair fabricated entire stories.
I would think a more apt comparison would be to….Molly Ivins. A favorite columnist of the left and a busted plagiarist. In what is becoming common with Oliver, he takes an example of a conservative doing something wrong but then falls on his sword when he attempts to take this huge blanket and apply it to all conservatives.
Did Domenech plagiarize those reviews. It appears so. Fine. Stick to that. Once you start in with the comparisons to Hurricane Katrina, Stephen Glass and attempting to make it appear as though plagiarism is somehow limited to conservative writers, you move into overkill mode and then the whole thing comes off as a parody of itself.
I just think its ironic that the same folks who defend “swift-boating” of Murtha and Kerry are the ones yelling at OW for exposing this hack… Shoe on da other foot, ain’t it boys?
Jay, I don’t see Oliver saying anywhere that plagiarism is a conservative-only problem. He’s criticizing the reaction among conservatives to revelations of Domenech’s plagiarism: denial, diversion, obfuscation, hypocrisy.
It’s not that the average conservative is a plagiarist, it’s that the average conservative is a hypocrite who has no values or ethical principles aside from “help your friends and harm your enemies.”
I’m all for exposing him. I’m even for humiliating him. OW has gone from attacking Domenech to attacking all other conservatives.
Um…it was revealed yesterday. Not everyone blogs at midnight like OW.
Wow. Domenech is of the same stature as Murtha and Kerry? I don’t know if that is a compliment to Domenech or an insult to Murtha/Kerry. More likely it is just ridiculous to make the comparison.
I’m just fed up with these conservative plagiarists. I gonna go get me a good history book by a liberal historian, like Doris Kearns Goodwin and do some quiet reading.
Dugger
“attempting to make it appear as though plagiarism is somehow limited to conservative writers”
Where does Oliver actually do this?
“This plagiarism happened a long time ago. I really don t see what it has to do with his blogging today.”
Oh yippie! I assume this means that the right will now stop all its righteous indigination over the importance of character and integrity.
Redstate is really circling the neocon wagons with this tidbit sent to
Steve Guilliard using the typical kneejerk reflexive defense mechanism
of the Cons; “Your bigotry is bigger than our bigotry—Nyah, Nyah”
Courtesy firedoglake:
” An “out and out racist.”
Gilliard, your ignorance has always been surpassed only by your
hysteria. It’s pearls before swine, but this might be mildly instructive:”
http://www.bendomenech.com/blog/…ves/ 001082.html
Josh Trevino
Who is Domenech? Never heard of the person and I read quite a few blogs a day. Seems like a non-story to me.
Only a matter of time before the meme becomes “Domenech is a nobody”, contrary to their hyping of the story as significant, and their comparisions of him to major Dem and liberal figures. That will all soon become, “who cares about him anyway”.
On a sidenote, could somebody point me to instances of liberal mass media using “The Conservatives will Hate It!” as marketing tools?
There’s a billboard here in Chicago for AM talk radio station WIND that features only the call letters and the giant phrase “LIBERALS HATE IT!”
Between that and Malkin and numerous other times, I have to wonder, are conservatives more interested in doing the correct thing or in just being contrary?
But as such, I ask for similar examples from the liberal side. Because I think it’s silly all around, but I don’t see it happening as often on the left.
So please prove me wrong, if I am.
It’s a good story within the blogosphere, but it won’t matter to most people. It’s embarrassing since Domenech has been an editor for Malkin and Hewitt, and many on the right were excited about the WaPo job.
Michelle provided an eloquent repudiation of Box Turtle Ben. I was impressed.
Until I remembered that she has some plagiarism problems herself.
And then there is that little matter about her husband writing blog posts under her name.
I guess she would be considered an expert on passing someone elses work off as their own, and the danger of being exposed, couldn’t she?
factcheck is right, Domenech’s repeated and pathetically petty plagiarism is worth criticising, but not really that interesting or important. What’s both interesting and important is the howls of indignation from the right that anyone would dare look into Domenech’s backgbround and his past writings.
The bitchy scolds at redstate are screaming bloody murder about “character assassination” and poisoning the political atmosphere. As if they don’t have a great honking beam in their own eye on that score.
As if the right hasn’t been ratfucking, roving, push-polling and swiftboating for eons, as if Limbaugh and the legion of Limbaugh wannabees haven’t been character assassinating every public figure to the right of Jesse Helms for decades.
Domenech needs to fess up and apologize sincerely if he ever wants to be taken seriously as a professional writer again. The entire right-wing universe needs to do a lot of apologizing and laying down of arms if they want people to take their calls for civility seriously.
“why is Domenech s plagiarism important in the grand scheme of things?”
Because it shows how easily the MSM will bend over for Republican operatives. It shows how deeply the Repub Noise Machine has infiltrated the MSM. That’s been the whole point of the controversy. Everyone on the right supported this and cited it as a great coup. The only shame in this is that the left jumped too quickly on this in their glee. We should have let the cons dig themselves deeper before exposing him as a fraud hack.
Most of the right-wing blogs are covering the trial and possible execution of Abdul Rahman in Afghanistan. He is charged with the horrible crime of professing faith in Jesus Christ. This is quickly turning into an international incident, with government leaders from Canada, Australia, and Europe all calling for Rahman’s acquittal and release. Our own State Department is also getting involved.
And if no one has noticed, yesterday our military forces rescued three Christian Peacemaker Teams hostages who were held by terrorists in Iraq.
Both of these stories, especially the tense situation in Afghanistan, carry far more weight than a blogger busted for plagiarism.
At any rate, how is the Domenech case worse than the massive fraud and financial abuse that was exposed at Air America last year? Those people defrauded a charity for Alzheimer’s victims, for crying out loud.
But one positive thing about the Domenech story is that it shows how hard the left blogosphere can work when they are trying to dig up facts. Maybe the New York Times can put those bloggers to work, as they seem to have a problem with getting their stories right.
It really isn’t that important. Box Turtle Ben is a loathsome, arrogant cretin. I like to see bad people brought to justice.
I just find it interesting and sad when the people that promised to bring dignity to the White House get caught in these predicaments, like Claude Allen, Scooter Libby, and Box Turtle Ben.
With the Washington Post gig all but over, Box Turtle Ben will have more free time. Can I suggest to young Ben a way to fill his time?
http://www.goarmy.com
randy just proved mjb right. You guys are as predictable as the sunrise.
mjb and factcheck, why is Domenech’s plagiarism important in the grand scheme of things? It’s probably career damaging to him and embarrassing to those who supported him. Beyond that, it affects nothing.
Because the scandal is so new. Malkin has now posted about it and called for Domenech to resign.
Now Redstate is saying that the guy got permission to copy! They really don’t see honesty as an objective good.
http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/002481.html#more
“And now those opposed to Ben have googled prior writings that on the surface appear suspicious, but only because permissions obtained and judgments made offline were not reflected online by an out dated and out of business campus newspaper.”
Going to try to split the post up.
I m sure Box Turtle Ben will find a home somewhere else in the conservative movement. They revel in taking care of their own, no matter how egregious the sin. I m thoroughly convinced that there isn t a thing any of these movement buffoons could do to raise the ire of their average supporter.
Curmudgeon,
Don’t do what they do.
MJB
Damn it: “Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.”
What causes this? It’s so intermittent?
B-bye BTB!!!!
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/washpostblog/2006/03/ben_domenech_resigns.html
Well. what can we learn from this little episode?
The Washington Post, like many other outlets for opinion and analysis, is willing to sacrifice their own values on the altar of “balance.” In this instance, the Post was so eager to appease conservatives who complained about Froomkin’s alleged sins that they ran off and hired a callow, unprincipled writer just because he had achieved some notoriety on right-wing blogs.
Never mind that Domenech doesn’t really have anything to offer the Post or its readers. Never mind that he’s a wet-behind-the-ears college dropout. Never mind that he has no actual experience in news, government, or public policy.
The Post and too many papers like it are willing to hand over the keys to the press room to anyone who shouts loud enough. What matters is that hiring him will quiet the paper’s critics, for now anyway.
I’m sure Box Turtle Ben will find a home somewhere else in the conservative movement. They revel in taking care of their own, no matter how egregious the sin. I’m thoroughly convinced that there isn’t a thing any of these movement buffoons could do to raise the ire of their average supporter.
See:
Jeff “the Cannon” Gannon – Gay male prostitute, WH plant. Still finding work in the Conservative movement.
Manuel Miranda – Under investigation, new hire at WSJ.
G. Gordon Liddy – Criminal, still working. Lovingly called the G-Man by Conservative fans.
Joe Scarbourough – Dead female assistant in his office. Little media coverage. Works for MSNBC.
Bill O’Reilly – Loves to intravenously inebriate women, stick “falafels” into a their vaginas, while using anal dildos on himself. #1 hit show on FOX, best-selling Conservative author!
Pat Buchanan – Felt deep throat was the criminal / Republican Presidential candidate.
Rush Limbaugh – Drug-addled hypocrite. Hit conservative radio-show.
Ann Coulter – Called for murder of SCOTUS judge. Still working.
Michael Savage – Claims to have coined the term “Compassionate Conservative. Condemned caller to death on his radio show. Still best selling Conservative author.
Pat Robertson – Too long a list. Still allowed to speak in public. Why?
Feel free to add to the list, I’ve got to go shower now. Ick!
What really telling about this is that it turns out that Ben Domenech is a serial plagiarist, for no other reason than because as a writer he is either lazy, lacking in talent or both. Yet, he is qualified enough to have worked as an editor for a major wingnut publishing house.
Therefore, according to some, this is evidence that publishing is a “liberal” profession. At the rate we’re going, demonstrated competence at any field of endeavor will soon be classified as evidence of liberal bias. Right now, as it stands, according to that peculiar slice of conservatives who constitute the “hard 30″ percentile (aka Bushbots):
Science is liberal
Publishing is liberal
The arts are liberal
The legal profession? Liberal
Judges? Liberal too
Teachers are liberal
People who own lots of books? Definitely liberal
Know your logistics (e.g. Shinseki)? Liberal
Speak more than one language? French
See:
Jeff the Cannon Gannon – Gay male prostitute, WH plant. Still finding work in the Conservative movement.
Manuel Miranda – Under investigation, new hire at WSJ.
G. Gordon Liddy – Criminal, still working. Lovingly called the G-Man by Conservative fans.
Joe Scarbourough – Dead female assistant in his office. Little media coverage. Works for MSNBC.
Bill O Reilly – Loves to intravenously inebriate women, stick falafels into a their vaginas, while using anal dildos on himself. #1 hit show on FOX, best-selling Conservative author!
To them facts are liberal. That pretty much sums it up.
Scarborough probably had nothing to do with his assistant’s death. It’s a serious implication, but the reason it was not covered was because there was no story there. It’s no better than Rush implying that Hillary or Bill killed Vince Foster.
Sorry for the vagueness. Good post otherwise.
Too cryptic for me.
Other Conservative Criminals in media:
Oliver North – admitted felon
Mike Barnacle – plagiarized George Carlin (oops), fired by Boston Herald, hired by other Boston paper, frequent Don Imus guest.
The greatest irony is not that the conservatives defend their plagiarist and criminals, the greatest irony is that the repubs killed the fairness doctrine, used their $$ to monopolize media outlets, and still complain when finding one of the few outlets that does not parrot their every view.
Sadly, they can’t buy all opinions or facts, much as they try.
Bens resigns:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/washpostblog/2006/03/ben_domenech_resigns.html
Most of the right-wing blogs are covering the trial and possible execution of Abdul Rahman in Afghanistan. He is charged with the horrible crime of professing faith in Jesus Christ. This is quickly turning into an international incident, with government leaders from Canada, Australia, and Europe all calling for Rahman s acquittal and release. Our own State Department is also getting involved.
You know, if the left-wing blogs covered it more prominently (and I agree, they should), it would likely be construed on the right as political opportunism.
Since it underlines, you know, that we never finished the job in Afghanistan before setting our sights on Iraq. If the first Bush attempt at nation-building has led right back into Islamic extremism, how much confidence does that inspire in our ability to reform Iraq?
Washington Post Steps In It ~ Domenech Resigns
A few days ago I wrote, “This is probably the dumbest thing the Washington Post Online could have done from a long-term business perspective. First the whole Red State/Blue State meme is on the way out. Second, giving voice to one of the founders of r…
Oliver: I’m glad you’re letting the wingnut conservatives post here. The thing they think about themselves is that they are smarter than other people, and here they get a chance to show how deep down dumb they really are.
The funniest thing about the whole scandal was Domenech’s ridiculous claim that en editor added words or even grafs to his articles. I spent ten years doing print reviewing for the Detroit Free Press 9where I had a monthly column as well), Jerusalem Report, the Washington Post, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. Let me tell you, editors do not have time to add copy to your work. They are consumed by one thing: space. They’ll cut, or make some word choice suggestion that may go as far as a line, or suggest changing a lede, but ADD? I’ve only had that happen once, and it was one sentence to close a review. Journalists of all kinds must have been laughing hysterically at his defense, which we now know was bunk. So Domenech not only was a serial plagiarist, he lied about it when caught, lied about it stupidly, unless he thought nobody would notice or care. Everything about him expressed the domnanty emotion of the Republican movement at this time: contempt. Hattie’s got it right.