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Saturday, March 25, 2006

The Grey Lady loves the smell of schädenfreude in the morning
Posted by Jill | 6:09 AM

The sordid saga of Ben Domenech hits the New York Times (a paper that has dealt with its own scandals of late), and now there's additional news: It seems that Not-So-Gentle Ben is just unable to tell the truth. He hasn't learned that it doesn't matter if you can spin faster than a centrifuge; if people are actually looking for the truth, it won't work:

But by late Thursday, the bloggers had found instances of what appeared to be plagiarism, including an article by Mr. Domenech in The New York Press that contained passages resembling an article that ran on the front page of The Washington Post.

Evidence of one instance of plagiarism first surfaced on the liberal blog Daily Kos on Thursday. A comment posted on the blog said a passage from an article by Mr. Domenech was nearly identical to a chapter from P. J. O'Rourke's book, "Modern Manners: An Etiquette Book for Rude People."

Other articles that contained passages that appeared to be copied were published in National Review Online, The New York Press and The Flat Hat, the student newspaper at the College of William and Mary, which Mr. Domenech attended.

Jim Brady, the executive editor of The Washington Post Web site, said that he knew that Mr. Domenech would be controversial but that a background check before he was hired did not reveal plagiarism.

"We've been catching a lot of grief on the blogs for not catching this ourselves, but obviously plagiarism is hard to spot," Mr. Brady said. He said The Post planned to hire another conservative blogger in Mr. Domenech's place.

In an interview, Mr. Domenech said he never "purposefully" plagiarized but admitted that some passages in his articles were identical to those previously published elsewhere.

He said one instance was the fault of an editor at the student newspaper, who he said inserted a passage from The New Yorker in an article without his knowledge. In a staff editorial posted on the Web site of The Flat Hat, the student newspaper, the editors called Mr. Domenech's actions, if true, deeply offensive.

Mr. Domenech also said that he may have mixed up his notes with articles from other authors.

"Frankly, if I had been less of a sloppy writer," he said, "this wouldn't be a problem."

He explained the passage that appeared to be copied from Mr. O'Rourke's book by saying that Mr. O'Rourke gave him permission.

Contacted at his home in New Hampshire, Mr. O'Rourke said that he had never heard of Mr. Domenech and did not recall meeting him.

"I wouldn't want to swear in a court of law that I never met the guy, Mr. O'Rourke said of Mr. Domenech, "but I didn't give him permission to use my words under his byline, no."


Meanwhile, Domenech's employer has decided that ideology trumps honesty and integrity at all times. He's still employed at Regnery Press, which is hardly surprising, given that particular house's rather lax standards about the truth. The rest of wingnuttia has a mixed response. This may be the only time I'll give props to Michelle Malkin for anything, but yesterday she found the evidence compelling and advocated Domenech's resignation.

Other reactions:

Glenn Reynolds, who writes the blog Instapundit, said the bloggers were "motivated by a desire to get" Mr. Domenech.

"They didn't like him because he was a conservative and he was given real estate at The Washington Post," he said. "Their goal was to find something they could use to get rid of him, and they succeeded."

Mr. Domenech addressed his detractors yesterday in a blog post on RedState.com, where he will remain a contributor. "To my enemies: I take enormous solace in the fact that you spent this week bashing me, instead of America," he wrote.


Delusions of grandeur much, Ben? Perhaps a shade of Narcissistic Personality Disorder? I hate to tell little Ben this, but the whole mess played out over three days, not the entire week, and those who were on the case from the beginning had plenty of time left over for the many horrors of the Bush Administration.

John Aravosis and his compatriots at Americablog, for instance, has noted Barbara Bush earmarking her much-ballyhooed tax-deductible contribution for Katrina relief specifically for a company owned by her son, Neil the Thai Hooker Fucker; Bush's "We don't need no es-teenking badges" signing statement over the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act; and Senate races that are problematic for Republicans.

Pam's House Blend has reported on the outcry over Wal-Mart stocking the Brokeback Mountain DVD; the lovely blue color covering more and more of the map of the U.S.; and Mitt Romney's metaphorical act of fellatio performed on the Christofascist Zombie Brigade. ShakesSis reports on Madeline Albright's smackdown of Bush's foreign policy.

So I hate to puncture little Ben's balloon any further, but he is just a small cog in the vast wingnut machine; and today he's an even more insignificant one; another sexually-repressed little tightassed prig in a cheap suit trying to take the fast track to the top by sucking up to the powerful. Every generation has these guys. Little Ben, contrary to his puffed-up view of himself, is nothing special.
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