I don’t really want to pile-on this Ben Domenech guy, but when you come clean, you should really come clean.
Media Matters has already debunked part of his self-defense.
Domenech wrote:
In one instance, I have been accused me of passing off P.J. O’Rourke’s writing as my own in a column for the paper. But the truth is that I had met P.J. at a Republican event and asked his permission to do a college-specific version of his classic piece on partying. He granted permission, the piece was cleared with my editors at the paper, and it ran as inspired by O’Rourke’s original.
But Media Matters says:
Media Matters has obtained a pdf copy of the column in question as it appeared in the print version of the College of William & Mary student newspaper The Flat Hat. The column contains no indication that it “ran as inspired by O’Rourke’s original.” There is, in fact, no mention of O’Rourke at all.
I actually feel sorry for the guy. Can you believe it?
The story is the sad state of affairs that leads the Washington Post to hire such a reprehensible partisan hack as a columnist/blogger.
There are thousands of little shits like Domentech out there who parley a lack of ethics and the willingness to say anything into a so-called career in conservative punditry (or talk radio, etc.). That the Washington Post felt the need to tarnish their reputation by associating themselves with such an amoral twit says vastly more about the state of our nation than anything else I know. Consider this: a racist, bigotted, barely out of diapers conservative hit boy was handed a job at WaPo on a silver platter and he’d still be there if his “writing” career wasn’t based on numerous thefts of the intellectual property of others.
Regardless of his plaigarism, this was one sorry decision by what used to be a reputable organization. The Times had it’s Judy Miller, and now WaPo has Howell and Domentech.
And these are our so-called elite liberal media standardbearers?
As I wrote the Post yesterday,
If the goal was to eventually add a “Blue State” blogger for balance, that just makes it even worse. And why would a newspaper be fostering and catering to the divisions in our society at a time when we should all be reaching out to Republicans and consoling them on how their party has been stolen from them by TWPE (pronounced “twipee” – “The Worst President Ever”).
Can you believe it?
Well, yes.
Another bubble boy.
I actually feel sorry for the guy.
Don’t.
Can you believe it?
Yes.
They think that they can get away with any slippery, slimy racist thing that they can in this poisonous atmosphere of hate.
When they think everyone is asleep over Family Guy.
And this ain’t over yet.
Wait until it gets closer to the mid-term elections. Black folks had better have some backup over the shenanigans that they will pull that will make Florida and Ohio resemble cakewalks.
in regard to or stemming from his time at William and Mary should be forwarded to that college for investigation. If it’s true that any work done by Ben Domenech as part of fulfilling the requirements for a degree were plagiarised, then he should be stripped of his degree.
William and Mary may also have policies regarding non-degree fulfilling work/writing under the aegis of the institution that merit similar action.
I urge all bloggers who have found evidence of applicable plagiarism by this person to submit same to William and Mary along with a cover letter asking for an investigation.
Republicans may wish to run from accountability. Progressives must hold them to it.
He dropped out of William & Mary I believe. Never got a degree.
Never got a degree. The exact circumstances of his leaving haven’t been revealed… yet. The editors of the college newspaper have said they didn’t read Salon or any of Ben’s other sources so they didn’t recognize his thefts.
sjct and Steven D in correcting my misapprehension. Another issue comes to mind. In the state university system where I used to teach (retired now), a student guilty of plagiarism was refused admission to any university in that system thereafter.
What about private schools? I never taught in one and am unfamiliar with “reciprocity” agreements, if any.
I don’t feel sorry for him.
Some people truly define the term “pathological liar.” It’s like he can’t help himself. He wasn’t raised in a CIA family, was he?? 😉
A Bush crony family… couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch.
Dear Boo – Knowing you I can believe it, I feel sorry for everybody. I haven’t bothered to follow this story, but it does involve human beings who naturally deserve some sympathy. It’s terrible to witness something awful happen to anybody, and it’s even more terrible to watch the mob pass judgement and begin the stoning.
this space you have provided and the freedom to express views and debate viewpoints and become as fully informed as we can all be able to be…..sans abuse. I love what a decent human being you are. It is okay to call a lying cheating sack of shit exactly what it is though, a lying cheating sack of shit! And this asshole doesn’t need anybody to feel sorry for him, he has already felt so sorry for himself on all levels that lying, cheating, and running to the bank with the check have all been cleared as appropriate for himself by this puke because he thought/felt like he deserved it. He doesn’t need anything from anybody now except the piling on, and the pink slip, and shown the door for good! The way our media has been handling itself from the top down also, sadly yes I can believe this. Gone are the days when the guys/gals with facts and integrity and a fully rounded lens expressed in their own words took the big check to the bank……and my semisenile grandmother gawked daily at the National Enquirer and the line between truth and bloviating (have wanted to use that word for like forever) sensationalism was so clear that everybody but senile grandma in her bifocals could clearly see it.
I’ve come to conclude that the far right publishing world not only thinks plagiarism is okay, it encourages it. The more its audience hears identical messages coming from different directions, the better the echo chamber works.
I loved how the NYT let Domenech get the last word in:
Hey, didn’t he steal that line from Ann Coulter?
and people really believe that a Party Platform for the people by the people is birthed from this shit and they vote for it blindly and insanely!