Ben Domenech had resigned from the Washington Post. Executive Editor, Jim Brady made the announcement, but takes no blame for hiring a right-wing hack to blog for his paper. He doesn’t apologize to his readers for hiring a serial plagiarist. This is as close as he comes:
When we hired Domenech, we were not aware of any allegations that he had plagiarized any of his past writings
This all started as an effort to balance out the reporting of Dan Froomkin, who does a blog column called the White House Briefing. You can read how Froomkin was attacked from within here. The Washington Post decided the best way to balance a serious and credentialed reporter like Froomkin was to go out and find a right-wing blogger to fill their pages with lies and apologistics. But they never counted on a counterfeiter. Karma is a pain in the ass.
Once the blogosphere started looking into Domenech’s writing it didn’t take too long to find outrages, like his opinion that aborting black babies has the happy effect of reducing crime, or that he considers Coretta Scott King a communist.
As for the reaction from Red State, the blog he co-founded, their server is a little slow, but their reaction to these accusations can be seen below the fold.
When blogospheric swarms gain critical mass, they can be extremely fast-moving and overwhelming. It looks like we’re in one right now, but it’s not about Darfur or the War Against Militant Islamism, but about a conservative blogger newly hired by a mainstream media outlet. The charges of plagiarism are serious business, especially the one in NRO. It may be happening at this very writing, but a complete and timely response is needed by the co-founder of this site, answering fully every charge made. I count myself a supporter of Ben Domenech, but the credibility of this site and the Redstate project is at risk. I await Ben’s response, but if the answers are insufficient, we must all strive to do what’s right.
What’s to respond to? Your boy has been exposed as a fraud and a hack. And Jim Brady needs to put a little more culpa in his mea.
