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 this post, the very presence of a conservative blog at the WaPo generated a firestorm of controversy from the left. Editor and Publisher wrote at that time:
During the recent controversy surrounding Dan Froomkin’s blog at The Washington Post, editors not only decided to clearly label his column “opinion” but also to make an effort to hire a conservative blogger to balance his alleged liberal slant.
Today, the Post launched the result: A new blog called “Red America,” created by Ben Domenech, co-founder of RedState, a popular community blog.
It immediately set off what Post political reporter Tom Edsall called a “firestorm” in his online chat today.
[…]
David Brock, director of the liberal Media Matters watchdog group, quickly declared that while Domenech is primarily a partisan, Froomkin has spent a decade at the Post, and also worked for the Winston-Salem Journal, the Miami Herald and the Orange County Register. Froomkin is also deputy editor of niemanwatchdog.org, the web site of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
Later in the article:
The launch upstaged what the Post’s Edsall had hoped to talk about during his online chat today. Here is a selection of the exchanges there.
Rahway, N.J.: I see that you have hired Ben Domenench, one of the founders of RedState.org, a leading right-wing political weblog, to write the “Red America” blog for the Washington Post. In his current post, he immediately defames and slurs leading left-wing political blogs such as DailyKos.com. Can we assume that you will provide an equal opportunity to the left side of the blogosphere by granting a prominent left-wing blogger a column as well? Since the media fairness doctrine is long dead, thanks to Mr. Domenench’s hero Ronald Reagan, I suppose there is no longer a legal requirement to do so, but it would be nice if The Post could at least pretend to give some kind of equal voice to the left.
Tom Edsall: The hiring of Ben Domenench of RedState has provoked a firestorm, if the volume of questions this morning is any measure. One theory in the newsroom is that he was hired at the behest of Dana Milbank. More seriously, I am told that this is part of the Post’s web operation’s efforts to provide diverse views. These decisions are, unfortunately, above my paygrade, much as I would love to have the power to hire and fire.
______________________Iowa: I’m assuming this RedState blogger is being paid. How does the Post management justify this when the newsroom staff is being cut by 10 percent according to several reports I have read? I would much rather have The Post continue to present quality, unbiased political coverage than provide bandwidth to an avowed partisan.
Tom Edsall: Another good question. Washingtonpost.com is technically separate from the Post newspaper. The dot com is widely viewed as the area of future growth, while the paper is struggling to keep making a profit in the face of declining circulation and growing competition for advertizers. The results are very different personnel policies. The consequences for the quality of the journalism are not yet determind, although budget constraints are already limiting the scope of our work.
_______________________Deary, Idaho: Can you ask those people above your paygrade to reconsider their decision to hire a rabid republican to “balance” Dana Millbank? There is no balance there. Granted, it is hard to find people on the left with the oblivious and offensive certainty of RedStaters. After all, the left has no Coulter or Limbaugh. But if you’re going to give the far right a forum you better look hard for an anarchist or extreme radical for the other side.
Tom Edsall: The idea of trying to balance Dana Milbank poses some very interesting questions that I would love to explore, but my suggestions (hire someone with vision, who does not thrive on ridicule) would take too much space. Many of us do believe Dana is rabid.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.: The hiring of the Red State Blogger is yet another example of why I cancelled my subscription to The Post and do not intend to ever re-instate it. The Post’s view that it needs to “balance” viewpoints buys into the notion that The Washington Post adequately provides a forum for a liberal viewpoint. Do you really believe that The Post has an over abundance of liberal viewpoints?
Tom Edsall: In fairness to the many inquiries about the Red State blogger, the questions you raise go to some basic issues of journalism that deserve much more expansive treatment and should get answers defining the principles guiding the Post as it engages with web. I could shoot my mouth off on these questions, but they should be answered by those with the power to set policy.
From that E&P article alone, you can see that it was the very idea that the Post should have a conservative blogger which sent liberals blasting off into space in a rage.
Well, yesterday the lefty blogosphere celebrated (as Mark Coffey points out here with links) the resignation of Domenech from the Red America blog. Ben resigned over allegations (which are apparently true) that he has engaged in a very big no-no: plagiarism. I haven’t examined the incidents where it happened, but conservative bloggers I respect, like Michelle Malkin and Captain Ed, have both weighed in and have said in so many words that the allegations are true. I’ll take their words over a smug, gloating liberal any day of the week.
While Domenech did the right thing by resigning, and the conservative blogosphere has done their part in rightly condemning what Domenech has done and praising his resignation, one thing that should not be lost on this is that the people who viciously went after Domenech did not do so in order for the Washington Post to have an “honest conservative blogger” at the Red America blog. They went after Domenech for one reason and one reason only: he was the chosen one to blog at the Red America blog that E&P noted had generated so much of a “firestorm.” That was it. They attacked Domenech on many fronts, and finally found something that stuck. As Jeff Goldstein wrote yesterday:
[…] they went after him for a host of other things, from his schooling to his family to his supposed “racism” before they got around to the plagiarism charge […]
Yep. And it started from the getgo. The left smelled blood, and finally sank their teeth into something that provided part of the result they sought from the beginning. The ultimate goal in all this after in all this was not just Domenech’s resignation or firing, but the removal of the Red America blog from the Washington Post’s website altogether. You can bet money that they are hoping that the WaPo drops the very idea of having a conservative blog to balance the lefty opinions written and posted there. If that happens, the goal of the left - those who made it their life’s mission to denigrate the RA blog and those who created it and wrote for it - will have succeeded.
I’ve read posts and comments sections from many blogs this morning about this scandal and I’ve seen more than a few comments from people I presume to be lefties who say (paraphrasing): ‘the right has no right to complain about how we tried to keep Domenech honest. Afterall, look at how the right routinely targets the liberal media. ”
Yeah, you’re damn right conservatives go after the liberal media because there is a desire there for a media that is unbiased in nature, a media that reports the facts without a slant - a media that won’t try to shape our opinions for us. The idea of keeping the media honest is quite different from the idea of having a conservative blog taken down off of the Washington Post’s website. What conservatives want out of the media is for it to be honest - they don’t want to get rid of the media. Conservatives realize the value of a media that reports the facts and let’s US decide what side of the issue to fall on. OTOH - and I know I’m repeating myself, the targeting of Domenech by the left had nothing to do with keeping a conservative blogger honest. I mean, think about it: do you really think the people who attacked BD for his schooling, his alleged creationist views, and ultimately plagiarism really had the thought in mind that they were ok with the Post having a conservative blogging there, they just wanted one who was honest? If you believe that, I’ve got beachfront property in Tennessee I’ll be happy to sell you.
The best post I’ve seen up in the rightie blogosphere about this comes from the Unalienable Right. In a post appropriately titled ” “Red America”: Left’s attack was about conservatism itself, not plagiarism”, they wrote, in part (emphasis added):
We ignored the story for the first few days because it looked like a simple case of leftist intolerance for any dissent, par for the course. But unfortunately (unfortunate that the wrongdoing occurred, not unfortunate it was uncovered) sometimes a witchhunt finds a witch; some left-wing bloggers did uncover what at this point appears to be some actual, serious wrongdoing on the part of Domenech. It looks like the Washington Post simply hired the wrong guy. They did the right thing securing his resignation, there’s just no excuse for plagiarism. But we must not forget, that’s not what motivated the left. Domenech’s apparent wrongdoing does not offer any lessons about conservatism or conservatives. Hopefully, the Post will continue the experiment with a better representative of the right, (one, at a minumum, who writes his own stuff).
Amen. Domenech’s apparent plagiarism was wrong (as he finally admitted here). The left’s attack on the very concept of a Red America blog at the Washington Post was wrong, but you won’t see any of them admit that today or any other day. They’ll be too busy gloating over the fact that their vicious attacks on a conservative blogger paid off big. At least BD finally came around to admitting that what he did was wrong. You won’t see any such admissions from those who targeted both him and the Washington Post.
In closing, I’d like to say that I know not everyone on the left supported the attacks on BD and the Red America blog. But I do know there were many who did, and to those of you who went after it simply because the idea of a conservative blog to counter a liberal one on the WaPo upset your phony sense of balance, I have a few words to say to you: you literally make me sick. This is chilling, and shows to what length some of you will go to have a conservative voice (not BD’s, but the Red America blog itself) silenced. There is shame on Domenech for the reprehensible acts of plagiarism (which Patterico notes here), but there is also shame on you as well over your attempts to shut down a conservative blog at the WaPo - the apparent sin of which was to start a conservative blog to provide balance for a liberal one. I guess that it was just too much for some of you “free speech defenders” to stomach.
Here’s the NYTimes article on the resignation of Domenech. Here’s RedState’s official response to BD’s resignation.
More blogger commentary on this can be found at the following blogs: JunkYardBlog, Rick Moran, Doris Kerns Gudwin guest posting at WuzzaDem, MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Gateway Pundit, Moderate Voice, Sensible Mom, Riehl World View
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What was that about the conservatives being whiny and intolerant again? Just one look at how the left behaves over things like Fox News, or the mere presence of a conservative blogger on a newspaper payroll, so clearly illustrates why and how fascism always springs from the left side of the political spectrum, regardless of the constant whining and lying that the left does to paint conservatives as the repressive ones. 1984 might as well be a blueprint/bible for how the left runs things.
Comment by Severian @ 3/25/2006 - 11:35 am
Not to be paranoid, but I wonder if this whole thing wasn’t an orchestrated setup from Day One…
Comment by camojack @ 3/25/2006 - 11:53 am
If you believe that the Washington Post is a “lefty newspaper”, then I know about some swampland in Florida for sale. So to say that “Red America”, (a disgusting name), was placed in the paper to balance the papers “Leftist” news , is really stretching the truth. There is also something disingenuous in saying that the media shouldn’t be trying to “shape our opinions”. The use of propaganda is in bounds except by the President of “all the people”. The President should tell the facts. The real problem with the Right, is that it hates to lose an argument. Peace
Comment by steve @ 3/25/2006 - 11:54 am
>If you believe that the Washington Post
>is a “lefty newspaper”,
Oh, it is.
>then I know about some swampland in
>Florida for sale.
Umm… there’s lots of swampland in Florida. Were you trying to say “dry land in Florida?”
>“Red America”, (a disgusting name,)
For once, I agree with you. Sounds too much like something ibs would actually like.
>The use of propaganda is in bounds
Glad to hear you actually admit that the paper is nothing more than propaganda for the Democratic party.
>The real problem with the Right, is that
>it hates to lose an argument.
It’s sometimes annoying, I’ll admit, to craft a logical, reasonable argument, supported by facts and figures, based on a purely rational point of view… only to have some bong-sucking yahoo yell “Bush is Hitler! Peace out!” and think he’s doing well. That’s why so many of us appreciate Ann Coulter — she uses Liberal tactics against Liberals, and it drives them into a foaming-mouthed frenzy.
Comment by CavalierX @ 3/25/2006 - 12:30 pm
“and the conservative blogosphere has done their part in rightly condemning what Domenech has done and praising his resignation”
how can you tell they were right? You said you believe them just because of who they are.
Comment by andrew @ 3/25/2006 - 12:51 pm
“The left smelled blood”
This is a kid that thinks pro-choicers should get the death penalty. There’s blood on this kid, and its his wish for killing millions of americans thats bloody.
Comment by andrew @ 3/25/2006 - 12:59 pm
“how can you tell they were right?”
Um, not only because I trust them, but because he admitted it. If you’d READ what I wrote, you’d have realized that.
Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 3/25/2006 - 1:23 pm
“This is a kid that thinks pro-choicers should get the death penalty”
Oops. this was a mistake. a different guy at redstate.org wrote this.
“Um, not only because I trust them, but because he admitted it.”
Ah. So it depends on ben fessing up. Ok.
Comment by andrew @ 3/25/2006 - 1:34 pm
“Ah. So it depends on ben fessing up. Ok.”
Yes, just like if you fessed up and admitted you were always wrong, I’d believe you.
Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 3/25/2006 - 1:42 pm
Democrats have been engaged in the War on Terror in the same way Oceana has always been at war with Eurasia.
Comment by Mwalimu Daudi @ 3/25/2006 - 2:14 pm
OOPS - wrong thread! I wanted to comment on Cheney’s critics.
Hey, wait a minute - I’m not wrong - IT’S BUSHITLER’S FAULT!!! He made me do it! IMPEACH BUSHITLER!!!!!!
Comment by Mwalimu Daudi @ 3/25/2006 - 2:26 pm
“Yes, just like if you fessed up and admitted you were always wrong, I’d believe you”
Ya. That whole sciece thing i’m on? Who am I kidding?
Comment by andrew @ 3/25/2006 - 3:02 pm
“Glad to hear you actually admit that the paper is nothing more than propaganda for the Democratic party.”
Like that time, that they were in favor of the war in iraq? totally propaganda.
Comment by andrew @ 3/25/2006 - 3:03 pm
>Like that time, that they were in favor
>of the war in iraq? totally propaganda.
At that time, Andrew, the Authorisation for Use of Military Force Against Iraq had been voted on almost unanimously, incuding Democrats. When the Democrats began carping about the war, so did the mainstream media.
Comment by CavalierX @ 3/25/2006 - 5:41 pm
“At that time, Andrew, the Authorisation for Use of Military Force Against Iraq had been voted on almost unanimously, incuding Democrats”
Like I said. Total propaganda to be in favor if invading iraq.
Comment by andrew @ 3/25/2006 - 6:30 pm
The Daily Worker and The Militant are Letist newspapers. The Washington Post, since it’s sale a few years ago, has become more and more a conservative mouthpiece. Which is OK, except it no longer investigates anything of substance. Hence the need for the Blogosphere where the honorable tradition of muckracking continues. Peace
Comment by steve @ 3/25/2006 - 7:42 pm
lmao.. your post is more about criticizing the criticism from the left than criticizing BD himself. the left attacked BD viciously for a reason - he was a scoundrel from the get go. there are many more respectable conservative bloggers than a male ann coulter like BD. to be honest, the comments on the redstate blog following his last option - a humble apology, many of which were quotes from the bible i guess, made me wanna puke. ew. solidarity after caught plagiarism, especially with the help of the bible, is simply ew ew ew. yeah, the comments attacking his home schooling were wrong. but then again, given BD’s views on certain issues, anything personal about him is a fair game to the liberal audience. just like ann coulter, michelle malkin and debbie almost-israeli schlussel. lol
Comment by Raj @ 3/25/2006 - 9:26 pm
I disagree Raj.
The extreme left bears a striking resemblance to Islam Extremist, I know, a bit of a stretch, but what I am saying is that they are intolerant of views that are not thier own. They will even lash out and try and destroy family and careers of those who break ranks from them and thier ideals.
As was stated before, they went after his family, the fact he was homeschooled, ect before latching onto what brought him down. I am not condoning what he has done, nor do I agree with it, but it was not the first thing they went after him with, they blasted him for everything he ever was, is or ever wanted to be.
Comment by sanity @ 3/25/2006 - 9:42 pm
“the left attacked BD viciously for a reason - he was a scoundrel from the get go.”
No they didn’t. They attacked him because he was the one chosen to blog at Red America. They didn’t seem to take an issue with him when he blogged at Red State alone. Try again, Raj.
Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 3/25/2006 - 10:01 pm
Well obviously they attacked him because they didn’t like him as a choice of ahem, balance. Red State is a horrible blog, and I doubt if more than a handful of lefty readers go there.
Comment by Raj @ 3/25/2006 - 10:21 pm
“The extreme left bears a striking resemblance to Islam Extremist, I know, a bit of a stretch, but what I am saying is that they are intolerant of views that are not thier own.”
been banned from redstate.org lately?
Comment by andrew @ 3/25/2006 - 11:11 pm
were you?
and if so what were the reasons?
saying someone was banned doesn’t help unless you give what the offenses were.
Then again, redstate is a personal blog and what he does to his blog is his own reason.
There is nothing that says he can’t do what he wants with his own place. He alone has to deal with negativity of his actions, but those are his rights to run his blog the way he wants.
Comment by sanity @ 3/25/2006 - 11:14 pm
- Well hell Raj. We have a few we’d be glad to loan out to them if they’re feeling deprived…. *snort*
- Bang
Comment by Big Bang Hunter @ 3/25/2006 - 11:17 pm
The best slop of idiocy I saw in this regard was from a guy who felt this was tantamount to Rathergate, and should never be dropped from the blogoshpere radar. Ahh the left, more pitiful by the day! If these are your sad “victories”, savour them, they are too few and far between.
Comment by saus @ 3/26/2006 - 1:46 am
“were you?”
never registered.
Comment by andrew @ 3/26/2006 - 1:51 am
“Well obviously they attacked him because they didn’t like him as a choice of ahem, balance.”
No, they attacked him because he was the guy the Post chose to run a blog they didn’t think should be on the WaPo’s site.
“Red State is a horrible blog, and I doubt if more than a handful of lefty readers go there. ”
The first part of your statement is a matter of opinion and the second part I don’t think is accurate but that’s not the point anyway.
Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 3/26/2006 - 2:40 am
Actually I think it is funny that Andrew believes that this blog was about “lefties”.
Hello Andrew James Dean is an actor, Jimmy Dean makes sausage. 
The sun doesn’t rotate around the lefts ideology. The Redstate blog was about those of us on the right. - Lorica
Comment by Lorica @ 3/26/2006 - 9:17 am
“Actually I think it is funny that Andrew believes that this blog was about “lefties””
What are you talking about?
” The Redstate blog was about those of us on the right. - Lorica”
A creationist red-baiter got fired for being a deceitful liar. Sounds like its about those on the right.
Comment by andrew @ 3/26/2006 - 11:15 am
If the Right wants to get along with the Left, the Right should stop being violent and making war on people. Stop spying on people without warrants or putting camera’s up on every streetcorner or trying to pass a National ID Card bill in Congress or poking their nose into what people read or see or trying to control what people do in thier bedrooms or defining what being married means. In general the Republicans should mind their own business when it comes to citizens personal behavior as long as it hurts no one. Peace
Comment by steve @ 3/26/2006 - 12:00 pm
Oppps my apologies Andrew, it is Raj’s 3/25 10:21 post that I was commenting about in my previous post. Sorry for the confusion. - Lorica
Comment by Lorica @ 3/26/2006 - 5:25 pm
- Actually Steve-oh you can relax and stop expending so much energy trying for an anarchy. I very seriously doubt anyone gives a damn how much time you spend carressing your bong.
- Bang
Comment by Big Bang Hunter @ 3/26/2006 - 8:43 pm
Anarchy is evolving which means the Bang, needs to kick back and learn a few new tricks. The first trick should be how to play nicely with others. Peace
Comment by steve @ 3/26/2006 - 10:14 pm
“If the Right wants to get along with the Left,…”
Whoever said the right wants to get along with the left? The right wants to pound the ideas coming from the left into grease spots, and has been for years.
If the Left, on the other hand wants to participte in the debate of ideas, they could start by dropping their stars — Howard Dean, Mrs. Clinton, Mo Dowd, George Clooney et. al. and find people able to argue without screeching.
There is a reason our side is called right.
Comment by Pat @ 3/26/2006 - 11:08 pm
I would’ve had a little more compassion for Ben and fought to defend him more vigorously if the “Dean-scream” hadn’t been so overplayed by our side and if the Swift Boat Veterans had put a little more thought into what they were doing, not to mention that the “you’re with us or you’re against us” meme has transformed what should be a citizen’s proudest moments (participating in the political process) into a chore that ranks right down there at the bottom of the list along with taking the garbage to the street on garbage day. Just.saying.
Comment by MJ @ 3/27/2006 - 1:36 am
Oh well, I tried to post a comment earlier, which hasn’t shown up yet for some reason. I’ve been told not to bother commenting on some blogs because sometimes if you disagree with the politics of the author of the blog, you’ll get attacked by a “pack of cyber pit bulls.” O.K., fine. Perhaps our great all-encompassing tent isn’t big enough for dissenting opinions within our party, but party fundraisers shouldn’t continue to expect me to pull out my northeastern traditional Republican wallet and/or checkbook as often if my voice won’t be allowed to be heard. Just.saying.
(In case you’re keeping track, I found you in the trackbacks in the blog “ben_domenech_resigns” over at The Post and visited your site because I was interested in what voices aross the nation are saying about this topic.)
Comment by MJ @ 3/27/2006 - 2:40 am
MJ, it looks like you missed the link to my comment policy, the link of which is listed above the box where you type in your comments. Here’s the link again. First time commenters are on moderation until I get around to releasing their first comment.
Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 3/27/2006 - 7:58 am
MJ,
If we can put up with steve, you have nothing to worry about unless your further off the deep end than he is lol
As for your first comment:
Why is there an IF?
What does the things you listed have anything to do with this person?
Heck, he was treated like he was running for president or something.
This was not about plagiarism, while what he did is not right, it was NOT the first thing he was attacked on. His family was attacked and smeared, the fact he was homeschooled, ect Until they got around to the plagiarism that happened ages ago.
I am not condoning what he has done in the past, but I am saying let’s be realistic and truthful when we say why he was attacked, because it certainly wasn’t plagiarism.
Comment by sanity @ 3/27/2006 - 8:27 am
“Pound the ideas of the Left into grease spots”, do you identify yourself as a Christian? If so you might want to call yourself a Rightwing extremist instead. Just because “your kind” is referred to as “right” doesn’t mean that you are. Christ was a Communist, always remember that. Peace
Comment by steve @ 3/27/2006 - 11:01 am
Sister Toldjah @ 3/27/2006 - 7:58 am
Thanks, Sister Toldjah. In fact, I did indeed miss your link about your comment policy and apologize for my little hissy fit there. And I apologize to your other readers. I shouldn’t have automatically assumed that my comments were going to be filtered just because they might differ from everyone else’s. I’ve run into that situation before on both sides of the aisle and just wish we all could be more civil and tolerant of everyone else and their opinions.
Comment by MJ @ 3/27/2006 - 2:03 pm