Mr. Domenech has defended himself by claiming that an editor at the W&M newspaper inserted this material into his columns, but one of the examples picked up by the blogosphere involves a column he wrote for NRO, so that may not wash. The folks at NRO have already apologized for this.

If this is true, and I'm afraid the evidence dug up so far doesn't look good, this is most disappointing. Also irritating, since we are forced to put up with crap like this.

And yet left-wing writers plagiarize and make stuff up without any repercussions.

It's politically consistent. The Right enforces morality even on itself and the Left accepts amorality.

Plagiarism is very, very bad form and always should be deprecated.

I hope Domenech will be rehabilitated as quickly as was Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Everyone might be interested to read his defense: Red America Ends. It at least is plausible.

Posted by: jd watson at March 24, 2006 11:37 PM

Here's some more from NRO. From the look of things, I don't think there can be any serious doubt that Domenech was a plagiarist. Domenech is attempting to defend himself by saying the offending passages were added by a student editor at William & Mary, but obviously that explanation crashes at the landing pad as far as the NRO columns are concerned. I think it's probable that we can add prevarication to his list of sins.

If you read his defense of himself at RedState, you'll see that he's falling into the defense tactic of asserting that his assailants are creeps. I'm sure that's the case with some of his critics (including Joe Conason, for whom being called a creep is a tautology), but Domenech is unquestionably both a conservative and a man, which is to say that he needs to act like a conservative and take his lumps like a man.

What a sad story. I've always liked reading Domenech and this is thoroughly disappointing coming from a guy who has always struck me as having a strong moral core and who always appeared to be, in the best sense, "not for sale."

"The Right enforces morality even on itself and the Left accepts amorality."

That so, Orrin? How much you want to bet he doesn't get fired from his job as an editor at Regnery?

Rick:

He may not, since he's an editor there, not a writer. But I wouldn't be surprised if he found a few writers were reluctant to work with him, which could lead to him losing his job.

Seems excessive based on the allegations, but plagiarism is a writerly no-no.

In the world of ideas plagarism is the equivalent of several violations of the Ten Commandments.

No one should get a swift ticket out of perdition.

Repudiate them all, be they they big or small, right or left.

He borrowed pieces of sentences for a movie review. It's not exactly Larry Tribe material here...

Timothy:

What bugs me is that he went off on an anti-liberal bender when he was caught, complaining about some of the more horrid comments that have been directed his way rather than fully answering the allegations. He said he could respond to "many" of the charges that have been brought against him, which I presume he said in case NRO ever dug up so many examples that he couldn't plausibly deny them. Well, that didn't take long.

He has now apologized, which is excellent. I like to think of myself as a forgiving person and I want Domenech to be able to move on with his life, but these kind of Clintonian machinations make that a little more difficult.

Orrin, that's a silly distinction. Editors are writers' super-egos. The idea of an editor who commands no moral authority is a non-sequitor. Keeping a plagiarist as an editor is equivalent to keeping a preacher who is caught cheating on his taxes (he's a preacher, not an accountant...).

Rick:

All preachers cheat on their taxes. They get fired for banging the parishoners.

You learned well from Reagan. When backed in a corner, make a quip. Here's the latest on Ben. Caesar's wife? The guy's a moral Ed Gein. You find it acceptable that conservative publishing house would retain him?

http://tinyurl.com/ea7x5

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."

Ed Gein? Who did Ben Domenech kill?

I don't think a publishing house should print a book he writes without checking it carefully and he deserves to lose his paid writing gig at the Post, but there's no reason he can't be a good editor and eventually a paid writer again.

I'm not aware of anyone whose plagiarism has gotten them permanently banned from the profession: Martin Luther King, Stephen Ambrose, Alex Haley, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Larry Tribe, Mike Barnicle, Charles Ogletree, Monica Crowley, etc.. Writing, after all, is just entertainment and if folks want to read what you write there's no stopping them.

"The Right enforces morality even on itself and the Left accepts amorality."

Orrin, quit while you're behind.

Some comments today on Redstate that reek, absolute reek, of contrition:

"Should the entire American Left fall over dead tomorrow, I would rejoice, and order pizza to celebrate. They are not my countrymen; they are animals who happen to walk upright and make noises that approximate speech. They are below human. I look forward to seeing each and every one in Hell."

---

"In combat great people (we call them heros) sometimes get injured and have to be withdrawn. Before you (and your family and the Post) were further injured you were able to drag yourself away from the battlefield.

"In Christendom great people (we call them martyrs) stand for truth and get killed for it. Your voice in a dark world was a threat to the darkness and it felt compelled to silence you.

"At RedState we have great people (we call them family) who yearn for truth, love of country, and a philosophy that we are all in this epic struggle together."

-----

"Certainly it may seem strange today to describe him as a "man of principle." But those who know Ben -- and all of us on the RS leadership team do -- know that he is passionate in his beliefs. They also know that he is human. It was ignoring this humanity that led to our earlier posts about the situation. It is fitting then, that he chose “Augustine” as his nom de plume here at RedState – for who could serve as a better reminder of the full potential of fallibility and sin – and yet existing within that peril - real hope of forgiveness."

----

I would amend your formulation to read: "The right is genius at explaining away immorality."

Rick:

He was forced to resign by the Right. You take blog comments and Freeper posts as if they were the mainstream of the Right, the way Kos and DU are of the Left.

Rick: So the next time we laugh at some comment posted at Kos or DU or MyDD you'll agree that it represents the thoughts of the entire left?

The plagiarism was wrong and not copping to it as soon as the allegation was made was both wrong and stupid.

David:

That's actually the problem; Kos and company accurately reflect Rick's views, while we on the Right think Free Republic and company are entertaining kooks.

Truly George W. Bush runs a kinder and gentler gulag to allow internet access and blog comment posting to his political prisoners.