Come on, Jane, tell us what you really think. Don't hold back now, it's unhealthy.
Alopex Lagopus |
03.24.06 - 10:16 pm | #
Alone still? Ah, well. You are the snarkolicous writer of all time with this:
Dear Jim,
Was it good for you? Because it was good for me.
But I have to wonder, as we sit here smoking our metaphorical cigarettes now that youve "allowed" Ben Domenech to resign , how exactly did he get hired in the first place? Since you affectionately call me "Columbo" when youre trying to be cute (arent you the clever one), I figure its dirty trench coat time.
angie |
03.24.06 - 10:17 pm | #
By the way, Jim, I couldn't help admiring your shoes. Beautiful shine. I can never get mine to look like that.......
Ah, well, I won't take any more of your time... but, do you ever re-sole your shoes? My cobbler just retired to Florida, and.... well, anyway, will you call me if learn anything about that Domenech fellow? Thanks.
West of East |
03.24.06 - 10:21 pm | #
I`m wondering which of them wears the knee pads first ?
Ben or Jim...
"There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept." - Ansel Adams
daCascadian |
03.24.06 - 10:22 pm | #
Man, woman... your writing just keeps getting fabulouser and fabulouser. I bet this one felt really good to write, no? So glad I discovered FDL a good while back, so that I had the enjoyment of following the unfolding of the Maryland Moment. Jane, you have very very good instincts... awesome, in fact.
-
Valley Girl |
03.24.06 - 10:22 pm | #
Delish post. Dorothy Parker is smiling from somewhere, I can just tell.
Margot |
03.24.06 - 10:23 pm | #
VG -- thanks. my face does, in fact, hurt from smiling so hard all day.
jane hamsher |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 10:24 pm | #
Ben Domenech, Jonah Goldberg, G.W. Bush-- 3 GOP twits who would be flipping burgers at White Castle if it weren't for their well-connected parents....
swamp dweller |
03.24.06 - 10:25 pm | #
==="We (WaPOO) also remain committed to representing a broad spectrum of ideas and ideologies in our Opinions area."
David Brock, president of the liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America, issued a statement in response:
“We at Media Matters are pleased the Ben Domenech will no longer be employed by the Post, but serious questions remain about why he was originally hired. The Post still needs to explain why a partisan operative who admits he is not a journalist and who has a history of racially charged rhetoric, homophobic bigotry, and serial plagiarism was given a platform on Washingtonpost.com in the first place. We look forward to a full explanation of these and related issues by the Post.===
-
Valley Girl |
03.24.06 - 10:26 pm | #
Wow. You got something very impressive. And guts.
Ajay |
03.24.06 - 10:27 pm | #
Jane
You didn't ask Church Lady if he'll still 'respect you' in the morning.
p.s. Is it true that he prefers to have his 'package' (aka bits and pieces) be properly refered to as his 'Brady Bunch'?
Gentleman Jim |
03.24.06 - 10:27 pm | #
Well done, Jane, well done!
Phoebe |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 10:29 pm | #
Nicely put. Great post. But will Jim Brady ever read it?
Libby Sosume |
03.24.06 - 10:29 pm | #
I think the format of this site is not nearly as good as the one on the old site. The old site had many more *words* up front and did not require you to click "read the rest of this post"-type links. You saw the words and knew at a glance that this blog meant business, that it had things to say and that it was going to thoroughly say them. This new site does NOT have that feel. On first glance, it looks like a site someone threw up so that they could dash off a few quick comments during the odd moment they got a chance. I'll continue to read firedoglake as much as I always have but newbies to the site may just pass on by.
With all due respect...
Romdinstler Jones |
03.24.06 - 10:30 pm | #
I see Watertiger is blogging here now. The seventh seal has been broken. Cats and dogs are sleeping together. Wait - could it be? I'm being raptured....
The Kenosha Kid |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 10:31 pm | #
I've never quite understood the whole S&M dominatrix scene but Jane just demonstrated the pleasures it can bring ... if only as a voyeur!
dobleveh-ilson46201 |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 10:32 pm | #
Communist with a capital C, that's what he called Mrs. King. A distinction with a difference, for any of us old enough to remember.
You nailed him, Jane, in the words of the great Colbert, you nailed him. There's some little details, like the Ruffini calls you mention, or perhaps a Gannon/Guckert rave passed along by Karl, or the "directed money to Democrats" quote that maybe comes from DaddyDonaldD and that's why nobody at The Post can back up the assertion, but: the weave and the tone of this narrative, you nailed him.
Uh-oh! Just had a disturbing thought. Let's just say that in November the Democrats take over both houses, and then two years later, the presidency. And then the remaining fascist swine are driven either out or to prison, where they surely belong.
What then will Jane and Christy have to write about with such style and wit?
Well, worry not, pilgrims. There will be SOMETHING!
Meanwhile, pleeeeeze don't stop, Jane & Christy. You are on top of your game and you seem to be getting better each day.
and yes, Lil Debbie this week demonstrated where she got the monicker of 'Dragon Lady' -- I loved it when she said Ben does not write for the Post and never will. Samuel Morse couldn't have telegraphed that better himself !
*ilson46201 |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 10:40 pm | #
Young Benji finally threw up the mea culpa at Red State after PJ O'Rourke said "Ben who?"
Made an ass of himself and all his breathless supporters there too. Assclown.
Alaskan Pete |
03.24.06 - 10:41 pm | #
Valley girl, one email to my Gay Men's Chorus listserve could garner a volunteer.
Of course, we have at least one long time member who works for the Post.
Pachacutec |
03.24.06 - 10:42 pm | #
....oh, and one other little thing... its really not important, its just something the Missus asked me about, so I thought I'd ask you....
you remember how you said that you reviewed everything that Ben had written. I have to assume that includes the piece ben wrote about the "Bush trifecta" controversy.... http://www.bendomenech.com/
2002_...e.html#77939441
You know, the one where Ben quotes the following exchange between Bush and Tim Russert ....
"If I ever commit troops, I'm going to do so with one thing in mind, and that's to win," Bush said.
"And spend what it takes? Even if it means deficits?" asked the moderator, NBC's Tim Russert.
"Absolutely," Bush replied, "if we go to war." (AP, from Boston Globe)
....and then you no doubt also read that Ben acknowledged that the conversation never happened that way? That Russert never mentioned deficits? But that Ben says that the AP reported it as Russert asking about deficits?
You read that right?
So, I'm just curious... how did you feel when you found out that sites like "Spinsanity" actually checked with the AP, and Lexis, and Westlaw, and and it turned out that the "hard copy" ( http://www.bendomenech.com/globe.htm )of the article that Ben claimed as his source was a fraud?
See, if you'd read everything about Ben, you'd know that Spinsanity did its homework two years ago.... so I'm just curious why you hired Ben when it was so obvious that he was making up his own facts?
Mr. Brady?
paul lukasiak |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 10:42 pm | #
Yeah, things are getting to a fever pitch by the way. With the revelations that Russia dropped a dime on the US military to Saddam, I am sure that Bush's doe-eyed soul mate, Pooty Poot is kicking some chairs right about now.....This should send him running to China for some tea and birds nest soup. China and Japan are now behaving like they are almost enemies again too.
KOS has a double barreled assault from Joe Wilson against Bush and whole of neo-conartist world. Apparently there are a lot of Americans who have gone from simmer to rolling boil. Remember the angry white men in 1994...seems there are lots of angry folks now or all stripes and colors.
The former head of the Delta Force is saying that Bush is so dumb he fears that World War III has been started.
Add on the latest signing statement horrors and the civil war that IS happening in Iraq and the maelstrom is spinning faster and faster. I read that Baghdad of 2006 is being compared to Bierut Lebanon of the 1980's. Not so good.
I get the feeling that people are going to start heading out of Dodge real soon. The heat is getting to be too much.
and EPUd on last so reposting then off to get some sleep:
re: Ben - enough or not?
I'm reminded of a talk that Van Jones* gave a while back talking about how privileged white kids get to have "youthful indescretions" followed by therapy and successful careers (successful at least for them) while poor black kids having "youthful indescretions" get sent to jail and then can't find jobs as former convicts. No sympathy here for Mr. Ben. At the same time getting him off WaPo is a very valuable victory for "the liberal attack machine" but he's now unimportant.
anyhow , was just popping in to wave hello to everyone and say bravo on the Wapo victory! I'm off on business road trip and not able to be here much but it's a great biz trip so far so it almost compensates (almost)
spending tomorrow with 250 design professionals exploring sustainability - pretty neat - then 3 days (in the sun in FL! nice change from chilly chitown) with several hundred folks from big companies who are looking to become more socially responsible ... gives me hope on many levels
as does FDL
siun | 03.24.06 - 10:33 pm | #
siun |
03.24.06 - 10:43 pm | #
We won't have to wait until 08. Take the house and senate in 06. Chimpeach, convict and remove in 07 both jr and big time. Then we get started cleaning up the mess these scum have created.
This election we have he best shot we're ever going to have I hope we don't let appeasers like rahm emmanuel blow it.
klyde |
03.24.06 - 10:44 pm | #
Of course, if it gets out to DC radio anyway, too bad for Jimbo.
I don't follow the Washington Post Co. as an investor, but I doubt that reducing the circulation and revenue of their flagship publication is one of management's objectives for this quarter. That trend seems to be happening anyway, but I don't think they need anyone on staff trying his level best to accelerate it.
paul lukasiak -- ooh good one I'll link that up to your name in the article. I'm cross-posting at HuffPo for maximum exposure.
I just have to tell the world how I feel about our Jim.
jane hamsher |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 10:48 pm | #
Jane,
I's a well written article. Directly on point. But, like Domenech, Brady is a pathological liar in denial, and consequently they cannot see the forrest for the trees.
Brady's solution is simply to get another Right-wing blogger, without off-setting it with a left-wing blogger. They are blinded by their bias, which is their forrest.
Anonymous |
03.24.06 - 10:49 pm | #
Pachacutec | 03.24.06 - 10:42 pm
Okay, prolly you'll miss this as it's past your bedtime... but LOL MWAHAHAH... Why limit it to just one volunteer? I think a singing telegram chorus has real possibilities. Especially if each and every chorus member has a Tiffany Box for Diamond Jim. A really Special Box.
-
Valley Girl |
03.24.06 - 10:51 pm | #
Well, after visiting Restate and reading what you folks in the left blogosphere did to this young man of principle....
"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."
Of course Joe McCarthy, David Duke and George Lincoln Rockwell were all Americans who were passionate in their beliefs too.
Sigh. Matt Stoller is so spot on. I used to be a regular listener to the Diane Rehm show on NPR, but she totally fell into the right-wing trap a while back and regularly has one guest from AEI or some other right-wing hack shop. Today, I tuned in for a moment, and the National Review weasel spouted exactly the lies Stoller describes -- WMDs in Iraq, Saddam linked to terrorism. It was absolutely transparent, but it leaves the legitimate journalists with the no-win choice of turning the show into a shoutfest or leaving the lies unchallenged to make their own points.
Redshift |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 10:52 pm | #
Dorothy Parker is smiling from somewhere, I can just tell.
That is the greatest compliment a blogger could receive. Jane definately deserves it.
patriotboy |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 10:53 pm | #
a coupla days ago in here I wrote about the street hearing what the Post's new punkazz whiteboy wrote about Coretta. A troll infesting this place promptly jumped all over me as proof of 'liberal racism' !
I'm old-school: in America, racism is the bedrock of reactionaries. Scratch a wingnut and you'll find a Klan-wannabe...
*ilson46201 |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 10:53 pm | #
Jane and Redd-Christy
Over at Kos
"Joe Wilson Slams Scooter" by tlh lib
Second comment
Should make everyone feel very good for awhile.
Ha Ha Herman |
03.24.06 - 10:54 pm | #
Wow. Great post Jane.
Gwen |
03.24.06 - 10:56 pm | #
siun >"...spending tomorrow with 250 design professionals exploring sustainability..."
repeat after me
Buckminster Fuller (the one true way)
"Lack of awareness of the basic unity of organism and environment is a serious and dangerous hallucination." - Alan Watts
daCascadian |
03.24.06 - 10:56 pm | #
Has Ben D. been kicked off the board of RacistState or not? I'm not sure
marky |
03.24.06 - 10:58 pm | #
al-Scooter | 03.24.06 - 10:46 pm
Piling on the WaPooh is the right thing to do right now.
Kick them as hard as you can when they're down. This is not a pillow fight, it's a knife fight.
Kill their stock price, they are not going to recover from this that easily. They will just get weaker and weaker from crap like the BenDover Incident. It is a cumulative process. Go after their credibility and circulation. They are a waste of space.
I say put another torpedo beneath their waterline now that they are struggling. They won't know how to react to another revelation of gross mismanagement.
Some say, don't destroy a 'paper of record'.
Like the old Doritos commercial says," don't worry, we'll make more."
.
Gentleman Jim |
03.24.06 - 10:59 pm | #
Jane, you are the most sexy and evil creature that has ever slithered on the Intenet. God, I love you!!!
Dumbo |
03.24.06 - 11:00 pm | #
The only thing better than watching assclowns like these getting fucked over is watching them doing it to themselves. How immensely satisfying.
If you have the stomach for it, pay a visit to RedState. Were talkin' blood and brains all over the walls.
Dave Latchaw |
03.24.06 - 11:00 pm | #
I really don't give a shit as to how Jim brady hired Ben. All I want is Brady's resignation. This is the third scandal in as many months.
The post shouldn't let the door hit this guy in the ass on the way out. If the post is to have any credibility Brady must be off the job by Monday.
patience |
03.24.06 - 11:04 pm | #
Gentleman Jim | 03.24.06 - 10:59 pm |
I like the way you think, Gent.
You and the mighty Jane should breed and your offspring can wipe these rightwing idiots off the face of the earth once and for all.
mercury |
03.24.06 - 11:05 pm | #
I think you could crack Krauthammer. He looks a bit unstable on a good day. Unhinged would be a mild description of the fella. Throw all his BS back at him in a swarm.
But I think Lieberman is the next meltdown victim. Holy Joe is practically shitting his pants.
Alaskan Pete |
03.24.06 - 11:06 pm | #
Metaphorically of course, I want to see Brady's head on a Post.
Gentleman Jim |
03.24.06 - 11:06 pm | #
Some say, don't destroy a 'paper of record'.
Like the old Doritos commercial says," don't worry, we'll make more."
.
Gentleman Jim | 03.24.06 - 10:59 pm | #
Sing it Gentleman Jim. Sing it loud brother.
Alaskan Pete |
03.24.06 - 11:08 pm | #
who can they find to fill this slot that doesn't have a library of reprehensible quotes to dig up?when they announce his/her name it will be a blogger land rush.
pukebot |
03.24.06 - 11:08 pm | #
Excellent post, Jane. I've only had time to lurk most of the week, desperately trying to read all the threads I missed and the insightful comments. Did notice that another letter (w) went missing this week, so instead of wil*on (as he appeared last weekend), I now see *ilson.
Who won the bet on how quickly Domenech would be run outta WaPo blogsville?
And Thank you, Mary, for your helpful comment in answer to my question about signing statements.
I made the terrible mistake of linking to RedState and read what seems like a true evil parallel universe where people there "fear for their grandchildren" if the Left ever gains power, where they can't know if Ben was rightly or wrongly accused because only God can judge (wtf?), and where WaPo is owned by the Left. Their comments are also short and mean. And they aren't funny--there's no interlude of play as there is on FDL, which I always appreciate as a way to cope with so much bad news.
dana |
03.24.06 - 11:12 pm | #
Yup, dirty trenchcoat time. Do you drive a Peugeot 403? :)
But, to further the argument, it's possible, with regard to vetting, that the Washington Post just looked in their own archives and to some members of their own staff. They wrote a column in their counties' news section about him being a whiz kid, and had published an opinion piece by him about James Dobson when he was sixteen or so, in 1998 (4-19-98).
He's gotten more face time on TV as a teenager than most home-schooled kids might ever expect (two stories, one CNN and one PBS, featuring the Domenechs and young BT on the issue of home-schooling), and that can only come with some self-promotion on the part of the parents.
With a little digging, you might find that while Hewitt may have been consulted, someone inside the WaPo made the recommendation on some basis other than just journalistic acumen. This kid's been noticed by the WaPo as long as eight years ago, despite not having any evident productive talents.
When, oh when do we get to vote for you and Christy in something other than blog awards????
medaka |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 11:13 pm | #
patriotboy--
General, ain't it the truth though? Some fine writing here.
Margot |
03.24.06 - 11:14 pm | #
Thank you so much. I have not seen justice dispatched so efficiently since the end of the Nixon Administration. You are a national treasure. And Jim Brady is a...
Stephen |
03.24.06 - 11:15 pm | #
" hope we don't let appeasers like rahm emmanuel blow it."
A couple of weeks ago I read here that Rep. Emanuel, as chair of the DCCC, had said that organization would not spend one dime running on the abortion issue in 2006. I tried to e-mail him on his congressman Web site to tell him how stupid that was, and to suggest that with S.D. passing the Rapists Bill of Rights law, other people in other states might be worried about that happening in their state, hence perhaps a good campaign issue in selected districts. His site, however, said in effect he did not read mail from outside his district.
So my next step was to send the e-mail to the DCCC at its own site. Now, two weeks later, I heard back from them--a boilerplate form letter saying they get too much mail to respond, blah blah blah.
So my question is, where is the accountability of this key Democratic official? He won't take mail at his congressional Web site if you live out of state, even though he holds a national position at DCCC, affecting Democrats everywhere; and he doesn't hire enough staff at DCCC to keep in touch with the grassroots. It looks to me like he doesn't care what we think.
neurophius |
03.24.06 - 11:16 pm | #
punpirate | 03.24.06 - 11:12 pm
Great tip on pinning the tail on the WaPooh with their own words!
A little more digging and the seams will tear on the good ship WaPooh Pop.
Thanks for the leads.
Gentleman Jim |
03.24.06 - 11:19 pm | #
Well, the "Augustine" affair gives me some insight into the writing quality on the right.
I really think that of all comparisons you could make between right and left, one of the strongest arguments is that the writing quality on the left blogs far outshines that on the right.
I am no English teacher, and certainly don't consider myself an exceptional writer, but I can see a couple common faults in Bushographics.
First is the incredible self-indulgence. Tacky tacitus is the worst exemplar of this trait. You get the impression that he never re-reads his posts; rather, they are written in a self-righteous haze, full of emotion, one hand on the keyboard and one hand on the book of Latin roots.
Now Ben shows us another cause of bad "righting" from our nemeses: they have editors who can't write! Take someone self-indulgent, lazy, half-educated, and make him an editor at Regnery---that is the right wing method of quality control.
Um, yeah.
marky |
03.24.06 - 11:22 pm | #
dana | 03.24.06 - 11:12 pm | #
I'm a true Evil Parallel Universe too, so that's kind of low, even if you didn't capitalize.
But I went and peeked there too. They spin everything, so, even while admitting BTB did wrong, it really was all the non-NeoNuts fault and they're (we're) MORE wrong, so BTB and Redstates is still right, and true and red, white and blue. So, they really haven't apologized to anyone other than themselves - after all, BTB is still a "man of principle," eventhough he did, like, plagiarize, b/c he's one of THEM afterall.
The more they turn to their insular world, the more detached from reality they become, the happier I am, because I know we are getting ever closer to their removal from power. I'd rather they react as they have then some how all of a sudden discover the real world; their dilusions work for them, which fortunately, IMO, works for us.
Punpirate - Interesting, sort of like the Manchurian Blogger - does BTB's mom look like Angela Lansbury?
Evil Parallel Universe |
03.24.06 - 11:23 pm | #
As long as folks are throwing complimentary qutes at you, here's one of my all time favs:
"If you can't say something nice.....Come sit by me."
Alice Roosevelt
.
We're building schools...kids are going to school:
===Red State Jesus A god-fearing Red State moderator hopes that another smiting spree will avenge His Holiness, The Bishop of Box Turtles: ===
etc etc etc. Article largely plagiarized (or is that plageurized?) from red state. But hey, that's okay. Important to catapault the propaganda...)
-
Valley Girl |
03.24.06 - 11:32 pm | #
written in a self-righteous haze, full of emotion, one hand on the keyboard and one hand on the book of Latin roots.
marky -- "latin roots" -- is that what they're calling it these days? So hard to keep up with pecker slang.
jane hamsher |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 11:32 pm | #
Jane...I am in a quandry. While on another site, I noticed it and a second has been hijacked...I purposely don't mention FDL, but shouldn't we all be promoting FDL?
You have somehow escaped the trolls, at least from my reading, how long will that last? I only do two others..Ablog and C&L, but I am concerned about linking here. Thoughts?
Mainerinexile |
03.24.06 - 11:33 pm | #
are written in a self-righteous haze, full of emotion, one hand on the keyboard and one hand on the book of Latin roots.
I think they have that free hand doing something else :)
Evil Parallel Universe |
03.24.06 - 11:33 pm | #
Brady out by May 1st. I'd lay down money on it.
Thesaurus Rex |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 11:33 pm | #
Jane - Great minds thinking alike, although somehow yours was slightly faster.
Evil Parallel Universe |
03.24.06 - 11:34 pm | #
No offense, EPU. You're *our* Evil Parallel Universe and true blue.
dana |
03.24.06 - 11:35 pm | #
Why is Deborah Howell not suspected as having a role in this hire? (or is she?) Not that I know what I'm talking about but she just strikes me as someone who'd be in on something like this. Payback to Brady for..?
Marky - maybe the quality of writing is acceptable in that it makes them feel like they're connecting with the little people.. the rabble?
JWR |
03.24.06 - 11:36 pm | #
Well, I started the over/under on Ben Domenech betting pool, but since no one actually responded in a fraction of hours and minutes, nobody wins, except of course the readers.
On a slightly other topic, but still all things Ben, I have wondered something here...
There's no question that what Domenech did was wrong and he has some seriously fucked up and uninformed views of the world, but I see a pattern to his behaviour.
I wonder if maybe young Ben isn't feeling a bit relieved that he doesn't have to hide out anymore, in fear of being discovered, and uncovered; knowing that he didn't deserve the WaPo job, but since he got it through personal channels instead of actually applying for it, how could he turn it down?
Likely, the information about the offer was out and not terribly private. Moreover, what would he tell his friends and family? WaPo made me an offer but I don't feel like it? Nope, once the crony connections were in place and the phone calls were exchanged, he wasn't left with a choice that his experience would let him make.
Imagine for a second being young Ben Domench at age 15, held up as the model of homeschooling nationwide on CNN. You don't get to have any of your ideas called bullshit by your friends and classmates or teachers, because, you have none. So how do ideas get socialized?
Answer: They don't. Young Ben doesn't understand that he is a bigot, because he never had any experience in the real world with people telling him he was full of shit and to put down the books and get out of the house into the real world.
Of course young Ben would be a winger Republican, what other option was left him?
He didn't develop any meaningful social skills, so of course when left to choose for himself, he would choose the path with the most number of rules and restrictions, and the most powerful Daddy figures, namely, the wingnut end of the Republican spectrum.
Being a Democrat or looking at the world as a Progressive or Liberal requires many more truly moral choices to be made. Many more socially complex and geopolitically complex thought processes which require some level of self examination in the process. Where would young Ben get the role model for that behaviour?
Nope, frankly, I don't think the kid ever stood a chance. Once he started plagiarizing to keep up with the expectations on him, well, he kept suceeding. Add that to the cronyism school of wingnut advancement et voila! You have the journalistic equivalent of Brownie heading up FEMA.
Now, all of this is not an excuse. It just by way of understanding how what may be a bright kid, could get so fucked up without anyone noticing it. Especially since all of the people around him had some sort of stake in keeping him full of shit.
Ben Domenech would have been better served to have been raised by wolves.
I hope he gets something meaningful out of this experience.
Sadly, I don't think he will.
Fortunately for the rest of us, his upward failure has stopped here.
At this rate of cronyism, he could have been President someday.
genoasail |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 11:36 pm | #
Mainer.
There is something about this place that is quite toxic to trolls.
-GSD
PS. I'll be in beuatiful Lewiston and sweet smelling Rumford tomorrow.
"We're building schools...kids are going to school"
I was wondering about the links in the chain that got this kid this job. TPM had some stuff about his father and links to Abramoff. Abramoff used college interns
Did Ben know Abramoff?
Also, I see such a pattern in these young Republicans. They are very elitist and lack empathy. I can not help thinking how much they emulate the French Aristocracy prior to the revolution.
There is an old saying that Ben and those of like mind should mind, it goes like this, "Shirk not the tattered cloak of another, because tomorrow it maybe yours."
psyche |
03.24.06 - 11:39 pm | #
Epu and Jane,
your scurrilous attacks are...*flip, flip* *dog-eared page opening*
RISIBLE.
And I meant that literally! .. or are they "risogenic"
Gentleman Jim--wish I could find the article I found early this morning calling him an up-and-coming whiz kid, but, I must have been lost in the ozone, because I can't immediately find it now. It referenced his father, and a grandfather, or great-grandfather, who was a high mucky-muck in Loudon County, VA.
The article they printed by him was based on a transcript released at the time by Dobson and the Council for National Policy. Since the proceedings of the CNP are secret, and this meeting was in Phoenix, it's highly doubtful that young BT was an observer at the event and could take quotes himself, and yet, his opinion piece had phrases such as "[Dobson's] fine-tuned radio voice resonating from the podium at the closed-door meeting...." It was written as if he were an observer (much like the plagiarism of the Chestnut shooting involving Frist) when he wasn't.
You can find the 1998 piece in the WaPo archives under the title, "Dobson's Choice: Why the Conservative Outsider's Agenda Worries GOP Leaders."
Marky, good post too. When Regnery offers him a book deal over this, it should be a pretty thin read. I mean it's hard to write a book if all your chops are cut and paste.
Ben's second generation spawn of modern conservatism, they may want to put alittle clorine in that gene pool.
Gyro Gear Lose |
03.24.06 - 11:42 pm | #
GSD...I always love your wit...go to Ablog...I am getting killed over there about Charlie Sheen of all things...they seem to think his opinion matters...I don't.
I know you are good at slaying...please help.
Mainerinexile |
03.24.06 - 11:42 pm | #
Marky sez... one hand on the keyboard and one hand on the book of Latin roots....
Jane sez...So hard to keep up with pecker slang.
jane hamsher | Homepage | 03.24.06 - 11:32 pm
PIMP!!!! (don't ask, and I won't tell on that one...don't think it's in the internet acronym dictionary...) Well, I am more than lucky to have stayed up so late... and thus, have witnessed another Jane-ism that drives the wonderfulness of life at FDL.
-
Valley Girl |
03.24.06 - 11:43 pm | #
"You have the journalistic equivalent of Brownie heading up FEMA."
I suppose that makes Brady Cherkoff, who, you may recall, did not come out of Katrina exactly smelling like a rose. But Brady probably doesn't have the political pull to survive as long as Cherkoff has.
neurophius |
03.24.06 - 11:44 pm | #
By the way, Jane, outstanding work.
neurophius |
03.24.06 - 11:46 pm | #
Brady out by May 1st. I'd lay down money on it.
I was thinking the same thing earlier today. He's brought the post a lot of grief.
patriotboy |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 11:47 pm | #
Lookee what just popped up at the WaPo:
"Impeachment Whispers Grow"
HOLYOKE, Mass. -- "To drive through the mill towns and curling country roads here is to journey into New England's impeachment belt. Three of this state's 10 House members have called for the investigation and possible impeachment of President Bush..." http://www.washingtonpost.com/
wp...6032402248.html
In scanning the article, I didn't see anything new, but imo what's most relevant is the prominence the WaPo is giving the "I" word. Scooter won't like this article. My guess from the interactive site is that it will be "above the fold," front page in the print edition. Now, it is Saturday's edition, but this is progess.
What a post Jane! My monitor fogged up reading it.
Wilson, loved the Sammuel Morse line. IMO what Debbie unintentionally "telegraphed" was that Church Lady Brady is on even thinner ice than she is.
OT isn't about time for Richard Morin to poll impeachment?
FYI Dana Milbank had some very well crafted words in the WaPo online chat Friday that were reacting to turtle boy's "I'm not a journalist," which appeared in Howie Kurtz's article on Friday morning. It sounds to me as though Brady and turtle boy tried floating the "I'm not a journalist" with Howie as a way of slipping the plagirism. Milbank's online chat comments may have been an important prick in Church Lady's trial balloon.
John Casper |
03.24.06 - 11:49 pm | #
I just gotta say....that was one hell of a methphorical romp.
wtm |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 11:50 pm | #
I'll take the over and bet you that the Post goes and Brady stays (and I actually took my time typing that, so it is what I meant to say) - Status quo ante. They're heads are too far up their asses - as if somehow the decision to hire the shithead was only Brady's. I don't believe that.
Evil Parallel Universe |
03.24.06 - 11:50 pm | #
Benjie has the number one quality needed as a Senior Editor at Regnery. He actually believes the hate-filled crap produced by the wingnuts. A true believer!
Edward Deevy |
Homepage |
03.24.06 - 11:51 pm | #
Never fight with someone who buys electrons by the barrel.
Gyro Gear Lose |
03.24.06 - 11:53 pm | #
Jane,
Maybe this Domenech thing is an opportunity-- how about you challenge Brady to hire an authentic conservative to fill that WP .com blogging slot? A real fucking conservative, the kind that actually believes in balanced budgets, sensible foreign policy, keeping big gummint out of our personal lives, and responsible stewardship of our natural resource base. And a little accountability would be nice, too.
I dare you, Brady; put a real conservative in place of the Bush-licking Domenech.
swamp dweller |
03.24.06 - 11:55 pm | #
Mainerinexile - I wouldn't worry too much about trolls on this site. Christy warms 'em up with some well-placed jabs, and then Jane finishes 'em off with a swift right hook to the head.
(and it's always fun to watch!)
wilson - you are very brave to be lolling about again without your "s" .
shoephone |
03.24.06 - 11:56 pm | #
Gentleman Jim | 03.24.06 - 10:59 pm | #
Dave Latchaw | 03.24.06 - 11:00 pm | #
Your posts bring to mind a fave flick from a couple dozen years ago: Absence of Malice. Steve McQueen plays the gone-straight son of a Mafia don; he's the victim of an attempted frameup masterminded by newspaper editor Sally Field. McQueen foils the plot, and Field and her co-conspirators find themselves in deep 'ship'. The money quote just before the closing credits:
Field: "I guess you really got us, huh?
McQueen: "I didn't get you. You got yourselves."
I have mixed feelings about WaPoo on-line's organizationally suicidal tendencies. Yeah, Brady's behavior toward Jane has been really chicken-'lips', and she's more than entitled (IMO, FWIW) to take him on now.
My thesis is that Froomkin's a treasure, and we really benefit by having him out there. Even if Ben had stayed and had been positioned against Froomkin, it would've been a complete mismatch. As an old European professor of mine might've said, "The comparison would've been odious."
And, looking at it from Brady's perspective, the White House might be uncomfortable about Froomkin, but he's the star of Brady's site. "Mr. Rock, meet Mr. Hard Place."
Given that we're the ones who are short of resources, I think we need to concentrate our strength and choose our battles wisely. IMO, if Brady doesn't learn to straighten up and fly right pretty soon, he and WaPoo.com likely will crash and burn no matter what we do.
Fortunately, Froomkin would appear to have enough of a rep for drawing a substantial audience that he might be able to find another high-profile home elsewhere if necessary. I hope that doesn't have to happen, though.
al-Scooter |
03.24.06 - 11:57 pm | #
Someone just needs to slap me upside the head...you can not argue with someone online. GSD...I am going to take lessons from you. I can't try to fathom this which is not real time.
Mainerinexile |
03.24.06 - 11:58 pm | #
Here is an amusing bit about the move to impeach Bush for plagiarism, in the wake of the Benji firing...
al-Scooter | 03.24.06 - 11:57 pm | # It was Paul Newman, not Steve McQueen.
Evil Parallel Universe |
03.25.06 - 12:00 am | #
I don't know if this has ever been asked, but do you think that Ben has made use of ghost writers? Ghost editors?
Dick Durata |
03.25.06 - 12:01 am | #
Evil Parallel Universe | 03.25.06 - 12:00 am | #
My bad. Should've imdb'd before inserting my foot in my keyboard.
al-Scooter |
03.25.06 - 12:07 am | #
al-Scooter
That was Paul Newman
Friday, Mar 24
Separated at Birth: Ben Domenech and Judy?
Is Ben Domenech related to Judy Miller? Probably not, but it's hard to read his explanatory post on RedState.org without thinking of Judy, who--like Ben--crafted elaborate and intricate and detailed explanations for why she was never to blame.
And finally from the "You can't make this shit up file"
Bill O'Reilly Pre-empts Car Chase [TVNewser]
As noted earlier today, Shep Smith's Fox Report was the #1 show on cable news in the 25-54 demo Wednesday thanks to an L.A. car chase. But FNC dropped the car chase at 8 p.m. for Bill O'Reilly's taped Factor. Some viewers were disappointed by the sudden shift in programming.
Gyro Gear Lose |
03.25.06 - 12:14 am | #
great post Jane.
punaise |
03.25.06 - 12:16 am | #
Metaphorically of course, I want to see Brady's head on a Post.
Gentleman Jim | 03.24.06 - 11:06 pm | #
but certainly not on a masthead.
punaise |
03.25.06 - 12:17 am | #
Bless you GSD...I would bow at your feet...but at the moment I can't remember your orientation. Either way...I still worship at your feet...I owe you and I will remember it.
Mainerinexile |
03.25.06 - 12:17 am | #
Many kudos to the queen of snark, the Hepburn of the internet, and the Bergman of this gin joint -- the dangerous dame with the dagger fatale, Ms. Jane herself, for putting a serious hurtin' on the hypocritical "Zircon Jim" Brady.
radlib1 |
03.25.06 - 12:20 am | #
It's not too soon to start thinking about next year's Koufax awards. I propose that they open a new category for "Best Takedown," for which Jane should be a shoo-in.
neurophius |
03.25.06 - 12:25 am | #
I'm glad I never do more than poop 'n' run when I leave comments. I might come back to find myself on the wrong end o' one of these. Yowsah!
I'm sure you and Digby are right. Now just imagine the effect of the five years of similar ways of choosing everyone from United Nations ambassadors, generals, and Supreme Court judges to mid-level managers in every branch of the national government -- where we are today -- and imagine three more. The Washington Post is a dust mote in the glare of our self-immolation.
Have a drink. I know I will, when the Lortabs for my hernia repair wear off.
John |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 12:25 am | #
I'm not sure why, but I have an overwhelming desire to listen to "Instant Karma" right now.
Dave Latchaw |
03.25.06 - 12:27 am | #
Jane, in the afterglow of your beautiful beat down of JB, I've got to light up a cigarette.
You on fire, girl!
roberto |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 12:30 am | #
amidst all the Friday evening silliness in the previous thread about Catalonian rabbits, singing nuns and such (I know, people who live in glass houses, yada, yada) I note that Pach had some wise and genuine things to say re
a) closing the book on Ben the Pen, and
b) pondering how he can pull his life together
smart fella (Pach, not Ben....duhhh)
punaise |
03.25.06 - 12:31 am | #
I'm not sure why, but I have an overwhelming desire to listen to "Instant Karma" right now.
Dave Latchaw | 03.25.06 - 12:27 am | #
I haven't been able to get fucking Maureen McGovern out of my head for 2 hours.
BullGoose |
03.25.06 - 12:32 am | #
Ya know, all this talk about the recent slant to the right by the Washington Post got me to thinking. I wonder if this shift is working out well for them? I mean, if it improves their bottom line maybe they need to become a right-wing organization to remain competitive? Well, apparently not. Because while lefty blogs seem to be growing their readership at a phenomenal pace, well the Washington Post just isnt looking too good these days. Leads one to wonder perhaps the Washington Posts problem is the lack of liberal voices or too much conservative leadership. Whatever the case, I dont think the investors are too thrilled with the current leadership that is making these poor decisions.
Cloud7 |
03.25.06 - 12:33 am | #
for the record, I called the shot on seeing a bear on the front page tonight. Lucky guess.
bear with me.
watertiger | Homepage | 03.24.06 - 5:39 pm | #
Hey, the weekend crew is showing up. I expect to see a picture of a cute bear. :-)
punaise | 03.24.06 - 5:40 pm | #
punaise |
03.25.06 - 12:35 am | #
Another attempt of Roverian missdirection foiled.
Good work all.
cdc |
03.25.06 - 12:38 am | #
A Red America Obituary. Read and weep.
Mash |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 12:39 am | #
How about :
I am the slime from the video
Oozin' along on your livin' room floor.
The Harder He Blows
From our April issue : It may sound strange to ask whats happened to Chris Matthews. But in recent months, hes been even worse than usual. No. Were serious.
Mark Morford, Snarkster-in-residence of the SF Chronicle, plays it straight today:
"...Do you remember the time of pretty brainwashed thoughts and insidiously patriotic dreams? Before the darkness and the disgust, before 20,000 killed, maimed and disabled American soldiers, before we illegally detained thousands and brutally tortured hundreds of Iraqis, before the wiretapping and the Patriot Act and the disgusting lack of accountability and before America's reputation in the Muslim world was turned to rancid hummus?
And now, here we are. March 20 marked the three-year anniversary of the start of our quick-'n'-cheap, three-month Iraq occupation/invasion. It is a moment to reflect on what we have accomplished. We have accomplished this: global contempt and colossal debt and a culture of death and intolerance. How very proud we are. Thank you, George.
...
Have you heard all this before? Of course you have. It has become our national refrain. It is the subtext to all we do. It is printed on our nation's bloodstained business card.
And now, a sort of bleak but bitterly livable numbness has settled in. We are like a person with a ghostly fatal disease, limping around with a hacking cough and blood in our eyeballs and an awkward forced smile, pretending all's well and we'll make it through A-OK when deep down we know something has been permanently torn and shredded and incapacitated and there is no medicine for it except maybe wholesale sociopolitical revolution. ..."
punaise |
03.25.06 - 12:42 am | #
How about :
I am the slime from the video
Oozin' along on your livin' room floor.
Gyro Gear Lose | 03.25.06 - 12:40 am | #
Zappa, 'tis. ta!
don't go where the huskies go.
punaise |
03.25.06 - 12:43 am | #
moving to Montana soon
gonna be a dental floss tycoon
punaise |
03.25.06 - 12:45 am | #
Wow, you really fileted that Dude, Jane. Since you're being compared to St. Dorothy Parker, here are a few of my favorite Parkerisms:
I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I'm under the table,
after four I'm under my host.
You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.
This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.
If all the young ladies who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, no one would be the least surprised.
That would be a good thing for them to cut on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment.
op99 |
03.25.06 - 12:53 am | #
With all of the publicity surrounding The Ben, has anyone considered a more general investigation of home schooling's failures? My take would be that an education is only as good as the source, and since Domenech (former poster boy for the home schooling cause) turned out to be such an ethically challenged, lying, weaselly little nutsack who can't own up to his own failures, perhaps there is a larger case to be made.
swamp dweller | 03.24.06 - 11:55 pm: "Maybe this Domenech thing is an opportunity-- how about you challenge Brady to hire an authentic conservative to fill that WP .com blogging slot? A real fucking conservative, the kind that actually believes in balanced budgets, sensible foreign policy, keeping big gummint out of our personal lives, and responsible stewardship of our natural resource base. And a little accountability would be nice, too."
YES! Oh, this is genius.
Can you imagine how it would make the wingnuts howl and sputter? I'm writing an email right now.
seepeesate |
03.25.06 - 2:01 am | #
They'll give the manure spreader to get good and empty over this whole deal, and then Brady will decide he needs to spend more time with his family. And off he rides into the sunset, with the new Iraqi flag. Mars, bitches!
knuckledragger |
03.25.06 - 2:02 am | #
Estate of Mind: Dorothy Parker Willed her copyright to the NAACP-An organization her executor, Lillian Hellman, destested
Now Ben is in a quandary as he has to write a book about his experience.
Gore Vidal wrote his first before he joined the service and before he graudated from Harvard. Flaming liberal.
christofay |
03.25.06 - 2:07 am | #
Wowzers, Jane. You've outdone yourself on this one. A brilliant piece. I loved it.
Fed Up and Ready to Fight |
03.25.06 - 2:10 am | #
Next time this happens, what say we just gather our evidence and hold it until they get in deeper? You guys really did save the Post from themselves. They didn't deserve it.
Patrick |
03.25.06 - 2:13 am | #
Jane, I think Brady should answer these questions in lieu of the Domenech Debacle.
What kind of background check did you guys do?
Did Ben graduate from college (nowhere is he referred to as a W&M graduate, merely "attended")? If he didn't, how did he land a gig at the WaPo without a degree?
What writing samples did he produce for you guys?
Were you guys even on the look out for possible plagiarism?
Did you ask him if he posted on RedState, and if so, did you ask what under what user name?
If you did, how come many of the comments bloggers cited as objectionable slip past you?
Brady says WaPo did a background check and nothing surfaced but I find it hard to believe that everything that bloggers dug up on Ben within hours could have slipped past the Washington Post... if they were even looking for it.
You are the Brady-ologist so I come to you for answers.
Matt O. |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 2:24 am | #
Great post jane....Uh I mean Columbo...LOL
Franco |
03.25.06 - 3:54 am | #
He was an entitled, upper-middle class GOP twit like you and Hugh, the Brownie-esque product of class and cronyism utterly unsullied by any exposure to the free market competition of hard work or ideas. A home schooled, talentless hothouse flower capable only of spewing pissy, priveleged, angry white rhetoric and devoid of any ability to put forth a cogent argument.
Did you even notice?
i just wanted to see this bit in italics! so, so very GOOD!
medaka |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 3:54 am | #
Jane, you are truly brilliant. It's going to help.
Now, for anyone who wants to get an idea of what the other side really looks like, read this:
That's the true face of the people running the United States.
arbogast |
03.25.06 - 3:55 am | #
There is something inexplicable about the promotion of people like Jonah Goldberg and Ben Domenech. Utterly incompetent (and in Domenech's case at least utterly unscrupulous), yet somehow they are plugged into a power structure that we sometimes just get glimpses of, probably through their parents' connections......
Domenech profiled in a WaPo article on home skooling when he's still a kid, then somehow ending up as their resident GOP blogger at the tender age of 24.....Jonah ending up on NPR's Weekend Edition as a commentator on the news......I remember Juan Cole trying to figure out why this know-nothing kid was showing up on pundit shows all over the place pontificating on Iraq when he knew less than the average paper carrier about Iraq or the Arab world in general....
Bottom line: I strongly suspect that the story of the hiring of Ben Domenech goes a lot deeper than Brady being convinced over drinks by Hewitt......
Taylor |
03.25.06 - 4:03 am | #
CAVEAT SCRIPTOR: Once more, BEWARE the NRO plagiarism standard.
I just came across two boons from The Muse:
(1) from Billmon, "Maybe pasty-faced Young Republicans in bow ties really are the new black. "
and
(2) digby's lovely comment about adding epistemic relativism to moral relativism.
My rule is to quote twice WITH attribution, after which they become found objects - public domain. NRO would treat quips, tropes, and witticisms as intellectual property.** I would not be surprised if they exploit the Ben Incident to demand a citation or footnote for every wisecrack, -- and, if it originates in their shop, claim a royalty.
** It is easy to mistake rarity for value, but these people have such inflated self-regard, I suspect they would, if they could, copyright their farts.
RJJ |
03.25.06 - 4:23 am | #
Are there Pulitzer's for bloggers? This is the most delicious piece I've read yet on the Domenech debacle. Kay Graham must be spinning in her grave.
mombear |
03.25.06 - 4:28 am | #
the whole propblem stems from people still reading that piece of trash - the Washington Post. lefties need to kick the habit, who needs it. the truth is out there. playing with WaPo, NY Times, fux nuz, and the rest of GOP corporate media is pure mental masturbation. you want that, go right ahead, but don't be fooling yourself that your dealing with "the news media". you're dealing with infortainment; republican unrealty, manipulation of the massess - that's it.
You think you can get that leopard to change its spots - you're wrong. Their purpose IS to manipulate the untihinking, not-interested in politics public, i.e., the serfs that are perfectly happy to be ruled. Publishing the truth would undermine the purpose of GOP corporate media.
.
pluege |
03.25.06 - 4:28 am | #
a real organization (i.e., one that is not part of the propaganda apparatus of the GOP) would fire the person most responsible for hiring Domenech.
.
yowzer |
03.25.06 - 4:34 am | #
Jane,
Your writing is among the best in the lefty blogosphere. This article was just so fabulous. I think everyone (print or otherewise) can recognize good writing when we see it.
Thanks for all the wonderful work that you and Redd are doing for our country. It makes me proud to be an American .
And this article in particular, just blew me away. Get ready for lots of accolades coming your way Jane.
Best wishes,
CB
Crazy Barrone |
03.25.06 - 4:37 am | #
Good morning all FDL'ers.And a great post to wake to.I love the smell of snark in the morning.Had a feeling you had a good one brewing,Jane.Bullseye!
DMM |
03.25.06 - 4:44 am | #
Stunning post, Jane, even for you. I want to have your baby.
Also - best. graphic. ever. I'm still laughing.
Sharkbabe |
03.25.06 - 4:48 am | #
Hmm.
Think of it in sequence.
What better way to distract readers from the corruption and malfeasance at the Washington Post than to create a bigger furor at the washingtonpost.com?
WaPo has ALWAYS been highly conservative -- columnists are overwhelmingly right-to-rightwing, and even Kinsely, the supposed liberal, spins self-indulgent, overly clever columns that never take a strong liberal stand.
So they send Dan Froomkin, the one liberal pro that had to make them uncomfortable already -- over to the on line operation at washingtonpost.com.
Then come down hard -- and consciously unfairly -- on Froomkin's journalism. After all, it's online. An Orwellian stunt, by any measure.
Hire a right-wing lunatic -- Ben Domenech.
Behold! It's the online Washingtonpost.com with the problem!!!
We had to retract the hiring to restore our credibility!
Online bad! -- Newspaper good!
Conservative columnist lineup still in place. Tight oh-so-tight relationship with BushCo still in place. Woodward? Not an issue. Hsu? Anonymous sources from White House no longer an issue. Milbank mocking Conyers rather than raising the issue of impeachment? Forgotten. etc., etc.
Howell enforces the incorrect distinction between the newspaper and the online version. Newspaper good! Horrible online had to be fixed!
SombreroFallout | 03.25.06 - 7:47 am | #
SombreroFallout |
03.25.06 - 4:48 am | #
thanks, Jane. It is 430am here and that was fine.
peterboy |
03.25.06 - 4:55 am | #
It looks like people were up till all hours around here!
Excellent Jane! My favorite line is "talentless hothouse flower" - which about sums Ben up!
BTW -- did anyone get a chance to see benji as a child, all dressed up as a union soldier surrounded by little women?
Posted the link in Pach's thread yesterday.
timewarp |
03.25.06 - 5:04 am | #
Hey, Ben Waaah is really, truly sorry now...
Sharkbabe |
03.25.06 - 5:05 am | #
Mmmmmm...Hamshersnark. Chewey.
Zergle |
03.25.06 - 5:05 am | #
after reading this, I actually said out loud: "God, she's good"
You are sooo talented. Glad you're on our side!
ndenial |
03.25.06 - 5:06 am | #
Good Morning everybody -- and I. am. speechless, with a grin that's going to last all day. Jane, that was unbelievable -- and everyone's comments likewise. Kind of thought it would happen last night, but sure was great to wake up to this morning.
dannyboy |
03.25.06 - 5:06 am | #
sorry, but to me right now this is petty shit
the president spat in the fact of Americans, spat in the face of his neo cons, spat in the face of the senate and the house
WHY THE HELL ISN'T THIS FRONT PAGE NEWS?
he's making up his own law, there is no friggin reason for the other branches to even exist
we REALLY HAVE TO HAMMER AND HAMMER
gonzales actually said our doctor patient conversations are NOT exempt
if the new york times ever had a reason to run a one story front page, in large bold type, this is that reason
our xcountry is under seige and right now I this petty crap is not a voctory to me at all
me to me |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 5:07 am | #
Hewitt's been strangely silent over this whole matter. Then again, Ben edited Hugh's new book.
Boo hoo, Hugh, what to do? Defend a friend and watch your sales descend? Or stab a buddy when you're already bloody?
No wonder he took the coward's path and grabbed a nice warm cup of STFU. Whatta pal.
.
Lazy Murrow |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 5:09 am | #
Geeeeze. Jane, get down with your own bad self! You are spanking the snark. I don't know what you're eating for breakfast, but I'll have whatever you're having. Great work. My jaw is dropped and I'm laughing so hard I can hardly see straight. Jim won't know what hit him!
meta |
03.25.06 - 5:22 am | #
And the best thing about this site is that it doesn't forget all the other issues, but takes all them on and on and on. I also agree we (if I may include myself inthe FDL community) have so many brilliant, informed, and CARING readers/contributors, both on the front page and in comments.
Old Sow |
03.25.06 - 5:28 am | #
Way OT, but did you guys catch the huge immigration demonstrations yesterday? OMG. I'm sure Frist wet his panties when he saw the Sea of Brown People flooding the streets. Put that in your taco, Kittyman. Don't fuck with the people who clean your push button toilets, pick your chardonnay grapes and arugula, bathe your children, wash your dishes, and pay into your fucked up social security system.
meta |
03.25.06 - 5:29 am | #
That was freakin' awesome.
Please tell me you're sending that to the WaPo as a letter or op-ed. And if they don't want it, send it to someone.
Wally Whateley |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 5:30 am | #
Don't fuck with the people who clean your push button toilets, pick your chardonnay grapes and arugula, bathe your children, wash your dishes, and pay into your fucked up social security system.
Heh..two words: Fight Club
Zergle |
03.25.06 - 5:31 am | #
The post hires the racist Domenech, but at the same time an article in today's paper points out that the DC area will become predominantly "minority" by 2010. I don't think these new DC residents will be Post readers.
Marysz |
03.25.06 - 5:33 am | #
Zergie, heh!!
(But the first rule of the Fight Club is we never talk about the Fight Club. The second rule of the Fight Club is we never talk about the Fight Club.)
These people are really asking for it. Hey Frist, do the math!!
meta |
03.25.06 - 5:39 am | #
Jane, you're oh-so-fever-swampy-ish.
Mr. Sneezy Scaryquotes |
03.25.06 - 5:45 am | #
Wow, Jane, that was harsh, deserved and well said. I was getting a little tired of the subject until I read your post. I love this site, come here often, sometimes comment but always enjoy the writing and all the comments by insightful people all around. It gives me hope that we can make a difference.
jere |
03.25.06 - 5:47 am | #
It's got a Wolcott-esque feel to it; I can see where others would think of Dorothy Parker. But Wolcott and Parker are drive-bys compared to this.
This is a new genre of snark altogether, a new neologism born. There's cutting wit, biting satire, there's snark that lets the air out of the tires. Jane not only punctures with precision, but she twists the knife and demands more of the subject.
She's Hamshered the Poolboy. And she's not going to stop until we've gotten a satisfactory answer from the target. Brava, Jane!
[BTW -- Pachuatec, if you're around, check out SombreroFallout above at 4:48am. That's a new spin on the "tarbaby" model I mentioned yesterday, don't you think?]
Rayne |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 5:49 am | #
Well, I just read over Ben-bot's latest statement, and I can only think one thing:
Daddy made him do it.
No other explanation. Daddy said if you don't clean it up I'm cutting you off because daddy knows being associated with a plagiarist (especially your own son) is very bad in DC. Very bad. Especially one who is so STUPID that he actually tried to defend it! Oh man...ya just can't write this stuff.
Ok, with that out of the way, what are we doing about W and Congress today?
Zergle |
03.25.06 - 5:53 am | #
Columbo this, bitches !
as one of the more challenged wordsmiths at this site, it becomes increasingly difficult for me to accurately express my gratitude to you and Christy for what you have done and continue to do here - I leave you with a simple but most sincere thank you . The comparison upthread to the great Dorothy Parker is one I've made here in the past and it seems more apt with every post.
Coulda been worse Ben. What if you shot an old man in the face?
BTW, when you get the chance, tell me about that ole' time home schooling. Did your mom use McGuffey's?
fred |
03.25.06 - 6:19 am | #
In a show of support for how well he handled the Domenech matter, The Washington Post has presented Jim Brady with an autographed copy of Google Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks.
John Ferguson |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 6:20 am | #
Check out Jay Rosen, Jane. I've had to bitch-slap that boy about this 4th estate "kerfluffle."
He doesn't get it. he doesn't want to get it.
A"free press" is a nice idea, but an exceedingly rare practice.
Hugh Hewitt has indeed been as quiet as a Roy Cohn fuck-date. Clearly he was point man for this hire. Why they didn't go on over to Open Underoos Media and grab somebody half-sane like Cathy Seipp? Revenge, that's why.
This is just the first battle in an ongoing war. Our next objective should be getting Brady's scuzzy ass fired. If the Washington Post cared about standards -- even mere competence -- it would have shown him the door for this. It's going to take a lot more. Never give up. Smack 'em down. Repeatedly and Hard.
David Ehrenstein |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 6:27 am | #
titled "What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?" comes to mind when I read your post.
He says:
Conservatism has opposed rational thought for thousands of years. What most people know nowadays as conservatism is basically a public relations campaign aimed at persuading them to lay down their capacity for rational thought.
Conservatism frequently attempts to destroy rational thought, for example, by using language in ways that stand just out of reach of rational debate or rebuttal.
-----
Dan Robinson |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 6:56 am | #
Three comments:
1. I hope your mom is proud of you. This is your victory.
2. There's been some discussion of the circumstances under which Domanech left W&M, not all of which I followed. My experience (in my years as professor I've found the rate of catching cheaters is a couple a year)
is that even faculty at the school in question cannot find out about past incidents. They are deep-frozen. But there will be a mention on the transcript if official action was taken. If action was unofficial ("Leave, never come back, and we'll keep it off the transcript"), there won't be a record at all. I can also say that permanent expulsion is not a common punishment for a single offence.
3. Brady owes you an actual love letter, Jane. If you hadn't been all over him from day one, he might have found out in a year that he had to deal with a Jayson Blair instead of a stupid mistake.
Professor Foland |
03.25.06 - 7:06 am | #
new thread - old city
*ilson46201 |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 7:06 am | #
Thanks to John Cole, I've now bookmarked this site and will become a regular reader.
Great show at Balloon-Juice.
Octagon |
03.25.06 - 7:30 am | #
Step 1: Fire Brady.
Step 2: Impeach Bush & Cheney.
Step 3: Cheer for a second.
Step 4: Cry for as long as it takes that any of this happened.
Step 5: Work to restore America's repution for the next 100+ years.
Step 6: Vow to never, ever, let this happen again!!!
c u n d gulag |
03.25.06 - 7:39 am | #
Heard part of Hewitt's hate radio show yesterday. He had no topics. Instead, he was playing excerpts from the 14 influential protest songs cited by "Contexts" magazine, and he had to point out that he had never heard "Lift Every Voice and Sing," and had never heard "Strange Fruit."
Think on that for just a bit.
Ch Pasa |
03.25.06 - 7:46 am | #
Hugh's led such a sheltered life, poor lamb.
David Ehrenstein |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 7:56 am | #
100% spot on Jane.
Except for one part.
I protested the "home schooled" chant at DKos this week because I don't believe it deserves the broad brush it's been getting so thickly recerntly. I'm sure you're aware of that and use it in a more pointed sense, but especially here, I think, it's low. You said:
A home schooled, talentless hothouse flower capable only of spewing pissy, priveleged, angry white rhetoric and devoid of any ability to put forth a cogent argument.
What the fuck does "home schooled" have to do with that? The specific home-schooling he received surely has plenty to do with his views, but to just throw that out there... it weakens, for me, a very good point.
That's all. (No. I wasn't home schooled.)
earl |
03.25.06 - 8:09 am | #
Ben, the gift that keeps on giving is keeping them busy at NRO.
"I don't know Ben Domenech, but I've always found him impressive. The evidence of his plagiarism, however, is overwhelming, and there can be no excuses for these intellectual felonies. He needs to come clean and take his punishment like a man."
Wooo -- always knew he was into S&M!
David Ehrenstein |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 8:20 am | #
'When Interventions Fail'.
The tragic story of the deaf ears and willing blindness of the decisionmakers who destroyed a once great American newspaper.
Non fiction; The Washington Post (wwwwashingtonpost.com); 50cents newsstand, free abridged copies available online.
Sonoma |
03.25.06 - 8:27 am | #
An excellent article Jane. Quite a tempest in a teapot though in a way. I don't think that the WaPo or the NYT, either one, really have any credibility anymore and perhaps the whole BoxTurtleBoy affair is just another distraction on the level of big time shooting lawyers without the proper tags.
As Molly Ivins pointed out yesterday or so print media (ink on dead trees) isn't so much dying as killing itself. If they continue to be less and less concerned with printing actual news that matters that is unearthed by actual investigative reporters rather than stenographers, it should come as no surprise if their circulation continues to decline. Television News is even more of a joke - even infotainment may overly emphasize the info part and thus be misleading.
theExile |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 8:33 am | #
Bravo, Jane, but I hope I never piss you off.
lesarch |
03.25.06 - 8:40 am | #
The WaPo and NYT et.al. do seem to be obsolete; the way they conduct business, being hypocrites (Judy Miller and all the news that's fit to print) and corruptible (e.g., using cronys), they're more like the Bush cabal than an objective news source.
Too bad for them that excellent, intelligent Columbos such as Jane are on their ass exposing their hypocrisy and corruption.
(John WATB Harris was on Washington Week with Gwen Ifill; is he autistic?)
san mateo |
03.25.06 - 8:47 am | #
"exile"
molly ivins is right.
the wapoop management is killing the paper.
you don't have to be a committted liberal or conservative to want your money's worth when you buy a paper.
you want reliable information about important things happening.
but the guys at wapoop
like brady and downey
don't give a damn about their readers.
they just want access to the white house
and controversy to stimulate interest.
neither goal will sell that many paers.
unless donald graham cleans house soon
wapoop is doomed to wash times status in a decade.
orionATL |
03.25.06 - 9:00 am | #
earl | 03.25.06 - 8:09 am
The point about "home schooling" isn't an assault on folks who are or have been home schooled. I'm sure we can point to fine Americans who've beneficiaries of home schooling for a multitude of reasons.
The point here: a return parry at the Norquistian ideal of every American being home schooled, intrinsic to the neo-conservative dream of little-to-no government save the military. If the Box Turtle is an exemplary product of that Norquistian ideal, born of the idealized home schooling, f*ck it, home schooling should not become the defacto method of education in this country.
Rayne |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 9:14 am | #
Contrition from Ben? It sounds ghost-written.
Contrition
By: Augustine Section: Miscellania
"I want to apologize to National Review Online, my friends and colleagues here at RedState, and to any others that have been affected over the past few days. I also want to apologize to my previous editors and writers whose work I used inappropriately and without attribution. There is no excuse for this - nor is there an excuse for any obfuscation in my earlier statement."
"I hope that nothing I've done as a teenager or in my professional life will reflect badly on the movement and principles I believe in."
"I'm deeply grateful for the love and encouragment of all those around me. And although I may not deserve such support, it makes it that much more humbling at a time like this. I'm a young man, and I hope that in time that I can earn a measure of the respect that you have given me."
Shorter WaPo: Blogs: fact-checking so we don't have to.
Anonymous |
03.25.06 - 10:08 am | #
Orale, Carnala; que lindas son tus palabras. Brava.
LCM |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 10:51 am | #
Rayne
The point about "home schooling" isn't an assault on folks who are or have been home schooled. I'm sure we can point to fine Americans who've beneficiaries of home schooling for a multitude of reasons.
The point here: a return parry at the Norquistian ideal of every American being home schooled, intrinsic to the neo-conservative dream of little-to-no government save the military. If the Box Turtle is an exemplary product of that Norquistian ideal, born of the idealized home schooling, f*ck it, home schooling should not become the defacto method of education in this country.
You may read all that into Jane's quote I referred to, but it is certainly not written there, and it therefore in its vagueness does become an assault on... I know it would be silly to add a qualifier every time one makes the point, but why make it in the first place? Is it that strong a point? I argue that it's not, partly because of the broad brush and partly, in regards to your argument anyway, because it's not correct.
The neo-cons, at least the ones with the real power and the ones we should be addressing the most, I believe, do not want eveybody home-schooled--you've got to be kidding. Where is the money in that? They want private schools for all, and the billions that would come with that. It is all about the money.
Anyway, that's a bit of an aside, the point I really want to make is to simply defend the good home-schooled kids of good parents.
Earl |
03.25.06 - 11:06 am | #
What follows are a few brilliant paragraphs from REGARDING MEDIA by Tim Rutten in today's LA Times:
It would be nice if the impulse that led the Washington Post Co. to hire Domenech in the first place had reflected as clear a sense of responsibility. Earlier Friday, Brady told the Post's Kurtz that he hired the young commentator because "we were completely unrepresented by a social conservative voice." Fair enough, but the fact is that WashingtonPost.com also doesn't have a designated blue state voice, which lent a certain plausibility to the liberal bloggers' initial charge that Domenech was recruited to appease conservative critics who have been raging about the alleged liberal bias of Post staff writer Dan Froomkin's popular White House Briefing blog.
Brady has denied that was his motive, but Domenech himself earlier wrote that "Dan Froomkin is without question a lying weasel-faced Democrat shill." (Their meeting would have made for one hell of an office Christmas party.)
If the Post's online edition thinks it has a bias problem, the way to address that is to enforce the same standards of fairness and balance that prevail in a print newsroom. There are all sorts of antique things that have to be checked at the door of cyberspace, but values and ethics aren't among them. Moreover, one-from-column-A-one-from-column-B balance doesn't add up to anything but a verbal food fight, and that's as true on a flat screen as it is at the newsstand.
Finally, there's the wretched young master Domenech. When participating in his various overheated online exchanges under the nom de plume "Augustine," he was fond of ending his own mock-heroic posts with a line from King Harry's famous Agincourt speech from Shakespeare's "Henry V":
'This story shall the good man teach his son.'
We couldn't close on a better thought.
Coverage like that renews my hope for the MSM.
Tom |
03.25.06 - 11:36 am | #
And yet, Tom, the LA Times fires Robert Scheer and hires Jonah Goldberg. Rutten's analysis is flatulent without owning up to the same instincts and practice at his own paper.
On the Clock |
03.25.06 - 12:24 pm | #
Great hammer job on brady Jane. You know I did like the layout better on the old format. Not that it will keep me off the site- just saying.
joe helgerson |
03.25.06 - 12:55 pm | #
Earl | 03.25.06 - 11:06 am
The private school/home school dichotomy is a split in the party between the lib-Norquist faction and the fundie-elitist faction. The rich libertarian types I know DON'T send their kids to private school, spend the day instead rubbing shoulders with other rich families and their kids, can afford to buy all the resources they need for home school. NO guarantee of outcome from this. The other fundie-elitist types are more concerned with either Christian content (end up going to unaccredited schools like Bob Jones) or with cachet (buy their way into any college).
There are good folks that home school out of values or necessity, but folks like Domenech are cloned out of one of the above models or a hybrid. No thank you.
As one of my public school teachers said years ago, If you feel insulted, you probably deserve to be. In other words, if the shoe fits...
Rayne |
Homepage |
03.25.06 - 1:02 pm | #
Rayne
Ach. You lowered yourself with that one.
As I said in my first comment, I was not homeschooled. Nor was I brought up in an any more than common, sort-of Catholic (Dad wasn't) way and I went to public school K through 12. I felt no insult. I wanted, as I said in my second comment, "to simply defend the good home-schooled kids of good parents."
"If you feel insulted you probably should be"? Holy fuck, that is thick. Tell me: Does that work for racial slurs?
This would be the same WaPo that shilled for the war, tax cuts etc., etc.? Quel surprise!
tmcotter |
03.25.06 - 1:38 pm | #
Excellent post! If only the American media had the same ethics, honesty, perpective and stones.
As for the home skooling aspect of BTB's story, we keeping hearing that HS'ers are pulled from the schools so as not to be contaminated every stereotype that the Morally Superior can smear as librul. It's obvious to me these swipes don't apply to all home skoolees.
What is fair game is that the ex-Wapo employee is himself contaminated by the rightist mental disorders of fascism, bigotry, hatred and elitism.
TF-MA |
03.25.06 - 1:45 pm | #
Damn Jane, excellent writing. One only hopes Brady reads this. You're quite the renaissance woman.
Mike P |
03.25.06 - 1:54 pm | #
On the Clock,
I agree that the LAT opinion section has gone to hell. Rutten publishes in the entertainment section (Calendar), which the RNC doesn't yet own.
I imagine that, for families of "high net worth," home schooling is what private tutoring was to the progeny of the British and Continental aristocracy in those thick 19th-century canonical novels that get turned into movies.
_________________________
The general public may be free to express their opinion that someone should not have been hired, but most states have laws to protect personnel records and other information about a former employee, just as federal HIPAA requirements prevent broadcasting an individual's medical records. I would not expect anyone at the WaPo to provide information about how or why an individual was hired; otherwise the newspaper might expose itself to litigation. Besides, it's none of anyone else's business, really, unless he or she has evidence that hiring X was in violation of existing law. Basically, a writer did not fulfill the requirements of the position for which he was hired; on top of that, he seems to have violated others' intellectual property rights (not every writer publishes under a Creative Commons arrangement). As an at-will employee of a corporation rather than a president of our country, pseudo-Augustine could be thrown under the bus and out into the street when his incompetence was exposed. But now he is gone. Now, how can we impeach a criminal president and get His Incompetence out of the picture as well?
Josh Harris |
03.25.06 - 2:08 pm | #
The general public may be free to express their opinion that someone should not have been hired, but most states have laws to protect personnel records and other information about a former employee, just as federal HIPAA requirements prevent broadcasting an individual's medical records. I would not expect anyone at the WaPo to provide information about how or why an individual was hired; otherwise the newspaper might expose itself to litigation.
That does not hold water given their own statements already about the hiring: the need to "balance" Froomkin's "highly opinionated and liberal," column; their admitted desire to make the White House more comfortable with their work; and the whole Patrick Ruffini sham. (See Jane's column for links.)
This is not about protecting somebody's personell records. They don't have to violate Domenech's privacy to answer the question.
Earl |
03.25.06 - 2:36 pm | #
Proposed FEC Rules Would Exempt Most Political Activity on Internet
By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, March 25, 2006; A04
///
Mike Krempasky, who runs the conservative blog RedState, called the proposed rules "a complex legal and regulatory scheme" and called on Congress to pass legislation sponsored by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.).
...yeah, right! Like RedState has any credibility at this point.
I think the key to the home schooling debate lies not in whether home schooling is good or bad per se; it depends on the particular case. Benjiboy was home schooled by rabid right wing republican kooks. If we were talking about someone who was home schooled by, say, Jane Hamsher or Christy Hardin Smith, we would no doubt see it differently. If anyone wants to slam Benjiboy's home schooling, perhaps they should make it clear that its fault lies in who was doing the teaching.
neurophius |
03.25.06 - 3:33 pm | #
Jane - if you ever decide to give up this writing gig, you could make a fortune as a pro domme with Rep clients ...
Cassius Chaerea |
03.25.06 - 4:05 pm | #
Here's how I understood the "home-schooling" remark: that it fits (and probably in a causative sense) together with the "hothouse flower" designation.
Others (I think Gilliard, IIRC) have pointed out that because of his parents' views being foisted on the boy in his home-schooling situation, he had ZERO socialization with kids from other backgrounds.
Certainly there are excellent parents who home-school in responsible ways. Those responsible parents will always need to find effective ways to fill in the socializing needs of their kids.
It's evident, from the company Ben keeps, that he was a "hothouse flower" never exposed to people with different ways of thinking about society and issues of the day.
Mrs. K8 |
03.25.06 - 4:41 pm | #
Late to the party, but LOVE YA. Great post!
Urban Pirate |
03.25.06 - 4:57 pm | #
I understand, neurophius, that Jane is speaking to the particular home-schooling that Ben recieved. I said that. My comment wasn't part of a debate on home-schooling, but what I saw, after a week of much worse, as a kind of flip and too-broad remark about homeschooling. That's all.
Mrs. KB.: Well, you are almost certainly right, now that I look at it. I'd nitpick and say that "home schooled" came first..but the heck with it. I just wanted to put the word in.
Great post. Just wish you hadn't pulled your punches.
a wreck |
03.25.06 - 6:09 pm | #
jane..
you are one tough smart funny cookie.
such a good job you and your buds did on this!
thanks for that WATB link..luvya
R2
R2 |
03.25.06 - 9:09 pm | #
Urgent: Please check--
Jane: I appreciated the banter and your results, which I first read over at HuffPo. In the copy here (FDL), there is no hyper link at "but nothing to indicate what a deeply fucked up little piece of shit he was;" this is NOT however, the case at HuffPo, where your quote reads " a deeply screwed up little creep he was."
If you'll note (please check!), the hyper link there sends you to RedState, but the confusing block pulled in is from a BOOK REVIEW in Richard John Neuhaus' journal First Things. (note the 8-9/05 issues). IT IS NOT A QUOTE by Augustine and it is certainly not a "quote" by Father Neuhaus except for the fact that it is the intentially incendiary intro to this book review, speaking as the book speaks. Again, it is with these three inflamatory sentences ( which your HuffPo link impliedly attributes to "Augustine") are included in text, but which would be misunderstood if taken as a statement without considerable irony from Fr. Neuhaus.
Please note that the quoted material has to do with an argument posed by Steven Levitt and John Donohue, furthered by Levitt and his writing partner Stephen Dubner in the "Freakonomics" book under review at First Things.
I pull from the book review: "A refreshing note of candor in the current discussion is that nobody is denying that all those fetuses killed in the womb were really human beings. So it seems the question of when human life begins has been settled once and for all." The acerbic style of Neuhaus is not shown at its best in a block paragraph--its nuance is best when one is hearing him speak.
Neuhaus and his journal are loyal to the Roman Catholic Magesterium and therefore are strenuously anti-abortion. Neuhaus, in reviewing the book, notes that this racist view held by Levitt and espoused in the book "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" attributes the abortion "gain" to racists as occurring 18 years after Roe v. Wade.
If I may press my point, please read the following two snips--both from Neuhaus, but you need to read both--
"Well yes, but nobody to my knowledge has suggested that the problem of crime in the United States is significantly related to the problem of Swedish immigration. Levitt, like Donohue, is also careful to say that he is not a supporter of the unlimited abortion license. I notice that many other commentators make a point of saying that this discussion is not about the rightness or wrongness of abortion."
"What is morally odious is the cool and disinterested way in which the commentariat is discussing what might fairly be described as racial cleansing."
Neuhaus continues, indicating Rev. Jesse Jackson's argument that the war on poverty has been replaced by a war on the poor. You will have to read the entire book review to understand Neuhaus' nuanced commentary on society at large and by name, "much to the satisfaction of those who think we would all be better off with fewer black people."
I urge you to make the necessary corrections and apologies to the editors of First Things and to Father Neuhaus, whose erudite and literate commentary pulls no punches; I think you will like having been referred to him.
Because of the seriousness of this misplaced link and its direct path to First Things, I am forwarding a copy to its editorial staff, as I am sure you would approve for the earliest resolution of this error.
Thank you for your time.
Anne Morris
Anne Morris |
03.25.06 - 10:49 pm | #
