the Domenech scandal

[demswin06]

Now that the WashingtonPost.com have done the right(not right-wing)thing and canned "Box Turtle Ben" (I love that one,may I please use it.Thanks) for his egregious plagiarizing,we can be done with this and get on to other things,such as the Iraq war,etc. Ben had to go. The jig was up when he was caught dead to rights lifting not just an occasional word or paragraph,but whole pages of other's materials. Not only was this kid reckless and arrogant,he was damn stupid. It was only a matter of time until he was caught. As Kos has already pointed out,the ONLY reason he got this plum assignment was due to his connections. And THAT is the biggest scandal. Not that some wet behind the ears kid who looks like he still uses fake ID's to get into bars got this job,it is HOW he got the job. This is how many people who are associated with Bush get jobs,by cronyism. I remember the old saying,that to succeed in life,it's "What you know,not who you know". I wish we lived in a society that actually once again believed that. A once great paper,cowed by the right into hiring this kid because of "liberal bias",now has more egg on its face. It didn't have to happen. I read the comments of one blogger who laughed at the fact that this was the best that they could do. No,the scary part is that are,sadly more Ben Domenech's out there who aren't second rate thieves who work for 4th rate blogs. The only good thing about this whole affair is not to piss off the "leftist" blogs. Benny will go back to his sheltered life,blissfully ignorant of the fate that has befallen him,whining all along that the "libs" did him 'em,which is bullshit. This one was easy to beat up on. The next one may not be. They are so young,that it might take years,maybe even decades to teach them that being a neocon is something that is not conducive to a safe,healthy and happy life.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. what we at DU need is a list of the "connections" that got him that far.

names, contacts, and positions, please. I really want to know - outing them will keep them from being able to do it again.

[demswin06]

3. well.

Dad was hired by the Bushies to work as the liason to the Interior Dept and apparently was on Abramoff's to call list.If I am not mistaken,aren't Indian tribes in the jurdistiction of the Interior Dept? Bennie was an intern at the WH.

[existentialist]

2. Yes, and the side point is that this episode is, legitimately,

in the public discourse as exhibit # 531,726 of the present Republican culture of corruption.

(But who is counting?)