There's a diary going on right now on Redstate.com, and I know they really don't deserve this attention, but I'd love to engage these people and talk to them about their lack of honor and integrity, but that would only get me banned in about 2 seconds. So, I thought I'd share some choice quotes from that diary, entitled
We Must Defend, including some of their big voices in that small pool of participants, because their complete lack of honor, integrity, honesty, etc. etc. etc. is beyond mindboggling.
Leon H Wolf offers
this in defense of the NRO-Final Fantasy plagiarism charge (highlighted by hilzoy, who's doing a good job of engaging them without getting banned):
hilzoy By: Leon H Wolf
You won't get banned for what you're doing here.
I saw the movie in question. What both reviews have presented is an accurate description of a phenomenon that is hard to describe. Based on the paragraphs you have here reprinted, you've shown nothing more conclusive than someone who remembered some of the words another reviewer used when describing the visual effect of the ghosts in FF.
Let me put it this way. Recently, I finished reading a book on life issues that was very compelling and logically worded. In particular, I found it to be very effective at expressing some of the rather complex philosophical questions that attend this debate in very simple ways. Since I've read that book, I've been chewing a lot of the ideas in my head, and I'm sure if you read over my posts from the last month, you'll find me saying things that are on the surface very similar, and it's possible that I may have even used some identical turns of phrase (although this certainly was not intentional and I didn't have a copy of the book in front of me while writing any of the aforementioned posts.) That's not plagiarism, that's being influenced.
All the same, Ben can answer for himself on these issues. I stand by my original comment in this thread, however (I think it's number three), and will continue to do so even if someone produces a videotape of Ben doing everything they've accused him of - because none of what he did in his teenage years, even if we grant that it is all true - will diminish from the truth and strength of what he is doing now.
Frankly, I am disgusted. The simple turn of a phrase subconsciously transposed into your own writing cannot explain the extent, specificity and detail with which Ben has lifted quotes. Not over and over again. And this explanation certainly does not cut it when it comes to justifying the P.J. O'Rourke theft.
So what do we do about these redstaters? Read on below, it's shocking how much they will excuse, allow, justify this dishonesty.
No honor. Read on:
"We must be ferocious in defending one of our best. These lies and cruel slanders must not stand."
... if all of the ankle-biting midgets currently attacking Ben had everything they'd done since they were 16 subjected to a netroots swarm, some stuff a lot more suspicious than this would turn up.
"Domenech is just the latest one to get the "screw 'em" treatment."
"Those who wish him to be gone from the WaPo have offered no critique of his points, just smears."
"As for the plagiarism charges, let them get rid of Doris Kearns Goodwin, then we'll talk."
one thing I've learned in college is that people don't realize how hard it is to NOT plagarize. You'd be hard pressed to find a single person in the entire civilized world that has been required to write a paper that didn't plagarize, whether on purpose or not if they had someone who wasn't specifically schooled in editing for those kinds of things looking over their work. I think you need to chill on the accusation.
Assume the worst and extrapolate. By: trevino
Assume, for a moment, that the plagiarism charge is true. For the sake of argument, assume that.
Now, having accepted this, what are we left with?
It is the sole critique of Domenech by the left with any objective merit.
It does not have much merit, as the profferred examples are:
-- Old, dating wholly from Domenech's teen years.
-- Confined wholly to movie reviews.
The Lord should be so kind that this would be the worst said of me at 19.
Chief apologist Leon H Wolf when confronted with links to the actual plagiarized articles:
I've read them By: Leon H Wolf
First, it's an exaggeration to say that there are "some" from NRO. There's one. And again, it's a movie review. And it's also the most spurious of all the claims.
Second, I would encourage you to spend some time reading around the other articles on FlatHat and see if you can discern that ANYBODY'S articles (particularly in the review section) have permissions cited.
The plagiarism stuff is hardly relevant to Ben's clear talent for writing and his heartfelt championing of the conservative viewpoint, but on the surface it's difficult to discredit. Some clarification from Ben would go a long way towards defusing the situation. At this point, I don't see why you would want to treat the charges as having equal merit.
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And so I ask Redstate.com's apologists and rationalizers --- where is your honor? Your integrity? You MUST defend him? Even in the face of obvious unprofessional behavior? Have you no shame?
Red Dawn Ben's behavior is pathetic, unprofessional and ultimately laughable, but it's hard to laugh at these redstaters. They faced a test of their ethical character, and they failed miserably. Makes me angrier even than our sad little plagiarizer.