The Pilgrim's Progress: The Episode in Which Mr. Godlyman Is Wounded by Himself

March 21: Washingtonpost.com launched its Red America weblog, authored by Ben Domenech, an editor at the conservative Regnery Publishing Inc. and co-founder of the partisan weblog RedState.com.

March 22: It comes out that Domenech, under the screen name "Augustine," had posted a comment that the recently deceased Coretta Scott King was a "communist" ... on RedState.com. Other equally inflammatory material comes to light, as does the more serious evidence that Domenech was plagiarizing while a freshman at William & Mary.

March 23: More Domenech plagiarism is found ... "part of a movie review he wrote for National Review Online," and many more documented examples here. "Plagiarism is perhaps the most serious offense that a writer can commit or be accused of," said Jim Brady, Executive Editor of Washingtonpost.com.

March 24: Domenech resigns from Washingtonpost.com, maintaining his innocence even against conclusive evidence to the contrary, suggesting that the William & Mary plagiarism was actually done by his editor on the student newspaper ("he believes the unattributed material was inserted by his editor") and even suggested that one of the sources he plagiarized actually plagiarized him, a superhuman trick since Domenech's source published three days before Domenech ("Domenech said he thought his piece appeared first, but a database review found that Murray's review was published three days earlier"). So he decides to play the wounded victim: Domenech said yesterday he resigned because "if the firestorm gets past a certain level, there's nothing you can ever say that will be taken seriously .... It's reached the point where there's nothing I can really do to defend myself."

Can't defend the indefensible, chum.

Right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin, in an oddly written condemnation of fellow 'winger Domenech, nevertheless invokes the victimhood meme: "But now the determined moonbat hordes have exposed multiple instances of what clearly appear to me to be blatant lifting of entire, unique passages by Ben from other writers." That, Malkin said, is "unacceptable .... And, painfully, Domenech's detractors are right. He should own up to it and step down. Then, the Left should cease its sick gloating and leave him and his family alone."

See, 'cause it's pathologic on OUR part to expect honesty on THEIR part.

Whatever.

Let's see what writings by other young Republican battle bots are actually stolen jewels. This can't be the only case of zeal and stupidity over-extending itself.