Disgusting. What is he supposed to be balancing? Once again, the Post falls victim to its own infantile insistence upon false equivalence. Did you ever notice how a conservative's idea of 'balance' is one conservative and one journalist? Dan Froomkin is not a liberal commentator. Dana Milbank is not a liberal commentator. By bringing on board a writer whose brief career has been dedicated to creating the divide in this country, you engage the machinery of the Post to sustain it. I urge you not to 'bring on a liberal blogger to balance,' but rather simply to terminate this new feature. It serves as no more than a merit badge on the way to full status as the Washington Times. I'll be letting my print subscription expire.

Now that you have a thread you can answer the questions...

1. Who is this supposedly "balancing", or can we anticipate you will be hiring Kos, Stoller, or another Liberal blogger for Balance?

2. No, Froomkin doesn't count. Froomkin, while adversarial, sources his material carefully. Ben is a full bore bloviator with little to no sourcing.

3. On Froomkin. Why is his sourced column give the warning label "OPINION:", while Ben's pure bloviation blog isn't?

4. Also on Froomkin. The minute he was hit with "liberal", Lovey Howell and the WH crew launched a published attack on him. The same for Milbank, because he wore a funny outfit on TV.

Now you go out of your way to hire a right-wing bloviator. Uh...institutional balance, much?

5. As a final question, related to #1...so are you admitting the Post is liberally biased, or do you simply not give a damn about balance? Can't have it both ways, kiddies. Either you now much hire a "Blue America" blogger (see #1 for examples) for balance, or you are tacitly admitting that the Post was biased to start. Which is it gonna be?

Otherwise, you're like Howie Kurtz on CNN, pterending that a panel with Milbank, Vandehei, and a wing-nut like Ingrahm is "balanced".

What's up with the gutless "no comments" on "Red America". I realize almost all of the Conservative blogosphere has no cojones to allow them, but why the exemption by the Post? Was it a condition he required?

In any event, yet another special allowance.

Losing credibility real fast over there. Then again, I read that the Washington Times may go under soon, so maybe you're trying to shift into their market niche.

A right-wing blog is a good idea. When will the liberal blog start?

Now I remember why we used to call the Commies Red. the new RED Blog wants to put out the same kind of propaganda. Dissent is Patriotic, and should never stifled, even if you disagree.

And when will Blue America start? Or are you just mouthpieces for the right after all?

Your new blogger is pure opinion, who lied and said that his right-wing sicko ilk is "the political majority".

51% voted against Chimperor GeeDub in '00. That's no majority.

The real majority of Americans are polled against the Right.

Unless you're fulltime neofascist mouthpieces... start a Blue America blog STAT or end the Red America blog STAT.

Diggit?

I was very disappointed by the first two postings from this site. Instead of discussing positions and policies, it seems to be more focused on labels and making fun of the opposition. The whole site reminds me of someone who has fought partisan wars too long inside the Beltway and forgot what they were fighting for. I would prefer if the columnist took specific stands and defended them rather than saying he is "pro family values" or "pro gun" which are nothing more than marketing terms. Think more George Will or William F. Buckley

I've been reading the post for over 30 years. At first, I thought you were joking by hiring an arch-conservative blogger...but it's not April 1 yet, so it's a bit early for fun and games. I'm left with the realization that you laid- off a significant portion of your news-staff and yet have the money to hire an avowedly conservative blogger?

Not that your "news" reportage has been that spot on at any rate but it is very sad for me to watch a once proud journalistic institution become People Magazine for the one party state. Well, I guess you can't be accused of not knowing which side your bread is buttered on. I hope Rove gives you more access now. Pathetic. I'll not buy the Post until you become a real news organization again.

Is Domenech responsible for the no-online-comments policy for the new Red America blog, or is this policy set by editors?

It is bad enough that WaPo online has selected a long-time (but only 24 year old, or so) hyper-conservative as a blogger, and has not indicated any intention of 'balancing' this with a liberal blogger, but not to allow online comments makes Domenech completely unaccountable to the public.

Ha! Ha! Ha!

"Wolverines!"

You guys are giving The Onion a run for its money. Great satire!

This is a pre- April fool's joke right?

I mean... the Post can't be seriously running this, shredding their last of any small bit of journalistic credibility the might've had?

What's the saying? Repeat a lie enough times, it becomes the truth?

The right has been screaming for so long about the "liberal media" that the media believes the hype... and lean FURTHER right.

the Post, with this latest addition, is just about toast.

I'll find my own RELIABLE news sources.

.

...and an editor at Regnery Press.

A real newspaper or journalism site would have wrote "...and an editor at Renery Press, a conservative publishing company." Do not do so is failing to inform your readers of the defining quality of Renery. Seriously though, do you guys even take this journalism stuff seriously any more?

The Washington Post can do better.

[From http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007960.php]

Managing perceptions is the death of good journalism, especially manufactured perceptions, and even more those manufactured for the easily cowed.

I'm embarrassed for the Post. Embarrassed by the Post.

Their explanation doesn't cut it. If they want to make a blogger Crossfire with a firebreather on the left and on the right, they should do it. It might even be interesting. But here they've just been played by bullies and played for fools.

Jump! How high?

I can think of more than a few actual journalists at the Post who must feel a bit embarrassed too.

There is only one explanation for this new blog....

obviously, Brady, Howell, Harris and the rest of the shreiking denizens of the increasingly extremist management of the Washington Post have become completely unhinged by their partisan rage.

Now, no doubt this post will soon be deleted, because of the above "attack".....

of course, these words appear in the first edition of "Red America",,,

"the shrieking denizens of their [the
Democrats'] increasingly extreme base"
and "the unhinged elements of their
base, motivated by partisan rage."

Unlike the other commenters, I'm with Brad DeLong, who thinks that the addition of the "the shrieking denizens of" the Right's "increasingly extreme base" like this intellectual lightweight and any other "unhinged elements of their base, motivated by partisan rage" that the Post might add, are going to make the Washington Post the laughingstock of the mainstream publishing world.

This should be great fun, and funny as all get-out.

Striving for balance is a noble venture, but I'm afraid that WP.com has a skewed idea of what constitutes balance. With all branches of government controlled by the GOP and the president's approval rating in the mid-30s, is it really any wonder that the bulk of commentary and reporting on the administration and GOP policies would be negative?

Adding an avowed partisan to keep the number of positive lines printed close to the number of negative lines is like ballasting the starbord side of an even-sailing ship. Don't capsize yourselves washingtonpost.com!

The idea of adding a "conservative blog" for "balance" (to what and to whom?) was, to begin with, misguided. Choosing this under-credentialed, shallow, partisan name-caller as the author makes your decision not merely bad but truly ludicrous.

Count me as another long-time print subscriber who is fed up with the Washington Post. You are but a shadow of your former self.
---

Ooh! Well done!

Back in the 1980s, the Wall Street Journal editorial page's most effective and devastating right-wing columnist was left-wing nut-boy Alexander Cockburn: everyone (well, almost everyone) reading his columns would think, "If that's the left, I belong on the right."

Now comes the Washington Post pulling the same trick: hiring Ben Domenech--a man with no policy or analytic or reportorial qualifications save a couple years as a right-wing speechwriter, an unarmed man in a battle of wits--to be its right-wing weblogger. It's funny:

'Red America: Since the election of 1992, the extreme political left has fought a losing battle. Their views on the economy, marriage, abortion, guns, the death penalty, health care, welfare, taxes, and a dozen other major domestic policy issues have been exposed as unpopular, unmarketable and unquestioned losers at the ballot box.... [T]he mainstream media continues to treat red state Americans as pachyderms in the mist - an alien and off-kilter group of suburbanite churchgoers about which little is known, and whose natural habitat is a discomforting place for even the most hardened reporter from the New York Times.

'During the discussions about the launch of this new blog, the good folks at washingtonpost.com spent far too much time in sessions with markers and whiteboard, trying to settle on a name for the column. The suggestions were all over the map - but one suggestion provided a reminder of the sociopolitical divide in this country. "What about 'Red Dawn'?" said one helpful editor.

'"Well, only if you want to make people think it was a gun blog," I said, to puzzled faces.

'"Red Dawn? You must know it - the greatest pro-gun movie ever? I mean, they actually show the jackbooted communist thugs prying the guns from cold dead hands."

'Any red-blooded American conservative, even those who hold a dim view of Patrick Swayze's acting "talent," knows a Red Dawn reference. For all the talk of left wing cultural political correctness, the right has such things, too (DO shop at Wal-Mart, DON'T buy gas from Citgo). But in the progressive halls of the mainstream media, such things prompt little or no recognition. For the MSM, Dan Rather is just another TV anchor, France is just another country and Red Dawn is just another cheesy throwaway Sunday afternoon movie...'

Hate to break it to you, Ben, but "Red Dawn" is just another cheesy throwaway Sunday afternoon movie--and one that's not nearly as visually interesting as "Dirty Dancing." "Red Dawn" is currently #2883 with a bullet among amazon DVDs, behind such wonders of the cinematic art as "Don Knotts 4 Movie Reluctant Hero Pack (The Ghost And Mr. Chicken / The Reluctant Astronaut / The Shakiest Gun In The West / The Love God?)," "Simple Life 3 - The Interns," and "Arrested Development--Season 2."

This is going to be fun...

I assume The Post will be hiring a Blue State blogger soon. Where can I apply? What are the qualifications?

The poster who noted the paper's undying (and, frankly, cowardly) adherence to a concept of "false equivalence" is dead on. Since when did 'accountability and transparency' require "balancing"?

Have the 'shrieking denizens' of the Right worked the referrees to the point that journalists don't even understand their (purported) job anymore? Actually, that's rather rhetorical at this point, isn't it?

I also fail to see how this is a successful business decision. What is so unique to 'Red America' that readers can't get at RedState.org? Do you honestly think you'll draw a significant, long-term number of eyeballs from the 'don'ttrusttheliberalmedia' crowd? Rather, it seems like you've just further alienated a much larger segment of your audience.

Smart.

James at yourlogohere.blogspot.com offers a few biographical details about Mr. Domenech you seem to have left out:

The question of the day is how Ben Domenech, a 24 year old with little journalistic experience who lists among his credientials being the "youngest political appointee of President George W. Bush", was hired by the Washington Post to be their conservative blogger providing balance to...I dunno, their editorial page which was gung-ho for the war in Iraq.

Here's an interesting tidbit about Ben Domenech. Turns out Ben isn't the only Bush appointee in the family. His dad, Doug Domenech, former Loudon County Republican Committee Chairman, was appointed in January, 2002, as the White House Liaison for the Department of the Interior.

How do I know this? Ben Domenech said so.

Perusing an old blog of Ben's, here's some wisdom from Ben Domenich, the college years:

* Hopefully today's military action will be the first of a long campaign, though I've always preferred drop teams to smart bombs.

* Peace Through Superior Thermonuclear Capability.[10/7/01]

* Never trust a male cheerleader. [12/12/01] (You know, Ben, Bush was a male cheerleader)

* If I was two or three years younger, I would at this very moment be emerging from the warm smells of popcorn and ju-ju bees to the air outside, fresh from the glory of the first showing of The Lord of the Rings. [12/19/01] (but wait, Ben, I thought "Red Dawn" was the greatest movie ever...)

* Post-9/11 TV Host of the Year: Jon Stewart; Ugly Old Bat of the Year: Helen Thomas; Winner of the Year (uncontested): God [1/4/02]

* “It never fails to amaze me how little respect they have for women’s capacity to understand what goes on in our bodies,” [NARAL President Kate] Michelman said. “I faced a crisis pregnancy after having three children, and I didn’t need anyone to show me a sonogram to inform me that my pregnancy would result in giving birth to a person.”

How about the fact that having an abortion would result in the death of a person, Kate? Did you need a sonogram to remember that? [2/2/02]

* Al Gore can suck it. [2/4/02]

* Antonin Scalia openly questioned the Catholic Church's opposition to the death penalty today, proving once again that he is a man of deep spiritual intelligence, a modern St. Augustine of jurisprudence. [2/5/02]

* I don't know about you, but the more Colin Powell insults the French, the more I like him. [2/20/02]

* On Protest: It's totally different to protest against war before troops are sent somewhere and to protest against war after our boys are over there with guns in their hands and blood on the ground. The former, in my mind, is a totally legitimate act of political expression. The latter is horrendous and vile. [3/24/03]

* I believe this war will take longer than the pundits were saying beforehand, but I also don't think we're going to be forced into a long door-by-door campaign in Baghdad. [3/30/03]

* Al Qaeda is getting smoked out in Iraq -- and anyone who thought there was no connection better line up for their serving of crow. [3/28/03]

And here is my absolute favorite find so far:

* Claude Allen is as clearcut as a razor's edge. He's a stand-up, principled Virginian. [5/13/03]

Claude Allen, of course, was recently arrested for a felony theft scheme.

And there's much, much more. But my eyes are beginning to bleed, so I'll leave it to others to find some other golden nuggets of wisdom.

BTW, I notice Mr. Domenech seems very gung-ho on the war in Iraq. Perhaps in a future post, he can fill us in on exactly why he hasn't volunteered to back up all that tough talk with action...

From The Posts rules on posting: "Likewise, you may not post content that is libelous, defamatory, obscene, abusive..."

Everything Domenech has posted so far is obscene and abusive. And stating that "Red America's citizens are the political majority" is an outright lie.

Why doesn't Mr. Domenech allow comments on his blog? Oh, I guess it's because his heroes like Sully, Powerline, etc. don't either.

Ben,

A little advice. Stay away from Charles Krauthammer. He's creepy!!

I am quite eager to hear Mr. Domenech's views on the chickenhawk term. It is such an unfair label. There are countless reasons why young and able-bodied war supporters are choosing to avoid the recruiting office and fight the War of Ideas here at home. I cannot wait to hear his reasons.

Hey you guys! Leave little home-schooled Ben alone! His daddy were a Bush appointee and he were a Bush appointee too. Home-schooled Bush appointees don't have to go in the Army cuz they aren't used to being around anyone but mommy.

Besides, this little home-schooled boy is an accomplished EDITOR, like Bill Keller and Len Downie and Gail Collins! Even Bill Bradlee! And so young!

Now you leave him alone, you hear?!

To those who wonder what Domenech is supposed to be "balanced" against, the answer is obvious. The Post's other weblogger Froomkin is a professional newsman whose blog provides honest and timely factual reporting done with journalistic integrity. Domenech was hired to provide the opposite.

Shut up, you liberals! You can't stand that your dogma is being challenged with facts, logic and unbias! I say let's have 10 more blogs like Bens.

Posted by: Freedom

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, or in this case it might be the pen name of one of Ben's two sisters, his brother, his parents, or his wife coming to his rescue from you mean people.

I am available. You appear to be looking for someone from the lefty blogosphere to balance your currently unstable political distribution. If Mr. Domenech at the ripe age of twenty-four is bringing you gravitas and meaningful political ideas I'm sure that a snake goddess at twenty-four thousand years could do the same. To keep your political boat balanced. Right now it's leaning to the right, a lot.

Washington Post Co. (WPO)
At 3:59PM ET: 742.25
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Prev Close: 743.00
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It will be most interesting to read Mr. Domenech's take on the Abramoff scandal, seeing as his dad appears to be the Bush White House designated middle man between Abramoff and the Interior Department.

It's just a matter of time before Ben D is sucking money from Daddy's trust fund.

apropos Red Dawn -- I bet your new "blogger" loved Red Scorpion too - a flick funded by the South African Defence Force and produced by his ideological buddy Jack Abramoff. Birds of a feather like that can produce a political avian flu fatal to the rest of the world...

it'll also be fun to eventually read Ben's tortured explanation why he is playing it safe in DC while his age-cohorts are in the military fighting in Iraq ... sounds like he's another chickenhawk like Jenna and not-Jenna. Those Young Republicans are all for the war as long as somebody else has to do the fighting.

Q. What's the difference between the Washington Post and the Washington Times?

A. One is a rabidly right-wing piece of fishwrap stuffed to the gills with RNC talking points, and the other is owned by Rev. Moon.

(posted in the comments section at firedoglake.com)

From The Posts rules on posting: "Likewise, you may not post content that is libelous, defamatory, obscene, abusive..."

Everything Domenech has posted so far is obscene and abusive. And stating that "Red America's citizens are the political majority" is an outright lie.

Posted by: clonecone | March 21, 2006 10:51 PM

Foolish person, those rules only apply to liberals.

Josh Marshal on Domenech:

"Little did I know this Ben Domenech gambit from the Post was a secret plot to create the grist for more Abramoff blogging.

You see, it turns out the Domenech family came in for a number of Bush administration appointments. Not only Ben, but Ben's dad, Doug, who was White House liaison to the Department of Interior.

Or to put it more colloquially, White House guy to make sure Jack Abramoff got what he wanted with the Indians and the Pacific Island stuff.

Wayne Smith was the point man for Indian casino policy at the Department of Interior. He ended up having kind of a rough ride over at Interior. And, according to Smith, as reported last year in the Denver Post, Domenech told him "we had to pay attention to [Jack] Abramoff, because otherwise the religious right and (Ralph) Reed are going to come up and bite us, and our whole base will go crazy. They will light up our phones, shut down our phone lines."

According to Smith, Domenech was the conduit for Abramoff operative Italia Federici. "Doug would come down and say, 'Italia called and Jack wants this' That's how it all happened internally."

Probably not the last fun quote from these quarters."

"KYOKO ALTMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's another school day at the Domenech house in Purcellville, Virginia, where mom teaches 15-year-old Benjamin, 12-year-old Emily, 10-year-old Alice, and little Florence, who's almost three."

"Sum of All Stuff
Hey everybody. My brother's site (http://www.bendomenech.com) is different then mine. I won't be as political with this site."
http://elsdman.blogspot.com/2002_06_01_elsdman_archive.html#77612184

Is Ellis the crazy brother in the attic no one will talk about?!?

Once again, the Post shows utter contempt for its readers. Get rid of this wingnut immediately.

I have the utmost respect for the unique intellectual and journalistic achievements of Mr. Domenech, but with deep regret, and without appearing to cast any aspersions on his qualifications, I must say that Ann Coulter would have been a better choice. If Ms. Coulter was unavailable, Michelle Malkin would have sufficed.

In order to balance out the wacko liberal writings of the extreme left wing coulmnists George Will and Kurthammer, and even of Fromkin and Dana Milbank, WashingtonPost.com needs a fire breathing conservative who calls for forced conversion of all the Muslims, internment of American Citizens, death of Supreme Court judges and the bombing of the New York Times Building. Only then can the existing extreme liberal bias of the Post will be counterbalanced.

You liberals just don't get it.

The Red State blog reflects the Washington Post's political and social culture. Y'all should THANK them for finally owning up to it.

Ben's blog Red State reflects the way that Deborah Howell and Jim Brady and Jim VandeHei and John Harris really think. They recruited him, they interviewed him, they hired him.

Brady et al are quite thrilled at having one of their own post the UNFILTERED TRUTH without those pesky editors making them "tone down" the truth, like poor George Will and Krauthammer have to do on the editorial page. You can bet they'd write the same way if convention didn't prevent it.

You shreiking liberal denizens, you.

Well, it's about time the Post tried to balance the liberal reporting we right-thinking people have had to put up with for so many years. As a good Christian, I won't read that Rev. Moon's paper, so if I want to find out what's on sale at Giant Food I have to take the Post. And I think it's wonderful the Post gave this young man an opportunity to "blog." It sounds like he's had a tough time finding a keeping a steady job, being kept out of school by his parents and all, so why not let him write for the Post.

Perhaps he can provide us some inside scoop on his Uncle Karl at the White House and Auntie Gale at the Interior Department!

And it's just great to see someone who writes for the Post tell the truth -- finally! -- about how the majority of us have the right opinion about abortion, men marrying other men, Iraq, manimals, and how the President handled that Katrina situation so well!

Thank you, Post editors -- thank you!

I think Mr. Domenich should apologize. Red Dawn was not that bad a movie. Shame on him.

Ben Domenech, Feb 6th, 2003:

"It seems to me that there's clearly a missed story in the aftermath of Powell's detail-packed U.N. Security Council testimony -- just how stupid does this make those "still not enough proof" Senators look?"

http://www.bendomenech.com/2003_02_02_archive.html#88649025

Good to see the Washington Post has finally hired someone who isn't scared to tell their readers what they really believe.

Congratulations on the Redstate blog. Thank goodness someone is finally going to represent the views of the majority on all the issues that really affect us. I'm sure he'll be supporting working people and access to proper medical care.

"(DO shop at Wal-Mart, DON'T buy gas from Citgo)"

Stop crying about having no health care, you librul babies! The important thing is that gays aren't getting married on our watch.

Well, OK, he's a conservative. I'm sure that he'll have the sort of cultured, intellectual tastes that characterize William F. Buckley and William Safire, right?

"Red Dawn? You must know it - the greatest pro-gun movie ever?"

No, well I'm sure he anyone who can admit his love for a plodding homage to Cold War hysteria won't take himself too seriously, right?

"This is a blog for the majority of Americans."

Umm, well, OK. I guess he has enough respect for all those real Americans that he'll open his "blog" to comments, right?

"Posted by Ben Domenech | Permalink | Email a Comment"

Apparently, the majority of Americans are raving half-wits who don't have opinions worth consideration. Living in a bubble of liberal idealism you miss these things. Thanks for setting me straight.

Is this the truth? You want this in your paper?

A 24 year old with little journalistic experience who lists among his credientials being the "youngest political appointee of President George W. Bush", was hired by the Washington Post to be their conservative blogger providing balance to...I dunno, their editorial page which was gung-ho for the war in Iraq.

Ben's dad, Doug Domenech, former Loudon County Republican Committee Chairman, was appointed in January, 2002, as the White House Liaison for the Department of the Interior.

Perusing an old blog of Ben's, here's some wisdom from Ben Domenech, the college years:
Hopefully today's military action will be the first of a long campaign, though I've always preferred drop teams to smart bombs.

Peace Through Superior Thermonuclear Capability.[10/7/01]

Never trust a male cheerleader. [12/12/01] (You know, Ben, Bush was a male cheerleader)

If I was two or three years younger, I would at this very moment be emerging from the warm smells of popcorn and ju-ju bees to the air outside, fresh from the glory of the first showing of The Lord of the Rings. [12/19/01]
(but wait, Ben, I thought "Red Dawn" was the greatest movie ever...)

Post-9/11 TV Host of the Year: Jon Stewart
Ugly Old Bat of the Year: Helen Thomas
Winner of the Year (uncontested): God [1/4/02]

Al Gore can suck it. [2/4/02]

Antonin Scalia openly questioned the Catholic Church's opposition to the death penalty today, proving once again that he is a man of deep spiritual intelligence, a modern St. Augustine of jurisprudence. [2/5/02]

I don't know about you, but the more Colin Powell insults the French, the more I like him. [2/20/02]

On Protest: It's totally different to protest against war before troops are sent somewhere and to protest against war after our boys are over there with guns in their hands and blood on the ground. The former, in my mind, is a totally legitimate act of political expression. The latter is horrendous and vile. [3/24/03]

I believe this war will take longer than the pundits were saying beforehand, but I also don't think we're going to be forced into a long door-by-door campaign in Baghdad. [3/30/03]

Al Qaeda is getting smoked out in Iraq -- and anyone who thought there was no connection better line up for their serving of crow. [3/28/03]

And here is my absolute favorite find so far:
Claude Allen is as clearcut as a razor's edge. He's a stand-up, principled Virginian. [5/13/03]

Oh, and I'd just like to add that I'd rather sit through a Patrick Swayze film festival [even if it includes Roadhouse _and_ Red Dawn] than read another of this guy's columns.

Mrs. Howell,
Just because everyone's all in a tizzy over that new kid on the block, (is he Jim VandeHei's replacement at the pool, by the way), don't even think I've forgotten all about those "copies of lists sent to tribes by Abramoff with his personal directions on which members were to receive what amounts." Nuh uh. Ain't gonna happen, sister! You'd better get away from that Kraft Services table, put those donuts down, and work on your next column where I'm sure you'll have the sense to publish your evidence. If you need some help, call on Ben. I hear he and Jack (Abram)Off are buddies. Do this, or I'll send someone over to get you and your little dog "Jim" too.

Ben Domenech on soldiers dying in the Iraq war (March 10, 2003):

This aversion to any sort of bodybag in the context of war is something my brother Ellis and I have mocked before, at length: we like to call it the "Contra 3 Syndrome." In Contra, one of the most popular arcade games ever (unrelated to the South American resistance), you play a soldier blasting away at baddies (in the 3rd installment, for the SNES, it's alien baddies) with oversized weaponry in a side-scrolling firefight. It's an entertaining game, but extremely short--Contra 3 is only 6 levels long. Besides, you really need all three of your lives to deal with the last boss--so a lot of people who play the game will restart the minute they lose their first life. Ellis and I are more likely to make it to the end with only one life left, but hey, that's the point of the game, not erasing/restarting every time anyone dies. Modern War isn't exactly like Contra, and it's a good deal longer than any 6-level game.

http://www.bendomenech.com/2002_03_10_archive.html#10610578

I'm suprised his favorite movie isn't "Ben." That was about a rat, right?

I've read and reread Mr. Domenech's first blog installments. All I can say is: Huh?

Why in blazes would you select this slippery fellow to counterbalance an already in-the-pocket-of-the administration newspaper? At the least, you might seek out someone amusing. A blogger with something of interest to say. Someone more effective than an attack dog with two functioning brain cells.

I stand ready to learn. Am willing to change my mind. I'm not the only one who would appreciate a genuinely insightful blog from the "red America" contingent.

The one you chose ain't it.

Why am I not at all surprised that this 24 year old is a big supporter of the war of aggression in Iraq, but he doesn't have the stones to sign up for it?

Another coward in the George W. Bush/Dick Cheney tradition.

I cannot fathom how a once proud and revered institution like the Washington Post (and now also Washington Post.Com) can denigrate itself as it has done of late. This organization is in a self-destruct mode; it is killing itself. Is there no leadership with a lick of sense? Are there no adults to be found? We have editors who are, bluntly, cowards. They don't have the guts to speak truth to power. We see fat cat "reporters" like Bob Woodward, who have no journalistic integrity left, occupying positions reeking of conflict of interest, while honest, feet-on-the ground reporters take gas. We have an ombudsman who is so far over her head that she can't even bother to get her facts straight or stand up to pressure without looking ridiculous. Worst of all, we encounter this false sense of "balanced reporting", you know, like the folks at Fox. Tell the truth--to hell with balance. As one writer said recently, sometimes the facts are biased. Get rid of this phony attempt at balance with the neophyte blogger- not journalist- and act like a real news organization. GET SOME GUTS: QUIT RUNNING SCARED AND ACTING LIKE COWARDS!. SPEAK THE TRUTH! Thomas Butch

I'm bursting with excitement! Us Patrick Swayze-loving conservatives have gone unnourished for far too long. If that first post is representative of the standard of Mr Domeneck's political musings, then we're all in for treat.

But let's not forget Jim Brady's role in all this. You sir, should take a bow. Your commitment to elevating the level of political discourse on the WaPo blog is outstanding. But why stop with Mr Domeneck? Go for a full house, Mr Brady. Rush Limbaugh, James Dobson, and Mary Carey should have blogs too.

I leave it in your capable hands, Jim.

(quoted by syolles @ March 22, 2006 01:33 AM)

"Al Gore can suck it. [2/4/02]"

Mr. Brady, you must be so proud. Bill Safire would be green with envy after beholding such prose. You should take out a full page ad in the Times just to gloat.

Well, based on the last hundred comments, Mr. Domanech is well-loved, if nothing else.

Assuming it's all a game now, that the WaPo is going to stick with Mr. Domanech and, well, continue to go off the rails, I'm trying to think of a 24 year old lefty blogger of note and I can only think of Paul Keil at Muckeraker.

Wait, I get it, it's an Army blog, part of the Redstate enlistment program. Nice. So Mr. Domanech is going to blog his training live and then take the column to Iraq?

LOL !

Wow. I'm glad I stopped reading the WaPo. Even though it was ONLINE. FOR FREE !

Howell and Brady's ridiculous antics did it for me.
Now they hired a sidekick.
Hush little wingnut don't say a word, GOP'll buy you a cageliner for bird.

It's pretty obvious this guy isn't even remotely qualified so why did they hire him?

Better Dead than Red State.

questions for Brady....

1) did Ben disclose to the Post that his father was intimately and directly involved in the Abramoff scandal --- i.e. that (according to Josh Marshall see http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007962.php ) Ben's dad was the middleman between Abramoff's connections at the White House and Italia Federici, who ran Gail Norton's "astroturf" environmental organization (CREA) to which Abramoff funnelled half a million dollars?

2) If so, why did you hire a blogger with such an obvious conflict of interest involving a story that the Post supposedly is at the "forefront" of without disclosing that conflict?

3) If not, are you really corrrupt enough to keep Ben on the payroll under these circumstances?

My goodness. Is this another leap into cronyism? Unbelievable, you would hire this republican hack and try to pass him off as fair and balanced. You just fall lower and lower. Time for me to pack it in and stop reading this paper. My feeling is that you are all obsolete anyway. Going down the tubes and guess who you have to thank for that? By the way your editorial today was idiotic. Obviously you didn't watch the fool as he joked about the war, stumbling and tripping over his tongue. He makes so many of us ashamed to be Americans. That's right GW, leave it for someone else to clean up. You are all cowards, as is the so called Commander and Chief.

Smooth move WP. Whats with you people none will be satisfied untill america is destroyed.

Better get a liberal blog too.

ALMOST ALL MEDIA FORMS ARE RIGHT WING NO MATTER HOW YOU SAY IT OR HOW MANY TIMES YOU SAY IT THE LEFT HAS NO VOICE.

Are you aware that your new blogger, Ben Domenech, posted the following at Red State:

re Mrs. King's funeral:

"The President visits the funeral of a Communist. And phones in a message to the March for Life. I think we can get a little pissed about this."

Link: http://www.redstate.com/comments/2006/2/7/203823/5583/190#190

Ben Domenech is Augustine.

Link: http://blogometer.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/01/126_the_brady_b.html#1

The Washington Post hires a racist to provide "balance". You should be proud.

Shame on you Washington post. You have brought now thoughtful commentary or analysis, but rather more hatred and irrationality. What justification have you to give legitimacy to a political operative of the current administration, in place of a journalist. the other bloggers are journalists, this man is insane, and hypocrytical. He does not represent the majority of blue-collar working people in the red states. Washington post has sunk to a low. I hope you can recover.

I am disgusted.

And hilarity ensues.

If I wanted to hear the opinion of 24 year old, right wing non-journalists, why in God's name would I read a newspaper blog? Instead, I would go straight to the source, Redstate.com, and read this kind of empty, worthless, pseudo-intellectual nonsense from DOZENS (well, 2 dozen, tops) of 20-something right wing non-journalists. Plus that way the hate and racism of Redstate.com isn't filtered out when young Ben cleans up his act for your site. I'd rather hear straight from the source about the "brown preacher" talking at that "communist's" (Coretta Scott King's) funeral.

Liberals can't handle free speech, and hate religion and love for country, so their operatives come here to pile on poor Ben who is bringing balance back to these liberal bias pages. They can't deal with the facts, the logic. They already control most of the media. Why can't they leave room for other voices on science, politics, social issues and economics that are not based on the typical liberal blathering moonbat lockstep ideological multicultural correctness test? I am a Proud Red State American and I support Ben.

Brady,

I wish I knew how to quit you.

Every time I think I'm done with the Washington Post's right wing bias, y'all reach new heights. First the Howell-Froomkin hoo-hah, then the Abramoff flap. Then the deleting of comments and the running to your right-wing buddies to denounce those uncivil libruls.

And now this! A real-life frothing-at-the-mouth right-wing looney right on your venerable pages, representing the views of the Washington Post's political desk! Representing the views of your "ombudsman" and the managing editor of WaPo-dot-com!

Oh, how can I stay away? Thanks, WaPo!

Oh, and Ben Domenich,

http://goarmy.com/

Your choice of Ben Domenech is mind-boggling. Domenech is not an independent thinker who happens to be conservative--he is a right-wing propagandist. His publishing company, Regnery, specializes in hit pieces such as Barbara Olsen's Hillary smear piece and the Swift Boat veteran's attack on John Kerry. They publish ideologues such as Michelle Malkin, who writes a book defending the internment of Japanese-Americans in WWII (and by analogy, Arab-Americans today). Domenech's web sit, Red State is dedicated solely to furthering the cause of the Republican Party. In his blog, Domenech among other things writes diatribes against evolution (attacking the National Review's John Derbyshire for being in league with evolutionists).

It is hard to imagine a worse choice for an addition to the Washington Post. By choosing Domenech as a representative of conservative thought, you are basically saying that there is no difference between being conservative and being a Republican operative. That is an insult to thoughtful conservatives such as your own editorialist George Will.

your new whiz-bang boy needs to be told how to turn on a spell-checker. the latest column needs it.
btw: http://goarmy.com for chickenhawks like him, Jenna and Cheney...

It is now confirmed that Mr. Domanech has grossly misrepresented Steven Jay Gould's position on evolution. I was a professor at Harvard while he was still alive, and Gould taught in the same auditorium I did just before me; we would chat a little between classes most days. I didn't know Gould well, but I can tell you, Mr. Domanech committed either inexcusable fabrication or unbelievable sloppiness in this case. Neither is acceptable at a journalistic institution such as the Washington Post.

People like me, who take news seriously, who have been reading it carefully for the past twenty-five years, who care about the job journalists are doing, are walking away from the Washington Post. You have many fine reporters, dogged and professional. And you're burdening their credibility when you fire 80 reporters on the same day as hiring flacks such as Mr. Domanech.

The people who are writing in today are your readers, the ones who care. We want the Washington Post to be a professional, serious, credible journalistic enterprise. Listen to what they're saying. Because advertisers don't pay as much when you lose readers.

Hal Straus is perhaps already having an O*H S*H*I*T moment or two after realizing what he's done by hiring the prolific young dufus who posted two inspiring columns on his first day. Do you hear that sound? KA CHING KA CHING! It's the sound of money pouring into the coffers from new subscribers who finally have a voice in the main-stream media. I suppose Deborah Howell can give up her paper route now, and start answering some questions.

Thanks for deleting my comment. Apparently it was taken as a personal assault against Domenech, which is, of course, totally unacceptable.

I hope you guys have your digital red pens ready for editing Domenech's blog as fiercely as you do subscriber feedback, though. I'm pretty sure he's going to call quite a few people things a whole lot worse than "ass-clown". And, of course, we'll have to take our complaints here, since we can't comment on Domenech's blog.

This may get ugly. Fair warning.

I e-mailed a response to 'Red America' that I hope he forwarded to Mr. Brady. To say that what he wrote was utter drivel is to put it mildly. I couldn't agree more with other posters, that if I wanted to read that kind of nonsense, I'd go straight to the source, not here.

If you ask me, Howard Kurtz 'balances' Dan Froomkin. Enough said. Red America is a loser blog. I will keep checking back here for more amusement, honestly the posts are great! Thanks for keeping up my 'liberal' spirits.

Dear Washingtonpost,com:

I'm trying to understand the rationale for giving Ben Domenech a spot. He's not a journalist, he's a Republican party activist. Is this some response to the idea that Daniel Froomkin is a "liberal?" Froomkin, whatever his political beliefs, is a journalist, with years of experience. He's not a political appointee, he's not a party operative. Domenech is a partisan cheerleader, pure and simple, as he cheerfully admits. They aren't really comparable. So it can't be that he "balances" Froomkin. That would be sort of like hiring an arsonist to balance a firefighter. I know the Post would never do such a thing, because of its deep commitment to genuine journalism.

Maybe it's a good idea to have a right wing activist contributing to the Post--although why he's not listed as "opinion" is beyond me. He will certainly say controversial, insulting things--he already has. But when will you start "Blue America?" When will you give a Democratic party activist and blogger a spot? Because it seems to me you simply have to--you can't give one party's activists a regular spot, not classed as opinion, and not give the same to the other party--not if you genuinely believe in balance, which I know you do, being journalists.

Please note the total absence of profanity and incivility in this message. I look forward to your response.

Where's the young voice of reason? Did he oversleep this morning after his first day of hard work? I've been waiting over two and a half hours now for his morning column. I'm having withdrawal symptoms. Someone call him at home and wake him up! Now!

As an American writer now relocated to France, can I have a blog on your site (let's call it "Freedom France") just for balance?

You can have a column here Lupin, but we won't call it what you suggested. "Freedom Freedom" maybe, but we don't use that other "F" word around these parts.

Just my two cents: The Red State blog isn't merely offensive, it's boring. We've heard this nonsense countless times before. It was old six years ago. If you're going to have a conservative commentator, try one that doesn't insult our intelligence.

Post Toasties

the Post is toast its plain to see
don't get me wrong, I'm all pro-familee,
neutral on Debbee, hate profanitee,
not monomaniac, little of this little of that
is all my song, but still it seems to me
the Post is toast.

I'm unfamiliar with the back-storee,
fr'instance on Froomkin how it came to be that they said we
don't want to spike him necessarilee,
he's very blunt and strong, I think they said we need
something mature, more horse [],
For balance, and what's wrong with that?
That's the Post's boast.

Perhaps I'm the minoritee
But still it seems to me, perhaps to most,
Back then they had some courage, now they're paying Ben to beat the gong,
He's 24, his dad was liason you see, that's it,
That's why they print his pompous [],
Proving the Post is toast.

I could go on, but just to be clear, O prince, and gosh, we're never met
I say this with regret, it's good for Ben, but bad for you and me,
For sure the Post is toast, get used to it.

What a joke you folks have become. If I didn't think my kids should be exposed to a daily hardcopy newspaper, I'd cancel our subscription to the Post. This guy Domenech is the worst kind of rightwing hate-filled ideologue.

It is very sad to see the Washington Post get further and further away from any memory of a serious 'NEWS'paper.
And now you are hiring this person to be a regular feature in your paper?
Have you taken the time to check into prior postings from this man?
And, are you prepared to report on HIM, if the connections between his father and Abramoff prove to be inconvenient to this adminstration?

Congratulations to Jim Brady for selecting Ben in his "Pin the Tail on the Wingnut" contest. Are you kidding? If he's so gungho about the war, why isn't he in Iraq. He's the perfect age.

The fairytales about Iraq, the hit pieces on Howard Dean, the "Dems in dissaray" stories, the invented bi-partisan Abramoff donations, unwavering support for the disasterous Bush presidency, and now this. I get sick looking at the paper I've grown up reading morphing into a Fox clone. Come back to the reality-based world. Please! Your country needs you. Your country desperately needs you.

So the Washington Post thinks a 20-year-old home-schooled nutjob is going to going to improve the quality of their online offering.

That's really all you need to know, isn't it?

According to National Journal's Hotline:

"Later that p.m., a RedState post titled "We Need John Shadegg" was posted by "The Directors" -- Krempasky, Ben "Augustine" Domenech, Erick Erickson and Clayton Wagar -- urging in bright red oversized letters: "Call (202) 224-3121 and urge your congressman to support John Shadegg for Majority Leader. This matters."

It would appear then that Ben Domenech is the Red State poster Augustine.

Upon Coretta Scott King's death, here is what Ben Domenech as Augustine wrote:

"The President visits the funeral of a Communist. And phones in a message to the March for Life. I think we can get a little [angry] about this."

Is this the sort of substantive debate that the post promised Domenech would bring?

Or is this what Domenech refers to in his third column as "ridiculous hyperbole, unfounded accusations or unintentionally hilarious name-calling"?

Please, let us know.

One thing I suppose we've learned is that too much home-schooling and religious indoctrination can be a bad thing. Oh well, this experiment will be amusing... for a day or two.

Why is Mr. Domenech's blog not listed in the drop down menu on the Post's home page? Nor is he listed as a columnist. Is the Post hiding his column?

As a result of your downward spiral from the heights of journalistic excellence, the hiring of Ben D. is merely the most recent lead weight increasing the velocity. These days, I only turn to the Post for the cartoons, since they are at least honest about being funny pages.

So the Washington Post thinks a 20-year-old home-schooled nutjob is going to going to improve the quality of their online offering.

Well, he managed to imporve the quality of his families life, especially his fathers.

Regardless of the cost to the nation.

Priorities you see. He's got them "right".

Does the Post have a policy on smoking in the newsroom?

'Cause I just saw Jim Brady and Debroah Howell sharing a post-coital cigarette.

Hmmmm. Is there any length limit on the contents page, here? Cause it looks like this is a pretty good start for a Blue State Blog.

Hello Mr. Brady;

I feel compelled to take a moment out of my workday to say that I object to the new Ben Domenech blog at washingtonpost.com. I don't believe that such a pointedly partisan blog is a reasonable balance for either that of Dan Froomkin (who has a specific beat, the White House) nor of Dana Milbank.

I don't feel like you are representing ME, a loyal Washington Post reader, with this choice. Literally years after I left the DC area, your paper and website are still the place I go for national news, what I consider to be the paper of record for the federal government. But if you want me to continue advocating for your paper wherever I may be, then please either discontinue "Red America" or balance it fairly with a more considered and comprehensive left-leaning view. Regardless, I just want to point out that, sadly enough, thoughtless partisan attacks, of either color, are no longer really news.

What a joke. Fair and balanced, as usual. News flash: there are no more "red states." Bush is in the mid-30s, and under 50 percent approval even in the majority of the states he "won" in 2004. This is old, old, old divisive politics.

Finally, a right wing voice on the Post! Yay, way to go guys!

No journalism background? Great! Idiot and Republican insider? Awesome! Can we get two more of him?

This red state project was a brilliant ploy!

WASHINGTN POST CO B

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I suppose it is par for the course for a newspaper that publishes editorials of the kind that appears today: " Mr. Bush Unvarnished".

The WP was once a good newspaper, selflessly dedicated to informing the public.

Unfortunately, like everything else in Washington these days, where mediocrity, cover-ups, lies, and shameless pandering, reign supreme, the Washington Post has become a sorry shadow of its former self.

What would make the Post hire a vicious little cretin like Ben Domenech, even to blog on its web site? Did anyone at the Post do any research into the racist swill that is regular fare over at RedState? What are you people thinking?

Congratulations to Jim Brady for selecting Ben in his "Pin the Tail on the Wingnut" contest. Are you kidding? If he's so gungho about the war, why isn't he in Iraq. He's the perfect age.

Posted by: purvisames | March 22, 2006 10:00 AM

Perfect Idea! Lets all write letters to Ben about how he can better serve his country by going to Iraq.
Im guessing he will have an excuse, ingrown toenail, failed IQ test....etc...

it sure will help the Post's reputation in the African-American community when word gets out that they just hired a 'blogger' who calls Coretta Scott King a 'Communist'

I don't think Ben needs to explain any further why he is opposed to personally joining the War in Iraq. He's already explained in his column yesterday:

BEN: "...to follow the dictum of an aging hippie couple I know who, despite their pacifist beliefs, still let their boys run around playing army with sticks made into guns. After all, someone has to defend America."

See? Someone has to defend America, and that someone would be someone else's kids.

Why the heck did you choose Mr. Domenick? Who is he supposed to balance? All your other writers are in the journalistic tradition of looking up facts they base their arguments on, not on some undeifened liberal bias. I'm sure there are real journalists with a right-wing out there who do fact-based reporting, and who have experience doing such reporting.

To Ben Domenech:

I have read your first two posts and have a few observations about your conclusions from the “whiny kids” study and about your remarks in "Comments about Comments."

You wrote, “Apparently, this violent testosterone-fueled psychological imperitive - not a coherent and just strategy for defending America in response to the first major attack on our soil since Pearl Harbor - is the real reason for our war in Iraq.”

First, the word is spelled “imperative.” Second, it could be inferred from this conflation of defense and attack that you think our real reason for going to war in Iraq was in response to the attacks of 9/11. This is curious, as the secular Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the religious fundamentalists thought to be behind the attacks of 9/11.

You wrote, “If these columnists and scientists are to be believed, then President Bush is … just another spineless conservative wussyboy who has to prove he's a big brave man in cowboy boots. This is ridiculous and wrong.”

Why is it ridiculous and wrong? Because you don’t like the thought of it? You give no other reason for rejecting what seems to be a fairly well-thought-out line of reasoning.

You conclude, “It's always better to just let kids be kids and keep the psychologists out of the way - to follow the dictum of an aging hippie couple I know who, despite their pacifist beliefs, still let their boys run around playing army with sticks made into guns. After all, someone has to defend America.”

Your first conclusion implies that kids are inherently healthy and don’t need no stinkin’ psychologists. Does this apply to all kids, even the bullies and the ones who torture small animals and the ones who pick up firearms and turn their schools into shooting galleries? And unless your second conclusion is based on your own personal military experience, then you are nothing more than a hypocrite who believes it’s okay to send other people to war for specious purposes.

Apparently you are unaware of the long-standing plans of Bush’s advisors to invade Iraq, but that’s not surprising, as you apparently reject out of hand anything that conflicts with your preconceived conclusions.

Your statements in your “Comments about Comments” post against playing “to the worst side of our knee-jerk partisan nature” and looking forward to engagement “in a serious, respectful discussion” are belied by your own posts in which you engage in the former and give only lip service to the latter.

Clearly, you are no conservative. A real conservative would be red, all right – red in the face with anger over the way the Bush administration has mismanaged every aspect of their tenure, from record deficits to squandering our military resources to enriching cronies. But then again, since you are clearly in the “crony” category, that last part might just be okay with you.

Instead of "Red America" you probably should've named the new blog "Daily Dish" 'cause that's exactly what I foresee Mr. Domenech receiving, in spades, daily. It's only fair I guess, since that's what he's done all of his short political life. Diss others, that is.

Are you nuts?
Where is the balance from the left?
Clearly you are tilting towards Fox and my trust of your capacity to be objective is adjusted accordingly.

Free speech shall not be stifled......

The issue is, why would you want to associate the paper with a highly opinionated partisan hack.

What is the journalistic value of this columnist?

Will he have the same tenacity for citing sources a la Froomkin?

Will he report the news as the news or as he see's (wishes) it?

Will he face the scorn of Lovey and Jimmy if he is wrong or 'over the line'?

We all know the answer.....I will be cancelling my sub.

In his last entry, it sure seems like Ben Domenech is bashing the readers who took time to read and comment on his blog. Is this the new Post - "Opinion Writers" who bash the opinions of readers who bash their opinions? Sounds like money well spent! I guess the alternative is hearing how Ben thinks the war he promotes but is unwilling to fight in is like a video game.

"We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features."

I'm beginning to wonder if any of the previous posters even read this little snippet. It seems most are more interested in trashing the author than actually attempting to address any of his statements. Sadly, their myopic focus on the messenger and not the messenge only lends more credibility to that messenge. H

News from a different planet Earth: news is the news now. News is only news when the news is the news.

Schmidt and Starr: check
Woodward and Plame: check
Howell/Harris and Ruffini: check
Domenech and Abramoff: check

Still waiting on
Vandehei and DeLay

Bob:
"I'm beginning to wonder if any of the previous posters even read this little snippet. It seems most are more interested in trashing the author than actually attempting to address any of his statements. Sadly, their myopic focus on the messenger and not the messenge only lends more credibility to that messenge."

Mr. Woodward, Dick Cheney on line 2 for you.

You guys have to be kidding...this is beyond unbelieveable. This kid is an inexperienced hack - he doesn't even have his own political bona-fides, but rides solidly on his father's coattails as a GOP operative. It was pretty shameful when Jonah Goldberg's mommy got him a job with her old buddies at the NR, but the NR has been a clearly partisan rag for years. Old Buckley was up-front about it. The Post aspires, or rather, claims to be an objective news reporting operation.

I was a Post subscriber for just over 25 years - I'm 38 years old - starting as soon as it was available for home delivery in my town. In those days, the crack was pretty common about "Pravda on the Potomac". Sadly, it's become clear that the editorial slant of the Post, with the same irony as the re-appropriation of the symbolic meaning "Red" in our country, has made that formerly anti-liberal moniker into a reality: the paper has clearly become a sponsor of "Red" propaganda in the finest tradition of Pravda.

I dropped my subscription recently over the flap with your "Ombudsman" - right wing apologist Deborah Howell - but had recently reconsidered: I strongly value serious in-depth new reporting, something the newsroom still seems to practice at the Post. I continued to read selected articles online, and I thought I should be supporting institutions I care about.

Now, this? Really, you have got to be kidding! This kid engages in some third rate sophistry at what amounts to an online "Volkischer Beobacter" and you present him as a source of informed commentary? One would be naive to imagine that all the Opinion page scribes are deeply experienced sages - George Will is a propagandist with an excellent vocabulary and complex sentence structure - but at least they're over 30 and have spent some time out in the world, presumeably as some kind of journalist.

Does the Post realize that, unlike the cable TV news outlets, their remaining audience is made up of readers - that is, people who enjoy critical reasoning in the finest objective materialist (read: reality-and-fact-based) traditions. This kind of tripe drives us away.

One can only infer that such appointments - handouts - are the price of journalistic freedom elsewhere in the paper. Is the Post that afraid their presses will be smashed (or circulation depressed) by the rabble these propagandists rouse? It's not like there's a viable concern to be had out of the illiterati - the Washington Times has never come off life support since Rev. Moon revived it, and the aforementioned NR has been touch-and-go from the beginning.

I'd say this is the result of Katherine Graham's passing - but Donald Graham has been running things for a long while now. Perhaps it's the result of Meg Greenfield's passing instead. Who knows, but it's time to clean house editorially - the job of the Press in this country is to be adversarial to our government - not function in it's service as a mouthpiece. The Post did our country a great service under the Nixon administration - and yet, with an administration as bad or worse according to former Nixon staffers, the Post is hiring obvious shills. I cannot imagine what blackmail is employed to achieve these results, but save yourselves before it's too late - sunshine is the antidote.

I'm amused at the reaction to the Post's decision to run "Red America." So, so many people who are so, so sure that the Post is a hardcore right-wing publication that has finally given up any pretense of journalism because it has made room for one (let's count together, one and . . . well then, one!) avowedly conservative blog in its online space.

That'd be like saying the Lincoln Center is a cabal of anti-cultural barbarians bent on destroying the last vestiges of fine art in the west if they were to allow a concert promoter to hang a Marilyn Manson advert in the foyer.

Unfortunately, the world of online political commentary has devolved into a series of narrowly-tailored echo-chambers. This is true on the left as well as the right and it isn't good for our society. But just because the post doesn't shout into the same echo chambers as the commentors on this page, doesn't automatically make it a conservative rag.

It is possible for a person (or a newspaper) to be somewhat more cosmopolitan, have a broader reach as it were, and avoid the ideological blinders of the echo-chamber crowd. However, to them what have their heads in the bucket, the well-rounded outlook is always going to appear extreme.

Dump Ben. Replace him with Debra LaFave. Hurry! Before FAUX news snaps her up.

Ugg, this trash is insulting as a 24 year old. I swear, we're not all this condescending. Hey Domenech, is this a "worthwhile comment"? Get a real job.

Or at least join the service. We need more bodies for your middle eastern meat grinder.

I'm a liberal who's happy to read conservative columnists/bloggers, but is this inexperienced partisan kid really the best conservative voice that the Post.com could find? It seems that his goal is not to communicate with liberals about "Red America" in any meaningful way, but to combine tidbits of news, columns and academic journals into over-the-top characterizations of liberal thinking.

This blog doesn't add anything to public discussion that we can't get from Fox or talk radio. You would think that with all the Post's cout, this site could find a conservative blogger who's had some life experience and who could reach out to an audience beyond Red America.

The more blogs, the better, IMO.

When do guys like Kos or Atrios and Marshall get their Washington Post blogs?

Does it tick you off that Ben pretty much slagged the Post and the rest of the MSM for being too liberal *even after* you gave him a place to write, raise his profile, and make some money?

If this doesn't prove to you that the "liberal media" trope is a scam, I don't know what will.

WASHINGTN POST CO B

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See, I think I know what the WaPo was trying to do here:

Like so many other news outlets, they've allowed themselves to get browbeaten and intimidated by the hordes of whiners on the right wing who blame all their failings and embarrassments on allegedly slanted coverage by the so-called "liberal" media, so the Post figured that if they just hired a right-winger to blog for them -- a nasty, partisan, who-needs-facts-when-I've-already-made-up-my-mind winger at that -- they could endear themselves to the conservative Cool Kids and hopefully inoculate themselves from further accusations of liberal bias.

So what does Domenech do in his very first post? He goes after the naughty liberal MSM. There's some gratitude for ya, WaPo!

Well, y'all made your bed, now it's time to lie in it. But this red-state liberal (yes, not everyone in Red America is a mindless GOP drone like Domenech -- we call ourselves "progressive rednecks" 'round these parts) can't drum up any sympathy for you. I really used to respect you guys, and working at the Post was once my dream job -- but if you'll hire people like Domenech, then suffice to say there's a lot less luster on that dream than there used to be.

aporitic: WTF?

Domenech is *not* the only avowed right-winger in the fold. Will, Novak, Krauthammer, they all count. Print Post = Online Post, don't let them tell you otherwise.

And thanks for the [other]worldy take on idealogical blinders. The Post is looking soooo cosmo now with an inexperienced racist in a lead online feature.

Finally, something more amusing than the Comics Page in the Post.

I think "Red America" is the wrong name for this blog. It should be "Yellow Elephant."

WaPo's claim that the appointment of Ben Domenech was based upon an objective assessmenr of his qualifications as a writer/journalist is reminiscent of the declaration of the senior Bush that his lapdog that was being nominated to SCOTUS was the most brilliant legal scholar. And just as believable.

Hi!

Dude,

Actions speak louder than words!
http://goarmy.com

red state....blue state

what the heck happened to the UNITED STATES

oh right

i forgot

if we remained united the neocons would never have gotten contol of our nation

so they set out to divide the united states into red states and blue states

how sad

for America

for we the people

and for your party which cannot governor unless they keep america dangerously divided

a great republican president warned us about you red staters when he said

a house divided against itself cannot stand

yet you continue tearing down the house

shame on you

Dear Post,
I am happy for you, the news maker becomes the news! Only this time its for signing on a wet-behind-the-ears punk whos opinions smack of an angry late night conversation in his dorm room.
Way to go laughing stock! :D :D :D

"History's Greatest Monster"

By: Augustine

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Jimmy Carter."

Congratulations, Washington Post. Really, job well done.

I'd like to nominate the Rude Pundit to be the liberal blogger.

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2006/03/rude-pundit-auditions-to-be-liberal.html

WASHINGTN POST CO B

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Attn Jim Brady:

Hiring Ben (Augustine) Domenech, has been a terrible loss for all. First, the Post has sullied its reputation by hirng a racist 24 year old with no background as anything but a Abramoff tied Bush political operative as apparent balance to a non-existent left wing blogger. Second, you have led Ben away from the Army, which is really where this able-bodied, gung ho, pro military man should be.

Why do you hate Katherine Graham so much as to screw her pooch?

Best wishes!

This does seem pretty ridiculous. Why, if the Post can't afford to maintain newsroom staff, is it hiring more people to spout off opinions? There are already plenty of opinions on the Internet.

Supposedly "Washingtonpost.com hires writers for their ability to add something substantive to the national conversation."

What was it about Mr. Domenech's portfolio that made Washingtonpost.com believe he would add "something substantive" to the "national conversation"...?

Was it his 2002 invitation to Al Gore to "suck it?"
Was it his calling Coretta Scott King a "communist" in February of this year?
Was it his 2003 musing that "the commonly taught theory of evolution is a total crock?"

Washingtonpost.com could not find one single writer that could add such "substance" to its site?

Was Harriet Myers busy? Or is it that Ignorance is the new measure at the Post? I will cheer the shutting down of your offices, since you no longer represent the ideals of the founders. Free press indeed; your rag is worth nthing.

It was bad enough that your paper was the Bush administration stenographers during the run up to the Iraq quagmire. Now you have added a right wing hate monger blog. Why don't you just cut to the chase and run Rush Limbaugh's show as a blog?

Attn Jim Brady:

Why no comments allowed on Ben (goarmy.com) Domenech's blog? Cowardice?

In the Whiny Kids installment of Red America, Ben D. says this:
If these columnists and scientists are to be believed, then President Bush is just a real-life version of Dr. Strangelove's General Jack D. Ripper - blustering, impotent and murmuring about conspiracies to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids, just another spineless conservative wussyboy who has to prove he's a big brave man in cowboy boots.
Then:
This is ridiculous and wrong
I dunno. It sounds pretty accurate to me.

I wonder if Ben was whiny when he was a kid? He's certainly whiny now.

Adam Stanhope
Kingston, Massachusetts

So, Christopher Soprano is now blogging for the Post! Bing-a-ding...

for some fine advice for Ben, check out Georgia10s screed at DailyKos http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/22/104154/380

The best thing about this Domenech fiasco is Jim Brady will NEVER fire this kid. Domenech is Brady's way of "sticking it" to the mean ol' liberal bloggers who were so mean to him and L'il Debbie a month or so ago. In classic sports editor fashion, he is now going to prove to everyone who's penis is bigger, and if he has to burn every scrap of the Post's journalistic integrity to do it, by God, he will!

There is No. Freaking. Way. Jim Brady will EVER admit he's wrong on this. Pass the popcorn!

As an editor in the UK, I can't believe or fathom why the Washington Post has made this decision. Shame on you.

well, at least Operation Yellow Elephant ( http://operationyellowelephant.blogspot.com/ ) has a new poster boy!

I'm personally curious how Ben got this gig. I don't recall the Post putting up a "help wanted" ad or anything. They just went out and found themselves a white male to hire without even (apparently) giving women or african-Americans a shot at the position.

(It would certainly come as no surprise to find that White Male John Harris got his name from White Male (and GOP operative) Patrick Ruffini, but that's purely speculative).

Oh, and the Post may wish to check the qualifications of its hires in the future. Domenech claims that he was "given the Ruben J. Salazar award by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists" on his bio page ( http://www.bendomenech.com/blog/bio.html )

According to Marissa Silvera, Professional Development Manager of the NAHJ, that organization does not give out a "Ruben J. Salazar award." The NAHJ's overall scholarship/financial aid program is named for Salazar -- so maybe he got some cash from them by claiming Hispanic heritage. (although its difficult to see how he qualified, given that his father is a GOP operative and "financial need" is a criteria, and "Awareness of the Community" is also a criteria -- and its extremely difficult to find anything that suggests that Domenech is "aware of issues that face the Latino community and Latinos in the newsroom". Hell, Domenech betrays no interest in issues that affect the Latin American community---other than to use Latin American traditions to promote his own far-right agenda, like this little bit of racist cant from his blog...

"[I posted this in past years on May 5th - it's a Bendomenech.com tradition honoring Latino heritage. The basic point is this: Cinco de Mayo ought to be properly historically renamed, "Beat Up a Frenchman" day.]....So think about that tonight while you're chowing down on tortilla chips and salsa. And if you get the urge, go beat up a Frenchman. Hey, I'm not even Chicano, but I can understand."

http://www.bendomenech.com/blog/archives/001539.html

**************
gee, I guess the fact that I actually do research, and don't just spew opinions, disqualifies me automatically from the "Blue America" blog.

Can someone teach him to spell "imperative" correctly?

Thank you.

boy, doesn't it show the normal readership of the Post needs a little TOLERANCE and DIVERSITY when their reactions are this nutso to one simple freaking blog? The conservatives whine and moan about the liberal media all the time, and the Eric Altermans of the world sit there and sing to high heaven about how wrong that perception is, and yet leave it to a bunch of radical posers to demolish that argument in the thousand ridiculous comments they've left in response to one simple blog on a massive website. the left = ridiculous.

If I may point out - many of the above comments imply that the poster will stop reading the WaPo because of this... I think that the opposite of this is true, and no doubt so is Brady. Every time this idiot posts a new article on his blog it will be flooded across the online progressive community. The hits for Red America will be though the roof - not from conservative readers, but from liberals. I think the Post is gambling that this avowed partisan hack will draw its left leaning readership much in the same way decent people stop to gawk at a horrific car accident.
It's a win-win for the Post. It will draw more conservatives, and the liberals will be reading it just to tear it up. It's good for the numbers.
On the plus side for us progressives is the fact I have not seen mentioned yet - This is a real opportunity for the rabid right to speak to a wider audience, and I am confident that with exposure to it many moderates and independents will run from it, fast.
Cheers,
Xero

So the WaPo has a blog by a movement conservative.

When do we get a blog by a movement liberal? I'd recommend Digby, who would be a reasonable counterbalance to Ben. Liberal rather than conservative, with just as much fight and feistiness, and much better sourced as a rule. A good, even match.

Once again, the Post embarrasses itself.

Well played, Mr. Brady. Well played indeed.

Yeah, totally. Look at all of the conservatives blogging here - it's loaded with them! I guess the irony is lost on you libs here. Maybe it's your awesome public schooling.
Oh and...
"51% voted against Chimperor GeeDub in '00. That's no majority."
Wasn't that 6 years ago? Do you need a calendar?

This is really funny. I guess I should be thankful that the Post is no longer pretending to be anything other than a mouthpiece for the most played-out, unsupported, and infantile White House and Republican leadership talking points. You hire a kid whose greatest claim to fame is apparently being the home-schooled son of a Republican flunky (and Abramoff enabler, besides) and call it "balance"? You give this guy real estate on your site to promote the most obvious and overdone right-wing nuttiness and pretend that it is some sort of ground-breaking move into the 21st century?

And really, Ben-- I hate to sound like one of those "Yellow Elephant" guys, but if you have such a fondness for war without end and getting after them terrists, there is a better place to prove it than on a blog. Actually, there are at least four places better suited to someone of your gung-ho sensibilities-- the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. The Coast Guard does good work in that department as well.

But blog on, brave soldier.

It's nice of the Post to exercise affirmative action on behalf of the young white children of politically connected Republicans. I'm sure Mr. Domenech will bring a wealth of wisdom gained from his 24 (count 'em!) years living as a privileged young home-schooled conservative.

I remember "Red Dawn." It was good for a laugh. No doubt this guy's new column will also provide many a chuckle; perhaps it ought to go in the comics page, next to the related rantings of B.C.

Red America, eh? Too bad America's repudiating "red" policies right now and leaning purple more than anything. I can only hope that there will be some kind of hint of a liberal bias throughout the rest of the paper to make up for the blatant bias of this supposed "blog" (can it really be called a blog if it doesn't accept comments? What is Domenech afraid of?) Maybe it would be easier just to start a Blue America blog hosted by well-known no-spin doctor Bill O'Reilly, just to extend the level of self-parody.

Could Ms. Howell and/or Mr. Brady explain to me why they chose to hire a Republican operative to represent the "conservative" view? Particularly when the Republican partisan operative, Mr. Domenech, has little if any journalism background and skills? Particularly when the current incarnation of the GOP is anything but conservative.

This isn't a big deal, as I doubt many will read the young Mr. Domenech's partisan scribblings after a few samplings, and the Post readership numbers are tanking anyway. But it does represent a disturbing trend of partisan operatives infilitrating and/or cowing the media into advancing the Republican talking points and he said/she said with no analysis of the facts at question.

Sadly, I've canceled my WaPo sub after 14 years as a reader, in favor of Knight Ridder who seem more willing to play the historical role of journalism in questioning those in power, regardless which party they belong to. Disturbing trend, but it's clear that WaPo.com, the online version, is pretty oblivious WRT the internets. As the hard copy business dwindles, WaPo.com is going to have a very rough go. Maybe one day Brady will have an epiphany, I won't hold my breath.

Hey Ben,

I have 3 kids your age--all of them have served in Iraq.

Where's your patriotism and courage?

He'll be fired by the end of the month.

Wow, the libs really don't like it when we crash their party.

Soldier on, Ben! Nothing like seeing the libs get their panties in a twist! maybe I'll actually start reading this rag again.

I'm not surprised that this many liberals have all this free time from their jobs to be posting such nasty comments about Mr. Domenech. Get back to work, hippies! Your revolution is over! The bums lost!

Wow! The People for the Anarchists Way crowd are really banging their spoons on their highchairs now.

Hey lefty moonbats. Deep breaths. Serenity now. Serenity now.

This is just proof that the left cannot tolerate diversity of thought. Period.
What a bunch of freakin' crybabies.

Now you can balance your pro-war editorial page, which was very useful helping W drag (or mislead) us into this mess, with a pro-war blog.

Gotta love the balance corporations provide.

As a hispanic I find thefollowing disgusting.

The Post may wish to check the qualifications of its hires in the future. Domenech claims that he was "given the Ruben J. Salazar award by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists" on his bio page ( http://www.bendomenech.com/blog/bio.html )

According to Marissa Silvera, Professional Development Manager of the NAHJ, that organization does not give out a "Ruben J. Salazar award." The NAHJ's overall scholarship/financial aid program is named for Salazar -- so maybe he got some cash from them by claiming Hispanic heritage. (although its difficult to see how he qualified, given that his father is a GOP operative and "financial need" is a criteria, and "Awareness of the Community" is also a criteria -- and its extremely difficult to find anything that suggests that Domenech is "aware of issues that face the Latino community and Latinos in the newsroom". Hell, Domenech betrays no interest in issues that affect the Latin American community---other than to use Latin American traditions to promote his own far-right agenda, like this little bit of racist cant from his blog...

"[I posted this in past years on May 5th - it's a Bendomenech.com tradition honoring Latino heritage. The basic point is this: Cinco de Mayo ought to be properly historically renamed, "Beat Up a Frenchman" day.]....So think about that tonight while you're chowing down on tortilla chips and salsa. And if you get the urge, go beat up a Frenchman. Hey, I'm not even Chicano, but I can understand."

http://www.bendomenech.com/blog/...ves/ 001539.html

Your 15 minutes have begun. Use them wisely. November is nigh, and WaPo won't need you to sell their fishwrap in December.

Yeah, right, "crashing the party". Like the Post online's got nothing but liberal bloggers before this. Care to link to them?

If you plan on reading the newspaper, you might want to start slow with The Pokey Puppy first.

By the way kids, if Ben's Red... and he's a Chickenhawk... what was that Warner Brothers character... Henry Chickenhawk?

Guess this guy's Benry Chickenhawk then.

Dear Post Board,
My checkbook and I appreciate your weekly efforts to give me a legitimate reason to cancel my subscription, but this is just too kind of you. I think I'll be taking the money I save each year and donating it to your competitors.

Hey Woo hoo!, don't you think young Mr. Domenech can be a better blogger if he's in Iraq, say, with our overstretched military? After all, he supports the war, and he is only 24. He can enlist, go to Iraq, and give us a true red-blooded conservative solider's view of the war there.

Or, he can fight the war from home, behind his keyboard, kind of like a neutered wolverine.

Since when is the Washington Post in the business of hiring professional political operatives in order to BE professional political operatives? All involved should be ashamed of themselves for this horrible step towards turning journalism into not even thinly vailed propoaganda. Shame on you all for falling for right-wing bullying and responding by paying to provide an outlet for more right-wing bullying. You have demonstrated the level of incoherant and immature behavior that will yeild results from the Washington Post. I don't want to see any whining fro