Informed Speculation

As one who was critical of what looked like a lack of contrition from Ben Domenech regarding his plagiarism, let me say that the young man did the right thing and apologized:

I want to apologize to National Review Online, my friends and colleagues here at RedState, and to any others that have been affected over the past few days. I also want to apologize to my previous editors and writers whose work I used inappropriately and without attribution. There is no excuse for this – nor is there an excuse for any obfuscation in my earlier statement.

I hope that nothing I’ve done as a teenager or in my professional life will reflect badly on the movement and principles I believe in.

I’m deeply grateful for the love and encouragment of all those around me. And although I may not deserve such support, it makes it that much more humbling at a time like this. I’m a young man, and I hope that in time that I can earn a measure of the respect that you have given me.

Regards,

Ben

That’s as unadorned and full an apology as anyone can hope for…and I salute the young man for his courage.

As Mike Krempasky says:

A young man took something and called it his own. He owes apologies to those writers, his editors, and especially his friends who have rushed to his defense in the past 48 hours. It is an embarrassing offense — and one rightly criticized.

All of the leadership of RedState has struggled mightily over the past few days, and have tried at every step to take the right course of action. Now that the story is complete, we can move on.

If you, as many have done, dedicate thousands of man-hours to scrutinizing of his life’s work, you’ll find two things: First, you’ll find several instances of this behavior, some attributable to youth, and some not. Second, you’ll find an amazingly talented writer, a man of principle, and an earnest young activist seeking not to advance himself — though advance he did — but the things he believed in.

Certainly it may seem strange today to describe him as a “man of principle.” But those who know Ben — and all of us on the RS leadership team do — know that he is passionate in his beliefs. They also know that he is human. It was ignoring this humanity that led to our earlier posts about the situation. It is fitting then, that he chose “Augustine” as his nom de plume here at RedState – for who could serve as a better reminder of the full potential of fallibility and sin – and yet existing within that peril – real hope of forgiveness.

And for his failing, his career is in ruins, and his public reputation is in tatters. It is a long road back for Ben Domenech. And he’s going to pay a steep price to regain lost trust among colleagues, readers, and friends.

And you know what? He’ll take the time to wander in the wilderness as he rightly should. He’ll walk that road. The least the rest of us can do is be waiting for him at its end. So today, the world thinks ill of Ben Domenech. But perhaps it should step back a bit. His crime was not mortal, and his character is not irredeemable. Indeed, most of his friends believe this episode a _deviation_ from a core character that is fundamentally good. He is my friend. He is our friend and will remain so. He needs some time away from this – and he’ll get it in the form of a leave of absence.

We don’t turn our backs on alcoholics, drug addicts, or people afflicted with other moral failings (and we ALL have moral failings – I’ve got more than a handful myself), we try to help them change their destructive behavior. I hope that Ben will return after some time off and again add his voice to the conservative community, and that he will be welcomed back with open arms.

A sad story thus far, but one that may yet end in the uplift of redemption…