Georgia10 asked this morning on the front page, "Do you know Ben Domenech?" Well, I do know Ben Domenech. He is a friendly, intelligent, personable and witty guy. This may come as a surprise to those who don't know anything about him but for the information they've read over the past two days. He's a guy you'd play poker with every week. I know, because that's how I met him. For over a year I played in a regular poker game that Ben also frequented. These days the game has dwindled to once every month or so, but we still meet over cards and chips and beer and have a good time. In fact, I saw him this past Sunday.
Domenech and I don't agree on a lot of things, perhaps even most things. Some of what he's written in the past on his blog I disagree with vehemently. The politicians he's worked for I disagree with vehemently. The authors he works for I disagree with vehemently. Though we agree on very little politically, this diary isn't about our disagreement about ideas. We handle that by being able to carry forth a conversation about our views of the world without resorting to name calling and insults.
Contrast that with the tone of the comments I've seen here and around the blogosphere about Ben, by people who surely haven't met him is sad. It's petty, it's despicable, and readers here should be above the sort of crap that gets spouted in threads like Georgia10's, where my friend is called "smarmy dickhead," "asshole-kid-moron," "tending-towards-the-moronic," and perhaps worst of all, attacks on his mother.
I know Ben Domenech, and no matter how you feel about what he writes or the conservative ideals he values, he doesn't deserve the personal attacks being spewed forth here by those who haven't met him. Rip apart his record in the blogosphere, disagree with things he's written and the people he works for, but enough with the name-calling and personal attacks.