There’s nothing new about Ben Domenech defrauding his readers. In 2000, he published a hatchet job against a good friend of mine at the College of William and Mary, Peter Maybarduk, on a Web site run by James Dobson's Focus on the Family (http://www.boundless.org/2000/features/a0000404.html). Among other blatantly and materially false accusations, Domenech claimed that Maybarduk "got more than a little play during the World Trade Organization protests in D.C., where he was arrested for chucking a Dasani bottle at a police officer," something which had never happened nor been alleged by anyone before Domenech.

Domenech was hauled before an ostensibly "student-run" Honor Council, but College President Timothy Sullivan and Vice-President for Student Affairs Sam Sadler, who favored Ben's position in the controversy over Henry Kissinger's induction as College chancellor, pressured its members to acquit him, which they ultimately did. Dobson, meanwhile, continues to host Domenech's libelous article on a public forum accessible to hundreds of millions of Internet users. Each should consider himself lucky that Peter is a much nicer guy than I; if I had found myself in his position, both their lawyers would have screamed for a settlement years ago.