I don't think I have anything else to say on this Ben Domenech and 'Red America' issue. Whatever Ben's done, I'm sure getting knocked around and knocked off his perch wasn't much fun. And I'm sure it wasn't any fun for his family either. Everybody's human. And everyone, or just about everyone, is better and more complex than their public caricature at their lowest moment.

But I can't manage not to say something about this sign off line in Ben's apologia post at Redstate ...

To my friends: thank you for your support. To my enemies: I take enormous solace in the fact that you spent this week bashing me, instead of America.

Ben, thank you. Thank you for taking all these blows on America's behalf. Thank you lifting passages out of other people's prose so America could take a breather. Thank you for slandering cherished American heroes for America's sake.

Most of all, though, Ben, thank you for illustrating Dr. Johnson's dictum that 'patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.'

Vainglory, today, thy name is Ben.