We the Persecuted

Maybe it's unfair to dwell on the story of the College Republican in Pennsylvania who faked a politically motivated crime against herself. Then again, maybe it's not. The woman who came before the world last week with a backward B scratched in her cheek had, according to the Pittsburgh newspaper, a history of political dirty tricks. And dirty tricks are--as we learned from the Nixon era and from such College Republican alumni as Karl Rove, Ralph Reed, and Jack Abramoff--the inevitable flip side of the sense of wronged righteousness that is so pervasive on the American right. This incident, I believe, tells us something essential about the movement itself.

Read More: Blessed Are the Persecuted: How Joe the Plumber fits the GOP narrative.