No One Will Really Be Free Until Nerd Persecution Ends

David Weigel | May 23, 2007

Kentucky held gubernatorial primaries yesterday and Republicans re-nominated scandal-plagued Gov. Ernie Fletcher, which isn't that interesting in itself. What is interesting is how Fletcher won back the hearts of his party faithful: By portraying himself as a huge nerd who gets yelled at by bullies all the time.

This is... basically crazy, isn't it? We don't even know what Young Ernie was being taunted about. Was it because he had glasses? Did he eat the frog after the science class dissected it? Did they catch him rubbing his naughty bits against the boys' room wall? What are the mean kids screaming? "Hey, Ernie! When you grow up you'll be indicted for conspiracy, official misconduct and political discrimination! Fag!"

Also note the spirited defense of the "keep your head down and don't mess with people" strategy: A tacit endorsement of Ron Paul's foreign policy.