The Wall Street Journal today editorialized about the Oklahoma Three, getting the facts right and putting the issue in a fairly wide perspective. Titled “Oklahoma’s Most Wanted” and subtitled “The latest thing in political felonies: a petition drive,” the editorial begins with an arresting paragraph:

A veteran political activist is facing 10 years in prison and a hefty fine for attempting to petition government for redress of grievances. The latest news from Pakistan? No, this is happening in Oklahoma.

The article starts out focusing on Paul Jacob, but quickly adds the context of the Oklahoma-based TABOR effort, which Rick Carpenter started, bringing in Susan Johnson and Paul Jacob when things got tough.

And they got tougher. The Wall Street Journal does not flinch from reporting one of the uglier sides of modern politics, as it reared its head in Oklahoma. Noting that while the TABOR measure petition signatures were thrown out by courts because of being collected by “nonresidents,”

Ironically, it is perfectly legal for opponents of a petition to solicit money and manpower from out-of-state. And sure enough, public sector unions opposed to the Tabor initiative recruited people from outfits like the Oregon-based Voter Education Project, an offshoot of the AFL-CIO that specializes in countering signature drives. They also set up Web sites that advertised the location of signature-gathers and urged their members to harass them.

The editorial also noted that Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson’s protests against charges of partisanship smack hollow, saying “every prosecutor has to make judgment calls about how to deploy limited manpower. And in other areas, Mr. Edmondson has opted not to act while legal challenges are pending. Upon learning that the Supreme Court had agreed to review a challenge to the death penalty, for example, he recently requested that all executions be halted until the High Court speaks.”

The Journal understandably speculates that Edmondson is trying to score points in the Democratic Party.

Does it strike anyone as odd that the way to get ahead in the party named after democracy is to suppress democracy?