IT’S THE NEW SHIMMER OF THE AMERICAN LEFT: “The Southern Poverty Law Center Is Both a Terrible Place to Work and a Place That Does Terrible Work,” Robby Soave writes at Reason.

Speaking of which, “Mississippi man pleads guilty in ‘Vote Trump’ church arson,” CBS-affiliate WREG reported yesterday:

A member of a black church in Mississippi has pleaded guilty to burning the church, which was also spray painted with the slogan “Vote Trump,” a week before the 2016 presidential election.

Andrew McClinton, 47, pleaded guilty to arson Thursday, the Delta Democrat-Times reported. His sentencing is set for late April.

Investigators said McClinton belonged to Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, which was vandalized and burned.

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, who is also the state fire marshal, told The Associated Press that investigators believe the graffiti was intended as a distraction from some other sort of wrongdoing. Chaney would not specify what that was.

“He tried to make the arson appear it was politically motivated, but it was not,” Chaney said.

As Wall Street Journal contributor Jeryl Bier tweets, “This is the hoax incident that the Southern Poverty Law Center used as the lead anecdote in its post 2016 election hate report.”

Related: CNN Finally Covers SPLC Racism Scandal, Leaves Out ‘Hate Group’ Lawsuits, Jussie Smollett Connection.

(Classical reference in headline.)