Ah, nativism. Thank you, Hitch. I was having a hard time figuring out how to describe what was going on. I kept thinking in terms of racism and xenophobia and nationalism and tribalism, but these are all combined and complicated within a basic nativism.

The Washington Post quoted Linda Adams, a Beck supporter from Colorado, who said... "her ancestors were on the Mayflower and fought in the American Revolution."

Let's do some fun math, shall we? It's been 390 years since the Mayflower. There were 102 passengers and about 30 crew. A average generation is about 25 years, but we'll go 30 for ease, and say that there have been 13 generations since the Mayflower. So, this woman's ancestors, if you do 2 to the 13th power (2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, etc.), number about 8192 back in 1620. How many of those were on the Mayflower?