SUBVERT THE DOMINANT PARADIGM. David French offers advice to college activists.

First, be creative. Too many college activists look at one or more standard paths to influence. Want to write? Start a blog, maybe get a column in your student newspaper, write an op-ed or two, intern at a conservative publication, and let talent (and fate) take its course. More politically partisan? Intern with a legislator, become a staffer, work for the right campaign, and let talent (and fate) take its course. There's nothing wrong with these tracks, of course, but they're well-worn, highly competitive, and — quite frankly — not all that transformational. If James and Hannah had merely written a column about ACORN, would they have accomplished anything?

Second, pick your targets wisely. This is where James and Hannah's true genius emerges. In ACORN, they targeted an institution that (1) is widely known to be corrupt but (2) is zealously protected by the Left and the legacy media. Such an environment positively breeds the kind of mindset on display on the videos. People who feel invulnerable do foolish things. Because the legacy media hasn't closely scrutinized leftist organizations, any number of institutions — from foundations to faculty departments to professional organizations to prominent activist groups — are ripe for the plucking.

Third, be brave. It took no small amount of guts for James and Hannah to pull this off. While they were never in any physical danger, their actions were certainly more "up close and personal" than sitting behind a keyboard and hammering out a blog post, or standing in a crowd at a tea party, or helping a congressman craft legislation.

Deconstruct the deconstructors, indeed.