Minister Frank McCracken, the Reading clergy man snared in the FBI Philly corruption scandal, claims that he is being persecuted like Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King:

"It's the government that persecuted Martin Luther King. It's the government that persecuted Marcus Garvey. It's the government that persecuted Nelson Mandela."

And while we're glomming on to tragic heroes, let's not forget Gandhi and Joan of Arc, too.

"This is the government that allowed blacks to be enslaved. This is the government that allowed my ancestors to be raped," he told Fazlollah. "This is not new."

No, corruption in Pennsylvania is not new. Nor is the art of dodging blame.

But McCracken may have just set new heights of public scapegoating. Jesus? King? Garvey? Mandela? Slavery? Rape?

You might be scratching your head, asking what on earth any of it has to do with the charges against him?

The answer is nothing at all.

There's an old saw that states: "When the law is on your side, argue the law. When the facts are on your side, argue the facts. When neither the law nor the facts are on your side, holler."

McCracken is hollering his head off these days, hoping something sticks that will divert the public's attention away from the evidence against him.

And so he gives us the martyr's sob story, the evil Government, and the race card all rolled shamelessly into one. In the process, he sullies the memory of some truly great humans and some truly tragic chapters in history.

Amen to that. This probe has brought us the most inane statements ever heard in Philly. That's definitely saying something. Here's an example of one of Ron White's inanest statements to date:

"black man in America doing what I think needs to be done and people resent that... Black men in America are supposed to be bowing down all the time and not doing nothing but having babies and not taking care of them."

Enjoy prison Ron, I hope the several hundred thousand you gained at the expense of Philly citizens was worth it.