One of the worst developments in the Trump era is the widespread belief on the Right that if conservatives want to win, we have to “play dirty.”

This sentiment was repeated, often in those exact words, all over Twitter and conservative social media in the wake of House Republicans pulling their stunt of occupying a “secure” hearing room, some with cellphones illicitly in hand, to protest the way Democrats are conducting impeachment proceedings. It has been a common argument, or at least verbal eruption, since Trump entered Republican presidential politics.