Ashley Todd's disgusting hoax

A lot of people jumped on this story with both feet, and now it's exposed as a lie:

Police say a campaign volunteer confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter B in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker. At a news conference this afternoon, offiicals said they believe that Ashley Todd's injuries were self-inflicted. Todd, 20, of Texas, is now facing charges for filing a false report to police.
Todd initially told police that she was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield [Pa.] and that the suspect became enraged and started beating her after seeing her GOP sticker on her car.
Police investigating the alleged attack, however, began to notice some inconsistencies in her story and administered a polygraph test.

Fox News Vice President John Moody:

If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.

Exactly how a 20-year-old campaign volunteer came up with this stupid stunt -- hey, they've got video cameras at ATMs, you moron -- remains to be seen. (Ashley Todd's "blog" is cached.)

Michelle Malkin thought the story was fishy from the start because Todd refused medical treatment.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey:

The College Republicans will have some explaining to do here.

Thursday, Ed interviewed two top College Republican officials who defended Todd's veracity:

I spoke with two executives at the College Republicans on the record about this story. Charlie Smith, the National Chair, and Ethan Eilon, the Executive Director, both say the photo is legitimate and that it came from Ashley Todd, the victim in this case. . . . .
Eilon spoke with her personally today about the incident and confirmed the above with me. He first met Ashley in June, when she came to DC for training with the College Republicans.

Did the training include how to file a false police report?

UPDATE II: Ace defended Ashley. Now, he's disgusted:

It's not just that she's corrupt and crazy. I mean -- obviously.
It's also that she's not even minimally competent at it.
The Republican Party is supposed to be Evil. Not "incompetent."
I assure you, Ashley, there is a difference.

This reminds me of the argument I make against people who want to legalize drugs. If you're stupid enough to get caught with dope, there is a Darwinian benefit to getting you off the street. If we can't outlaw stupidity, we can at least criminalize its consequences.

UPDATE III: Perp walk! And this:

"She hasn't really shown any obvious remorse," [Pittsburgh Police Lt. Kevin] Kraus said. "She's certainly surprised that it snowballed to where it is today."

Stupid people are always surprised by the disastrous consequences of their stupidity. If they weren't stupid, they would have foreseen the consequences. It is their lack of foresight that leads them to doing stupid things in the first place.