How Is a "Covert Action" Different from Terrorism?

Although journalists seem willing to speculate that this is the work of Israeli intelligence operatives, no one seems willing to take the next step and address the legality/morality of such actions.

Remembering an American Suicide Bomber

Here's a little-known fact:  the worst school-based mass murder in the US took place in 1927, perpetrated in Michgan by Andrew Phillip Kehoe.  A school board member, he was apparently upset about a tax levy for the school that he blew up.  He also killed his wife, burned down his farm, and ultimately blew himself up in a shrapnel-filled car as rescuers gathered at the site of the school explosion, killing several additional people.

The next time one of your right wing friends or family members starts talking about taxes or some similar BS, point out to them the direct connection between American anti-tax zealots and the modern-day suicide bombers that most of them consider to be evil terrorists.

Nauseating

Here is a disgusting positive profile on Mitt Romney by Walter Shapiro, a writer from "eventheliberalTNR."  In classic Villager form, he discusses how "disciplined" and "sober" and "prudent" Mittens is...JUST LIKE GEORGE HW BUSH!

However bad it is, it probably cannot outdo his earlier piece, titled "Why Rick Santorum is more impressive in person than Rick Perry."

Ready a Tumbrel for Mr. Rattner, Please

This is great.  We have a disgraced Wall Streeter complaining about $9/hour wage slaves not having sacrificed enough.  The fact that he can say this and not immediately find himself swinging from a lamp post tells me that the killer asteroid cannot arrive soon enough.

DougJ at Balloon Juice had a post last night about regretting not confronting Fareed Zakaria in a New York restaurant.  Unsurprisingly, and apparently by design, this drew a host of pearl-clutching comments from the tote bag crowd, along the lines of "we're better than that," and "we shouldn't be trying to intimidate the nice journalists like Zakaria."  These people remain willfully unaware that politics is a contact sport, and that elite opinion-makers are part of the political ecosystem, not floating majestically above it.  The few liberal elements of our society that remain did not get enacted through reasoned discussion, but through a combination of pressure, intimidation, and horse-swapping.  Refusal to engage in forceful behavior cedes the field to the other participants who understand how the game is played.

Why Do So Many of the Best Articles on the Economy Appear in Rolling Stone?

Here is a good, lengthy and in-depth article about how Grover Norquist and his fellow anti-tax crusaders hijacked the Republican party completely, leading to the relentless efforts to throw more and more breaks to the super-rich.

Die, Old Media, Die!

Atrios links to an editorial in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.  The point of the editorial is to take to task the originator of an on-line petition against Target's requirement that many of its workers come in at midnight on Thanksgiving to prepare for "Black Friday."  The editorial instructs Anthony Hardwick to "buck up" and be glad he even has a job.  This is where we are with traditional media outlets such as daily newspapers and network news shows, and don't even get me started on cable news.  They are happy to toe the corporate line, and do everything they can to put trod-upon workers–or #Occupy protesters, or anyone else pointing out the serfdom being thrust upon most of us–in their place.  Shut up and get back to work, or you'll get us all in trouble.

In contemplating the question, "What purpose do these entities (newspapers, etc.) serve?" I can see how they benefit their corporate masters, but the rest of us, not so much.  I'm sure they'll continue to see their circulation dwindle, and they'll continue to be bewildered about why that might be.