Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic covers two new ads from the Israeli government that attempt to scare Israelis about what will happen if you (or your children) marry an American Jew:

The idea, communicated in these ads, that America is no place for a proper Jew, and that a Jew who is concerned about the Jewish future should live in Israel… The message is: Dear American Jews, thank you for lobbying for American defense aid (and what a great show you put on at the AIPAC convention every year!) but, please, stay away from our sons and daughters.

“The story of two men trapped in one body…”

A Farleigh Dickinson poll finds

that Sunday morning news shows are the most informative, while Fox News actually leads people to be less informed than those who consume no news at all…

“The (poll’s) results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at all,” said Dan Cassino, a political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson and an analyst for the poll.

Also no surprise:

Those who watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart performed well on the questions. Sixty percent of Daily Show viewers correctly answered that opposition forces in Syria have not yet toppled the government, second only to NPR. Forty-five percent of Fox News viewers answered “no.”

MSNBC reports:

A well-known Washington lobbying firm with links to the financial industry has proposed an $850,000 plan to take on Occupy Wall Street and politicians who might express sympathy for the protests, according to a memo obtained by the MSNBC program “Up w/ Chris Hayes.”

The proposal was written on the letterhead of the lobbying firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford and addressed to one of CLGC’s clients, the American Bankers Association.

CLGC’s memo proposes that the ABA pay CLGC $850,000 to conduct “opposition research” on Occupy Wall Street in order to construct “negative narratives” about the protests and allied politicians. The memo also asserts that Democratic victories in 2012 would be detrimental for Wall Street and targets specific races in which it says Wall Street would benefit by electing Republicans instead.

According to the memo, if Democrats embrace OWS, “This would mean more than just short-term political discomfort for Wall Street. … It has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.”

I know we’ve all had a good laugh over how bad Rick Perry was during the debate in trying to name three departments he’d cut, but in all the hoopla, many people haven’t yet seen this train wreck:

A reporter asks Herman Cain’s opinion of Obama’s handling of Libya. Cain first double-checks with the reporter as to which side Obama supported(!), then stalls for a minute and a half before giving half-answers, dodges and circumlocution for several minutes more.

(Seriously, if you haven’t seen this — it’s one of the most painful things you’ll see all day. Cain is completely out of his element. Folks, let’s remember this guy wants to be the leader of the free world. And he wasn’t sure which side of the Libyan civil war we supported.)

It’s like they’re not even trying:

The day the Supreme Court gathered behind closed doors to consider the politically divisive question of whether it would hear a challenge to President Obama’s healthcare law, two of its justices, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, were feted at a dinner sponsored by the law firm that will argue the case before the high court.

The occasion was last Thursday, when all nine justices met for a conference to pore over the petitions for review. One of the cases at issue was a suit brought by 26 states challenging the sweeping healthcare overhaul passed by Congress last year, a law that has been a rallying cry for conservative activists nationwide.

Garfunkel and Oates present their plea for us to do the right thing:

(NSFW)

A terrorist plot had its day in court today, as four extremists from an allegedly peaceful religion plotted to murder US officials and talked of blowing up government buildings.

The four were named as Frederick Thomas, Dan Roberts, Ray Adams, and Samuel Crump, all ranging in age from 65 to 73.

Wait a second! Those aren’t Muslim names! The BBC must have gotten it wrong.

In case you’re wondering whether you’ll hear the word “terrorism” used when viewing the Fox “News” coverage, with the usual outrage about why these guys aren’t being waterboarded in Gitmo until they reveal all their plans, Media Matters explains what you can expect:

Charging documents indeed state that accused plotter Frederick Thomas repeatedly cited as an inspiration the novel Absolved, in which underground militia fighters declare war on the federal government over gun control laws and same-sex marriage, leading to a second American revolution. But Fox’s report neglected to mention the allegedly inspirational novel’s author, who is no stranger to Fox viewers.

Indeed, the author, Mike Vanderboegh, has been mainstreamed by the network, which has repeatedly featured him as an expert on the ATF’s failed Operation Fast and Furious.

The Austin Statesman reports:

State Rep. Larry Taylor of Friendswood, the chairman of the House Republican Caucus, on Thursday used an ethnic slur at a legislative hearing at the Capitol.

He quickly apologized.

The Quorum Report reported that Taylor, at a meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on Windstorm Insurance, said when discussing the delivery of payments for windstorm victims, “Don’t nitpick. Don’t try to Jew them down.”

He quickly said, “That’s probably a bad term,” then moved on with his remarks, the Quorum Report said.

Probably? You think?

And, of course,

Taylor is favored to win a seat in the Texas Senate next year.