WorldNetDaily must be reading our mind:

The second they heard about the Fort Hood massacre, millions of thinking Americans wondered in their gut: “Oh God, is this another crazy Muslim terrorist carrying out a one-man jihad, as has happened so many times before?”

Actually, our early wondering was whether the Adkisson Brigades had been activated for Guy Fawkes Day. Then, as “multiple shooters” were mentioned, we considered Seven Days in May. Our actual gut reaction when we heard the shooter’s name was “Oh fuck.” Followed minutes later by “envisioning tonight’s very ugly WND headline.”

As in: “Oh God, is this shooting going to result in another crazy anti-Muslim jihad, as has happened so many times before?”

The rush to exploit a tragedy for political point-scoring and book sales is something we’ve already noted, and will continue to note as particularly egregious examples come to our attention. (They’re all egregious on the face of it, but we must be selective.) But the question we posed Saturday morning — Did Hasan act alone? — remains top of mind.

So: What do we know Tuesday morning that we didn’t know three days ago?

Answer: Nothing conclusive.

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While we applaud the Democrats’ historic victory Saturday night, our parochial concern with the rush to healthcare “reform” hasn’t changed: How much will it screw us over?

Some background, if you’ve never had the pleasure of working freelance: Neither party has ever given a shit about Americans who embody the American Dream by working for themselves.

If you’re a wage slave, you’re familiar with the Social Security/Medicare tax from your paycheck, which amounts to 7.65 percent. But that’s only half of the real tax — your employer pays the other half.

Self-employed? You have the distinct pleasure of paying both halves, or 15.3 percent — off the top, whether you earn $5,000 or $50,000. You can deduct half from your gross income, but you’re still on the hook for the percentage — which is the most fabulously regressive tax America offers, since it only applies up to $106,800 of income. If you’re wealthy, you end up paying less a portion of your income than the working poor. Even sales tax is more fair than that.

But we like using the coffeehouse as our office, so we can live with that. Beats waking up at the asscrack of dawn five days a week.

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So we had this heartfelt 400-word cautionary post on the epistemology of breaking news all written up, and then we decided: Fuck it. It’s Friday. Go with the Coal Coloring Book.

‘Let’s Learn About Coal’: Industry Front Group Distributes Coloring Book On The ‘Advantages’ Of Coal [Think Progress]

Prejean Sex Tape Triggers Settlement [TMZ]

RedState’s Erick Erickson spins like a top: “This is a huge win for conservatives.”

I have said all along that the goal of activists must be to defeat Scozzafava. Doug Hoffman winning would just be gravy. A Hoffman win is not in the cards, but we did exactly what we set out to do — crush the establishment backed GOP candidate.

Oh, and for good measure:

Were we to combine Scozzafava and Hoffman’s votes, Hoffman would have won.

And there’s the tell: You didn’t combine the votes. You split them. You can’t crush a candidate and then declare her votes your own — especially since Scozzafava herself tossed them to the Demrat winner. Besides, if she’s the radical leftist Michelle Malkin makes her out to be, the only votes remaining for her were those of unreconstructed upstate Marxists.

But if that’s the lesson you want to draw from Tuesday night, that’s perfectly fine by us. Go ahead, show the Republican establishment who’s in charge. Take down all their toadying candidates. Let the Demrats win. We’re with you all the way.

Oh, and that poll showing that Sarah Palin has an unfavorable rating in the very district she tried to colonize? Never mind that. You know better.

In NY-23, Conservatives Win [RedState]

As we prepare for tonight’s exciting Open Thread/Bonfire of the Moderates, let’s check in with the message being sent to Republican radical leftists:

John Boehner: “This lady clearly has an agenda that’s different from that of the Republican Party. She was out there to promote herself.”

Newt Gingrich: “I’m very, very let down because she told everybody she was a Republican, and she said she was a loyal Republican.”

Michelle Malkin: “Hey, how did that six-figure RNC donation to the NRCC plus $85,000 to the New York GOP plus nearly half-million-dollar investment in advertising and other independent expenditures on behalf of radical leftist Dede Scozzafava work out? She repaid the GOP by endorsing Democrat candidate Bill Owens. Some gratitude, eh?”

Rush Limbaugh: “We can say that she’s guilty of widespread bestiality. She has screwed every RINO in the country.”

Well, um, okay then. Next time we hear a complaint that “teabagging” is being taken out of context, we’ll bear that in mind.

Fox’s Chris Wallace Conducts Sycophantic, Softball Interview With Rush Limbaugh [Think Progress]