Terror Bombing of Turkish Border Town + IRS Audits Tea Party 501(c)(4)'s

Last week began with Israel's bombing of a Syrian military installation outside Damascus; it ended with a terror bombing in the Turkish town of Reyhanli on Saturday. Forty-six people were killed and over 100 were injured. Kareem Fahim and Sebnem Arsu report today in "Arrests and Calls for Calm in Turkey" that the Turkish government arrested nine people who are part of a Marxist group with links to Syrian intelligence. Syria denied any involvement. Turkey is currently in peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party. It is unclear who is really to blame. But what is clear is that chaos in Syria is destabilizing the Middle East. Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Turkey -- all were in the news last week in relation to the Syrian civil war. The refugee crisis will only grow worse as the savage fighting continues; hopefully, meaningful U.S.-Russian brokered peace talks will begin soon.

Another story that developed over the weekend is the revelation that the Internal Revenue Service targeted Tea Party groups applying for 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status. Jonathan Weisman and Matthew Wald have an informative story, "I.R.S. Focus on Conservatives Gives G.O.P. an Issue to Seize On," this morning. And while it is unfortunate that this will surely lead to a lot of column inches and television time being blotted out by conservatives doing what they love so much to do -- feigning outrage and playing the victim -- I don't think it aids the GOP in the long run. Reading the blog that Thomas Edsall writes for the New York Times, one knows that there is a serious struggle underway within Republican Party. It's the Establishment, embodied by Karl Rove, versus the Tea Party. Recently Rove has had momentum going his way; a group he is linked with secured the contract to manage the GOP voter list. But now the Tea Party will enjoy a boost. And the battle for the Republican Party will rage on. The problem for liberals is that they have nothing -- other than Obama, and his political force is rapidly evaporating. There is a progressive majority in this country that has no party.

Here is a reader, RQH of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, commenting on the Weisman and Wald story (I think it's on the mark):

The Tea Party is depicted by its followers as a spontaneous gathering of like-minded citizens who want to reduce the size of the federal government and drastically cut taxes for all, especially the super-wealthy. At the Tea Party core are the Koch brothers whose father organized the John Birch Society. Knowing that, , it should be evident why the IRS would question the validity of their tax-exemption claim. Remember the recommendation of the Watergate source: "Follow the money!"