There's not much to say that qualifies as revelatory or interesting about the previous week, whether we're talking about Joe Paterno, Herman Cain or Rick Perry. The only observation we -- I, J.D. Bell -- might make is that human beings are usually much better in theory than they are in flesh.
1. At Grantland, alumnus Michael Weinrab tries to reconcile his love for Penn State and State College with the horrible events unfolding. He explains the mindset behind the riots on Wednesday night without being an apologist.
2. The Onion has a spot-on send-up of all the folks who think the worst thing to come out of the Penn State scandal is the tarnish on Joe Paterno's career.
3. Caroline Heldman calls the "Hot Chicks of Occupy Wall Street" website (find the link yourself) an "obvious reduction of activist women to sexual objects" and notes that the site's creators really go perv by including numerous pictures of young women and girls.
4. Friend of the Blog Brentin Mock highlights a number of mayoral victories around the U.S. on Tuesday as being a good sign for Democrats heading into 2012.
5. Adam Serwer ethers National Review's Davis Hanson for penning "the dumbest column of the year," a defense of GOP presidential frontrunner Herman "Cornbread" Cain.
6. The Michigan state Senate has passed anti-bullying legislation with one glaring loophole: those with "a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction" are exempt from the law.
7. Newly tenured professor Rachel Wagner writes about her treacherous road toward the ivory tower, as a chronically broke single mother. She compellingly argues that, if every public assistance program under threat were terminated, it would be impossible for anyone but the wealthiest and most privileged among us to become academics.
8. Rocawear launches Occupy All Streets tees, with no plans to share proceeds with Occupants anywhere.
9. Writer Seth Fried re-envisions the biblical account of the creation of light in this great flash fiction read.
10. Jennifer Pozner argues that Kim Kardashian's hasty divorce is good for America, saying that her breakup offers "viewers proof, once and for all, that reality-TV fairy tales are nothing more than a farce."
11. Michael Tomasky revisits the racist history of the NFL franchise in Washington, D.C., and how they ended up with their offensive nickname.
12. William Jelani Cobb eulogizes Joe Frazier, noting that his life was more metaphor for black people than "charmed harlequin" Muhammad Ali. "Born to sharecroppers, Frazier's pedigree included chopping cotton in South Carolina fields and brewing corn liquor. He came north to Philadelphia with the black tides of the Great Migration. Observers thought there was something of the blues in Frazier's style, as if he had distilled that element of the Black south down into his personal rhythms inside the ring."
Before we head into the weekend, here's a reminder -- assuming you need one -- to acknowledge our oft-underappreciated military veterans. Particularly those who share a name or a home with you. They deserve it.
Peace. And I really mean that. Peace.
The is a collection of links from the entire PostBourgie family, and compiled and edited by J.D. Bell.