I think we’re so used in America to see corporate malfeasance get a free pass that we’re not particularly inclined to believe that News Corp. will be fatally wounded by this phone hacking scandal. I’m not so sure of that, not least because the story originated in, and is still being adjudicated in, Britain. To be sure, their government is completely compromised and in bed with Murdoch’s company as well, but in a way that’s forcing them to be more aggressive than they would otherwise. Already we’ve seen huge dominoes fall – Rebekah Brooks, Les Hinton, the BSkyB deal. And now the Board of Directors of News Corp. is starting to wonder if Murdoch himself is in the position to continue.

Murdoch-owned papers are working overtime to defend Murdoch from blowback from the phone hacking scandal. And in a recent editorial addressing the business of news and those who are criticizing members of the News Corp family, the Wall Street Journal delivers a dig against papers like The Guardian that have done business with WikiLeaks.

Now that the head of Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloid and the head of his American business daily flagship have both resigned, with the titian-haired one under arrest in Britain, is it time to look at the man GHWBush calls “our man Ailes” and his techniques that FOX News Channel may have used to make the news?

An alleged 2003 News of the World phone hack of actor Jude Law and his personal assistant Ben Jackson while the duo were in New York is the first specific case of Rupert Murdoch’s law-breaking reporters operating in America.

Peter King (R-NY), a frequent guest on News Corp’s cable news properties (up to this point), just called for an FBI investigation into allegations that the company hacked into the voicemail accounts of 9-11 victims. Given King’s constant invocation of 9-11, only rivaled by Rudy Giuliani, this isn’t all that surprising.

King is not alone. Today, Senators Frank Lautenberg, Robert Menendez and Jay Rockefeller have sought investigations from the Justice Department or Congress.

Details on the phone hacking scandal have been largely absent from US news. For months, an unfolding story centered on tabloids hacking into phones has been taking shape in the UK. But, just recently, The Guardian reported News of the World targeted “missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler and her family in March 2002, interfering with police inquiries into her disappearance.” This revelation indicates not only were typical targets of any tabloid newspaper hacked but so too were members of the public.

Another Murdoch scandal comes and might as well go in this country.