Inspired by this calitics analysis of races in California, here is an annotated list of the 7 Congressional races in Ohio in which Democrats appear to have a chance at taking seats currently held by Republicans.

For a politician that claims to be a forward-viewing "Country First" centrist-minded maverick bipartisan agent of change, the choice of Sarah Palin is curious.  Upon closer examination, Palin's views are reminiscent of right-wing radio talk show hosts and Fox News political pundits.  Her ideas are more aligned more with Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter than Joe Lieberman and Tom Ridge.  Her record is that of a fundamentally religious conservative culture warrior hell bent on deconstructing FDR's New Deal.

I'm not questioning Sarah Palin, I just find it curious for John McCain to speak one way and act another.

A story was reported this week with very little fanfare from the media.  President Bush is planning on following recommendations to withdraw around 8000 troops from Iraq by January of 2009.  He would also send a small group of Marines to Afghanistan in November; No, not to add troops but to replace the ones leaving.

Folks, military commanders in Afghanistan are asking for `more' troops, not less, not the same -- more.  President Bush and John McCain are failing their jobs.  Bush and McCain have both promised to provide everything to the generals on the ground that they ask for - they've failed in that mission.

President BUSH said he will give the Generals ANYTHING they want - he's lying once again. John McCain being 100% behind President Bush is therefore ALSO to lying. With his current power over the Party, having a press conference demanding that Bush do something would do wonders - but he won't.

What isn't noticed as much during this news report are the words, "at least one Marine battalion will leave (Iraq) and not be replaced, as well as a few thousand support forces".   Don't you wonder how many `thousands' that number is?  I do.

Two weeks ago General Petraeus wanted to maintain current levels in Iraq - about 146,000, including 15 combat brigades and thousands of support forces through June.

There's no telling exactly how many troops we still have in Iraq because the news reports never match up.  We're never told the truth.  But if it's true that in January of 2007, before the `surge', we had 130,000 total troops there in Iraq, and if it's true that there's been an 80 percent drop in violence - why then do we continue to have, at the very least, 16,000 more troops there than what we had before the `surge'?

My point is, we are told 130,000 but they don't include the support troops and whatever terminology they use to describe the `extras'.

The McCain/Palin Campaign, indeed - the whole Republican Convention, made fun of Community Organizers as an important background to the Obama campaign. What this has led to is complaints from thousands of Community Organizers throughout the country. This new ad, for instance:

It has also prompted the creation of web sites like Community Organizers Strike Back. There we find quotes like: "The last thing we need is for Republican officials to mock us on television when we're trying to rebuild the neighborhoods they have destroyed."

Tomorrow, George Bush and John McCain are leading the charge to sellout the American taxpayer, and their children, and their children's children, for $1 trillion-plus, all in an effort to win the general election now.

Over the next 24-48 hours, the Democrats along with the entire American public, from Barack Obama on down, are being setup for the mother of all royal clusterf**ks by George Bush, John McCain and the Republicans as far as the proposed government takeover of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac is concerned.

As foreclosures proliferate, as food prices soar, as we sit at the kitchen table strategizing and robbing Peter to pay Paul, the refrain of the theme song from Rent - "how we're gonna pay...how we're gonna pay...last years rent" runs through my head.

Today is the last day of Rent on Broadway.

I have my own memories of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the neighborhood captured by Jonathan Larson who died before seeing his play shine on Broadway.

Crossposted at [REDACTED]

894 out of 899

Much has been talked about, with respect to John McCain's time at the Naval Academy.  As someone who also went there, I want to express my deep admiration for John McCain's accomplishment of graduating 6th from the bottom.

In 1988, I graduated from the United States Naval Academy, exactly 30 years after John McCain.  In my graduating class of around 1100, I graduated dead in the middle, in the low 500s.  By all measures, I was an average Midshipman.

How was my class rank calculated, and why did class rank matter?

Class rank is a combination of several factors:

1. Academic Performance

2. Professional Performance
   
3. Leadership Performance

There may be several more factors, and they may have changed since I graduated 20 years ago, but those should still be the major areas that are used to calculate class rank.

Why does class rank matter?  

Because it determines what you get to pick for a job when you graduate.

What's the most sought after job?

Naval Aviator.

After seeing the following diary on Dkos, 600,000 Ohio voters subject to GOP caging. . . I had to pass along another diary from EENR that seems to be just the opposite.

The following is from Karita Hummer at EENR.

Federal law and the U.S. Constitution to trump Ohio Election Law.

Lo and Behold!  Voting Progress from Columbus! Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner gives us good voting rights news for a change.

In a Press Release issued from the office of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, it was announced that she was sending clarification to local Election Boards that " that 60 day notices sent by boards of election to voters that are returned as undeliverable cannot be used as the sole reason for canceling an Ohioan's voter registration."
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/PressRele ases/2008%20Press%20Releases/20080905.as px

More below...