Maverick used to mean finding a novel way to solve a problem.  Now, it means ignoring the law, abandoning ethics and screwing everyone to get your way.

I have reached the point now, where if I ever hear someone use the word 'maverick' again, I may resort to uncontrolled sobbing or projectile vomiting.

( Cross-posted at The National Gadfly )

In just three days, Oregonians will be making their choice in the highly contested Senate race. Oregon is a vote by mail state and ballots will begin dropping this FRIDAY. Obama is up 17 points here and there's no question in my mind that he will carry Oregon. The Oregon Senate race is a different story. Follow me below the fold to find out why it's so important that we all come together to elect progressive Democrat Jeff Merkley.

Full disclosure, I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

This has got to stop.  Never in my life have i seen such a sorry excuse for racism.  When did people stop being people, potential leaders of our country, and start to be objects of hate?  These small-minded people are on the other side, and i am happy for that.  

cross-posted from dKos

I realized I've been having a number of conversations about how election night is actually going to go, ranging from whether or not I can sneak in the gym between work and a party, to who should plan a vacation day on Wednesday to stay with late-breaking results.

So to get the information together, I did some quick breakdowns on when polls start closing, and here it is.  The plan relies on the election being pretty stead from here to election night; obviously, that's a huge assumption.  

Knock on wood.  And get to work.  I realized I spent way too much time here imagining an Obama win without contributing to it.

From this point on, it looks like the DSCC will be able to go 100% on offense in our march to 60 sets. Swing State Prject is pointing to this article from the Washington Post reporting that the NRSC is pulling out of Louisiana.

Hold on to your hats. I thought I had read and heard every possible take on Sarah Palin. I don't need to review the reasons she's reprehensible. But then Maxine Albert, a friend of mine, offered what can only be called a fresh insight on the Vice-Maverick nominee. Bear with me and Maxine. What she writes has nothing to do with policy. You can take this as satire, or as a profound analysis of the emotional, non-verbal communication all of us engage in unconsciously all the time. And as we know, more and more research confirms that voters' decisions are made largely on an emotional, not a rational, level. Maxine Albert's commentary after the jump.

We've been covering the staggeringly corrupt Minerals Management Service of the Bush Dept. of the Interior all year and the hits just keep on coming.

The latest is another whistleblower coming forward and talking to CNN. Seems the dude won the DOI's highest award in 2003 for saving the government (that's you and me, taxpayers) $500 million in royalties that the oil companies tried to underpay.

The next year his position was eliminated. Meanwhile the more oil company friendly staff at MMA partied on for the next five years.

Maxwell said the report doesn't surprise him. The agency, he said, is corrupt "top to bottom." Video Watch a failure to "protect America's interests" »

"It sounds like they forgot they work for the government," he said. "It's disgusting. ... There's no excuse for that. Those people should not be working in those positions at all.

...

Just before he lost his job, he said, one of his superiors in Washington ordered him not to investigate why Shell Oil had raised its oil transportation costs. Maxwell said it jumped from 90 cents to $3 a barrel without adequate explanation. The government paid Shell to transport oil from offshore platforms.

When asked why a government worker would tell an auditor not to investigate, he said: "I believe it started from the top down," he said.

Shell Oil told CNN it "pays the same rate any shipper does" and that it has "never engaged in fraudulent transactions or entered into sham contracts as Mr. Maxwell alleges."

Maxwell, a registered independent, said the shift in attitude at the agency began about seven or eight years ago, about the time the Bush administration came into power. He said he was discouraged from aggressively auditing oil companies.

"Laws and regulations were not applied, also not enforced," he said.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=%5EDJI

As of now the Dow has dipped under 700 again, which means that within the last 2 days the Dow has given up almost all the gains they just made on "historical" Monday again.   Clearly, the economy is very sick, the financial markets are in free fall.  This is about as bad as the "black" 777 point drop from a couple of weeks ago.  

A stark reminder what this election is about.  Tonight's debate will have to be about the economy, first and foremost, given the realities we are seeing here once again.  McCain may think bringing up Ayers or Obama's Fannie/Freddie "connections" will score him points, but people are not only sick and tired of such a personal attack posture in "normal" election cycles, but in this cycle they would see it undoubtedly as an attempt to distract from what is really important.  The economy.  

I think McCain will overreach and put the final nail in his coffin in tonight's debate, just so he can fulfill a shallow promise he made that he will go after Obama's character in tonight's debate.