Born on this day: Russell Kirk.

Who was Russell Kirk?

From Wikipedia:

Russell Kirk (October 19, 1918 – April 29, 1994) was an American political theorist, historian, social critic, literary critic, and fiction author known for his influence on 20th century American conservatism. His 1953 book, The Conservative Mind, gave shape to the amorphous post-World War II conservative movement. It traced the development of conservative thought in the Anglo-American tradition, giving special importance to the ideas of Edmund Burke.

His works include:

• The Conservative mind: From Burke to Eliot
• American Cause
• Edmund Burke: A Genius Reconsidered
• Old house of Fear
• Ancestral Shadows: An Anthology of Ghostly Tales
• Economics: Work and Prosperity
• Roots of American Order
• Eliot and His Age
• The Portable Conservative Reader
• John Randolph of Roanoke

And many others

“These things happen” is something often heard around any Army unit. It is usually the unspoken truth that most Soldiers carry within them, tucked away in a hidden place treated with reverence and to be explored only in the most private and isolated of spaces. Of course, the “things” that happen are the inevitable deaths of those who we have eaten with, lived with, served with and were friends with. It is bound to happen in times of war, particularly in the war with two fronts we find ourselves in, and today it happened to me. Today I found out that my AOBC classmate and friend, 1LT Tyler Parten, fell in battle in Afghanistan protecting his nation and its people.

I found out after lunch, as I leafed through Stars and Stripes. As I always do, I look at the casualty list in the hopes that I wouldn’t recognize any names. Today as I stared dumbstruck at the name on the page I felt a horrible knot in my stomach and was smacked in the face with several emotions. I wrestled with the idea of writing anything public for the better part of the day. After all, there are far more people out there that knew Parten a great deal better than I. What right do I have to feel loss? I have recognized names in the Army Times and Stars and Stripes before. I have also known too many officers I have worked with that passed away due to accidents and even suicide. The difference this time around is that he is…was…IS a comrade and a friend and I do feel the loss of someone special. Writing this, in the hopes that people that never knew him will know what type of man he is, makes me feel better. So I am going to write.

Parten was a larger than life type of person. He thoroughly enjoyed a good joke and was not above debasing himself in the juvenile pursuit of making others break out in spasms of laughter. He was fun to be around and welcome relief in those times when The Suck was taking its toll. He was also a professional dedicated to his craft and of single minded purposefulness in his efforts to eradicate those who had inflicted harm on our nation on 9/11.

I met him at Fort Knox during AOBC. We were in the same platoon during tank, recon and COE phase. After he graduated and I was left at Knox to rot with injury, we emailed as we were both adjutants with our respective units. As with AOBC, we mixed business and stupidity with alarming ease. We commiserated and offered each encouragement through our predicaments, he, waiting for a platoon at Fort Carson, and I, trying to heal my ever-present stress fractures and graduate from BOLC III. He wasn’t ADJ for long and did get the platoon he waited for and seemed more than overjoyed.

One memory I have of Tyler that came to me almost immediately upon learning of the news was our AOBC class’s first mission in the CCTT (a full scale tank simulator). Undoubtedly, we knew we would not fare well and our foreboding was justified. Who was the sacrificial victim that was to be thrown to the wolves, better known as Black 6s? None other than Tyler Parten. Of course, initially we did not do too badly. The 6s and the civilian technicians took it easy on us and we clumsily defeated an enemy tank platoon set on stupid. But soon things went awry and Tyler found himself in a rapidly deteriorating situation where his bravo section was somewhere getting hammered by AT-5s and his driver kept going in circles. Having been thrown into sheer chaos, Tyler forgot the proper reporting format to Black 6 and was fumbling his words. The ever testy SFC Theim, in his most condescending tone, asked if there was another, presumably proper, way of describing the happenstance of Red Platoon being annihilated by an enemy Mechanized Infantry Company and T-80U platoon. Tyler composed himself, undoubtedly took a deep breath, and said, clearly and confidently: “Black 6, we’re FUCKED!” Even the curmudgeonly Theim laughed. Most people would have been horribly embarrassed by the performance and radio feux pas, but not Tyler. As with all things, he merely laughed it off and endeavored to do better the next time (he did).

Those who don’t know people in the military truly have no idea the sacrifice that Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines make to protect this nation. While fringe nuts and seditious Democratic Congressmen are doing their best to lose our wars, our servicemen and women lead stressed out, exhausting existences in every hellhole found on this sordid globe. Families suffer with their loved ones so far away and live for emails and phone calls. Too many families experience the ultimate pain and most horrific loss. For them the name on the news or in the paper is neither a statistic, nor another numeric measure of success or failure. To them, that name represents the end of their world as they have known it and a future devoid of the warmth and joy of their loved one. We Americans put too much into sports stars and celebrities by calling them heroes. I am no hero, nor is any other Soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are merely doing our jobs. The only true heroes are the brave men and women who will never see another sunrise, smell the sweetness of a summer day or feel the warm embrace of a tearful and joyous reunion.

I leave off with another recollection from AOBC. During dismounted recon STX Tyler and I were tasked with scouting the next rally point/training site. We stealthily covered the 500 meters or so to the coordinates given to us. As we neared the correct grid we saw our civilian instructors pull up to the clump of trees that was our destination, get out, light up a smoke and begin chatting. These men between them had around 50 years of scouting experience and we both resolved to sneak up on them and report back to our platoon. Slowly, and only crawling through the tall grass when the wind shook the branches in the trees, Tyler and I creeped up until, finally, we were within a mere 20 feet of the trio. I radioed our PL and in hushed tones whispered that we had arrived at the rally point and that we had snuck up on our erstwhile instructors (still oblivious). Tyler and I grinned at each other and shared one sublime moment of joint understanding where our newbie self-doubt evaporated. Maybe we were going to do alright at this profession. Maybe we weren’t as hopeless as we were sometimes led to believe. Maybe we would, someday soon, make worthy tank or scout platoon leaders.

Well, it came to pass, at least in Tyler’s case. Though he had to suffer the indignity of serving as battalion adjutant before getting his platoon, he no doubt savored every moment at Fort Carson as an armor officer. He was a fine leader and an even better human being. No person deserves the sobriquet of hero more than him. He will be greatly missed.

I know a hero. His name is Tyler Parten. I will never forget him.

Lay down your burdens brother, it is time to rest. You have strove much and given more. You have given us laughter and you have protected us. Rest now and know we are eternally grateful.

On Friday someone sent me a link to this YouTube video by an artist named Remy who has done the impossible, and put together a video that truly sheds light on the mean streets of Arlington.

Nobody ever believes me when I say how rough my neighborhood in Pentagon City is, but Remy finally gave me something I can use to back it up.

Sadly though… I don’t own any brown flip-flops. They are always sold out.

I recently came across an interesting article in the Army Times which denotes a disturbing caveat to the escalation of the war in Afghanistan. While the media continues to dwell on the economy and the boo-hoo stories of those who can’t afford a digital cable conversion box, the violence in Afghanistan has gone through the roof and US casualties are multiplying at a staggering geometric rate. Far be it for me to draw attention away from important matters like the new American Idol, but here is what I see in the latest trends.

The Army Times article details the recent revelation that certain Farsi speaking insurgent groups have suddenly become equipped with body armor and kevlar helmets as well as vastly improved battlefield tactics and, shockingly, improved marksmanship. Coupled with the huge increase in IED attacks since the fighting season began in the spring, particularly the sharply growing presence of the state-of-the-art EFPs, leads me to believe that the war is about to take an ugly turn for the worse. I think we have a new villain entering the fray in the form of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG) who, with or without the consent of the Iranian leadership, have taken it upon themselves to institute a major policy shift with regard to Afghanistan.

What has led me to this conclusion despite the DoDs hesitation to come out and verify my hunch? I suppose it is a great deal of speculation considering that there is not a whole lot of hard evidence on the ground to substantiate the theory. However, it does not take a genius to read between the lines. Let us start with the change in battlefield conditions in Afghanistan.

As covered in the Army Times article, US forces recently engaged a large insurgent group in the northwest corner of Afghanistan that possessed advanced equipment to include body armor and kevlar helmets. The soldiers on the ground reported that this group was not fighting like the typical insurgents and used conventional tactics and displayed vastly improved marksmanship (a real surprise considering it is well known gospel that just about everybody in the Middle East can’t shoot for shit). Did I also mention that these folks spoke Farsi? What do these things tell us?

First off, this merry band of cracker jack fucks have some serious financial backing. Body armor and helmets cost a great deal of money, and it may shock some people to know that body armor costs a great deal more than weapons in that part of the world. Whereas one can buy an AK-47 or even RPG for less than $100, body armor will put you back thousands.

Second, someone is taking the time, effort and resources to train these people and values them enough to give them protection. Generally, groups like the Taliban use the peasants that flock to them as cannon fodder. Moreover, the various tribes allied to the Taliban have a history of fighting NATO forces and then becoming disinterested and leaving the conflict as rapidly as they came. This is not a departure from Afghan norms, however the presence of semi-professional soldiers bent on a semi-conventional conflict with US forces (when it suits them) is a radical shift from the seasonal and ad hoc martial tendencies of the typical Afghan rebel.

Finally, though the presence of Farsi speakers is not, in itself, atypical (considering that many tribes speak it in the northwest as well as Uzbek and Tajik groups) , the fact that THESE well armed, and equipped fighters were speaking Farsi is a red flag. We have seen these types of fighters in Iraq and it is well known that they were trained and funded by the Revolutionary Guard. The fighters in Afghanistan fit the bill to the tee.

And what of the increased IED activity? This also lends credence to the notion that an Iranian finger is in the pudding. Historically, the Afghan way of war has been one direct confrontation with enemy forces. This held true through the Soviet War and up to the current conflict.

Anyone that has even a modicum of knowledge about Afghanistan is aware that the Afghans are a martial people that practices warfare on foreigners and each other as a matter of course. Many tribes are built around a cult of personal bravery and victory and, unlike the Iraqis, relish a good firefight. The trend toward the skulking and cowardly act of IED planting is a marked shift from everything we know and have seen from the Afghans to this point. It is either a move in the direction of pragmatism on their part, or an indication that new, non-Afghan groups are increasing their influence in the theatre. Again, the indicators are pointed squarely in the direction of the Revolutionary Guard who have practiced and perfected IED tactics in Iraq.

So if it is indeed the IRG what does this say about the future course of the war? Traditionally, Iran has had little interest in getting involved in Afghanistan and even less love for the Taliban (a Sunni group). Iran’s involvement has been minimal thus far and the intelligence agency most linked to foreign fighters has been the Pakistani ISI maintaining contacts with its former Taliban protégés. If Tehran has decided to take a more direct and overt approach in Afghanistan it would signal a major policy shift. Such a shift would be indicative of three major factors that may have contributed to the decision making process.

1) Their efforts in Iraq have failed and they need a new proxy war, to continue their fight against the great Satan.

2) The weakness of the Afghan central government has become more pronounced as the idiot Karzi has made no progress at unifying the nation and it would be possible to pick up the pieces in the event of a US withdrawal despite a resurgent Taliban.

3) The American people, saddled with their perceived state of malaise and cultural decay, are far less willing to stomach an escalated fight than they have been and continue to grow restless for peace despite the utter lack of sacrifice on their part. The Iranians are no doubt seeing which way the wind is blowing and may feel that the proper application of moderate resources could push the US and NATO public over the edge and effect a withdrawal.

Iranian involvement in Afghanistan at this stage may actually be a low risk, high reward situation. US and NATO withdrawal from the Afghan theatre would increase Iran’s own standing in the region as well as signify a victory for the forces of Islam over the imperialist and decadent pigs from the Christian West. If the US and NATO were to leave in defeat it would be an unmitigated disaster for the civilized peoples of the world. The defeat of the Soviet Army in the 1980’s at the hands of Islamic fighters served to greatly embolden Jihadists around the world and was the definitive and formative event in the creation of groups like Al Qaeda and the Taliban. What would a victory over the Great Satan lead to?

The first 94 days of the Obama administration has been, in my opinion, a mixed bag. I applaud our precocious President for a couple positions he has taken with regard to upgrading the public transportation system as well as doing more to bolster higher education. Moreover, I am pleased with his emphasis on taking care of returning veterans and increasing their benefits. However, that is basically where the lovefest ends (though I hesitate, I don’t want to end up on DHS’ watch list). I won’t even start on his economic policies. Suffice to say I think that Lenin would have been quite pleased that his NEP has returned (minus the liquidation of the vile Kulaks!). No, what bothers me the most is Obama’s increasingly soft stance on foreign policy and the possible consequences of his growing image of weakness and indecision.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I had always suspected that Obama was going to be a weak leader, but two recent events sealed it for me. First off, the President of France, the irascible Nikolas Sarkozy, opened his big Gallic mouth and quite bluntly called Obama weak and indecisive . Privately, Sarkozy and other European leaders are beginning to rethink their enthusiasm for Change and Hope. How bad must things be if the French are calling us weak? When was the last time that happened? 1979?

If the musings of a wine addled sex-addict were not enough damming evidence on the present state of our affairs than I offer a personal anecdote. As some of you may know, I often take hot baths to help cure mild illnesses like a cold. I caught a cold whilst in Miami, no doubt from the dirty, wretched and unsanitary strippers found at Club Madonna.

While taking the waters, I was reading a book on Afghanistan as it is likely that I will be following in the footsteps of thousands of soldiers who over the millennia attempted to further the interests of their leaders, whether it be Alexander or the ultimate sex-machine Benjamin Disraeli. Naturally, as most of those who came before me came to great grief in the forbidding defiles of that thoroughly undesirable land, I wanted to know as much as possible about the place, in particular how the more recent Soviet failure. I found more interesting, however, how exactly the Soviets came to invade in the first place.

The long and short of it is that the Soviet leadership, headed by former Haggar slacks model, Leonid Brezhnev, were encouraged by Jimmy Carter’s impotence and proven weakness. Stephen Tanner, author of “Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban” writes on the Politburo’s decision to execute the invasion:

Coupled with US’ continued inability to rescue its hostages in Tehran, and the lack of a reaction to the murder of the US ambassador in Kabul at the hands of extremists, the Soviet leadership saw the writing on the wall and were emboldened by Carter’s indecisiveness and apparent unwillingness to use force at any cost.

So, if one considers what occurred the last time the US presented itself as a soft and malleable power, it might be a good idea to slow the pace of Change and Hope. Following Obama’s tour of self-loathing Change of Europe (where they laughed at his pleas for more troops in Afghanistan), the Middle East (he didn’t bow, he really didn’t!) and South America (we are to blame for everything shitty about your shitty countries), it is a wonder that Russia hasn’t invaded the Ukraine, Pakistan hasn’t fallen to the Taliban (yet) and North Korea hasn’t produced a horrible remake of Gone With the Wind with Kim Jong Il as Scarlett O’Hara.

So lets hope that the Wunderkind of Hope tones his hatred of America down a little bit the next time he goes overseas. Pouring blood in the diplomatic waters is one sure way of attracting predators and some of us would rather not follow in the footsteps of the Greeks, Parthians, Bactrians, Scythians, Arabs, Chinese, Moguls, British and Soviets and have our heads paraded through the streets of Kabul on pikes.

In Yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Concordia University Professor and former Republican Congressional candidate, Jim Burkee, had an interesting op-ed discussing role “Generation Y” could play in re-shaping American politics.

From the article:

In the first few months of his presidency, Obama has continued his full-court press for young voters, breaking protocol by giving Queen Elizabeth a loaded iPod, appearing on television and radio and expanding the White House’s Internet presence.

But the political loyalties of that coveted demographic are not yet decided. While they seem to lean to the left, they’re actually more libertarian than liberal, a fact that will reshape the way we think about liberalism and conservatism in decades to come.

America’s Generation Y (born between 1980 and 1995) is the first to have grown up with the Internet, which leaves it the most liberty-loving generation since the era of Andrew Jackson. Liberty, the root of what meant to the founders’ generation “liberal,” describes freedom from control and interference, particularly by government. And there is no domain so free from government as the Internet.

What does it mean to have been weaned in an environment - the Internet - virtually free of government interference? Millions of Gen-Yers have grown accustomed to making purchases online tax-free. They download movies and music (much of it pirated), read their news online for free (to the detriment of print media), find recipes online and network with friends and relatives online.

In short, they love their freedom.

While I agree with much of what he is saying there, I do have to point out some disagreement with the beginning of his op-ed:

If exit polls and surveys prove accurate, there will be one demographic deeply underrepresented in Wednesday’s conservative “taxpayer tea parties,” to be held at capitols across the country: Americans between the ages of 18 and 29.

While in the eyes of many Americans that might seem like a safe assumption, personally, I don’t think it could be further from the truth.

The fact of the matter is that if it wasn’t for this demographic (and those who come close to falling in it), the tea parties that have been (and will be) held around the country wouldn’t have been as successful.

It was the Internet (the tool that Burkee rightly points out as one that has given our generation a unique footing politically) that has led to these movements becoming what they are today.

Luckily, most of us “Gen-Y” folks haven’t been politically active enough to be completely indoctrinated by one party or another. This means that if anyone is going to be able to call bullshit on those in Washington and in our states, it’s going to be us.

We’re young and we’re not huge donors, so most politicians don’t give us the time of day (unless they want free labor or websites built). This inherent bias and neglect gives us a perspective that many older Americans simply aren’t able to see… at least without our help.

Simply put, we get to see politicians for who they really are, first hand, because so many of them still don’t take us seriously.

While every generation was once young and had similar experiences, with the Internet, we have the advantage of being able to share our frustrations with millions of people in seconds, and quickly organize to yield change.

Yes my friends, change is coming America, and it’s going to come from us, Generation Y. Yes we can.

Let the classical liberal revolution begin

h/t to Ms. Chandler Ramelli at ANotSoCapitolIdea.com for the info, and for helping put this together.

For those who will be in the DC area tomorrow (April 15) between 11am - 3pm, I strongly urge you to attend the DC Tea Party, which will be staged at Lafayette Square and outside of the United States Treasury (yes, we’re talking belly of the beast here).

Here is a partial list of speakers scheduled to be in attendance:

Princella Smith, American Solutions
Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform
Tobin Smith, Fox News
Brian Johnson, Americans for Tax Reform
Alan Keyes, Activist
Mike Church, Mike Church Radio Show
Rachel Hoff, College Republicans
Tom Schatz, Citizens against Government Waste
Josh Bolin, Reagan.org

For those of you unfamiliar with Washington, DC, below is a simple GoogleMap that I put together to illustrate the area.



View DC Tea Party in a larger map


While there is ample parking in the area, I warn you, it’s never cheap, unless you get lucky and score a street spot (usually around the monuments).

Instead of risking a $20 parking tab, or ranging parking ticket fee, my suggestion would be to find parking somewhere in Northern Virginia and just take the Metro in.

The event (both Lafayette Square and the Treasury) are located within a few blocks of 5 different metro stations: Farragut North, Farragut West, McPherson Square, Metro Center and Federal Triangle.

If you’re coming from Northern Virginia, both the Orange Line and Blue Line will get you to the event without transferring. If you have to take the Yellow line, you’ll have to transfer at L’Enfant Plaza.

Don’t forget your signs!

There have been many on the left who have been diligently trying to discredit the rapidly growing Tea Party Movement as nothing more than a few angry activists.

Well, I guess in terms of web traffic, these few angry activists are more energized than the ever-so-famous Barack Obama army.

What this link shows is the increase in traffic rank, as calculated by Alexa.com.

Of course, any computer geek will quickly rush in and discredit Alexa’s ranking system. However, if you look at some of the other metrics presented here, TaxDayTeaParty.com comes up strong in every category, bringing to question the real power of the post-election Obama machine.

For those of you who don’t follow this stuff regularly and may be confused, let me just walk you through the more important metrics.

While traffic rank is an interesting number to follow, most techies are more concerned with things like pageviews, as shown on the “pageview” tab here.

Now Alexa doesn’t provide you with the exact number pageviews, but instead displays the data as a percentage of overall online activity.

Even so, TaxDayTeaParty.com comes out strong again.

Using another metric, bounce rate, you can easily see how engaging a particular website is. Basically, bounce rate represents nothing more than a percentage of people who come to a certain page on a site and then leave without clicking to other internal links. This metric is important because if a site has content that isn’t relevant or interesting, they’ll leave.

Looking at the two sties, TaxDayTeaParty.com wins another round. Since this metric is based on a percentage of those who exit the site, it’s better to have a lower a number, which TaxDayTeaParty.com does, with a bounce rate of around 35% versus Obama’s 45%.

Yet they’re still trying to discredit this movement?

While I could easily stop there, I might as well finish this out by examining the “Time on Site” numbers.

This metric is self explanatory, it represents the average amount of time visitors spend browsing a particular website. If you’re a web developer, this is an important metric because the time spent on site will often reflect the quality of your sites content, structure, and interactivity.

So looking at the two sites, once again TaxDayTeaParty.com is the victor, with an average time on site of just under 3 minutes, versus Obama’s, which is right around 1 minute and 30 seconds.

While it’s easy to understand why TaxDayTeaParty.com is doing better than the Obama site at present, it’s important to note that in the weeks following the election, everyone was worried about what Obama was going to do with his “massive grassroots army.”

While he may still have a massive email list and a flashy website, in terms of measured attention, it looks like it’s become a model that can be (and is being) replicated by other organizations and movements successfully.

Just for kicks, here is how TaxDayTeaParty.com does against other sites:

TaxDayTeaParty.com vs. MoveOn.org

Winner: TaxDayTeaParty.com

TaxDayTeaParty.com vs. Democrats.org

Winner: TaxDayTeaParty.com

TaxDayTeaParty.com vs. DailyKos.com

Winner: DailyKos.com (for now)

I’m sorry, but I have a hard time being compassionate for stupidity.

From CNN.com:

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) — A polar bear attacked a woman at Berlin Zoo Friday afternoon after she climbed a fence and jumped into its habitat during feeding time, police said Saturday.
The bear attacks the woman during feeding time at the zoo.

The bear attacks the woman during feeding time at the zoo.

One adult polar bit her several times after she plunged into the moat, police said.

Zoo workers tossed rescue rings toward the woman to hoist her out and distract polar bears swimming nearby, said Goerg Gebhard, a Berlin police officer.

“They saved her life,” Gebhard told CNN.

The woman was severely injured and was being treated at a hospital, police said.

It’s unclear why the woman entered the bear habitat, but police issued her a citation for trespassing.

While I’ve tried hard to figure this woman’s logic out, I can’t really come up with anything.

Regardless, this woman should definitely be nominated for a Darwin, or institutionalized.

Of the 2010 Senate races, I knew that Ohio was going to be one that I’d follow closely. However, at no time did I ever imagine that I’d be receiving emails in April 2009 letting me know that the Republican candidate already has a war chest of $3million.

From Rob Portman:

Dear Friend,

I am truly humbled by your support for my campaign for the U.S. Senate.  As a close supporter I want you to be one of the first to hear about our campaign’s most recent success.

Today we announced our fundraising total of $3,178,476 for the first quarter 2009. This is an impressive achievement, especially given the tough economy we face here in Ohio and around the country. I am so grateful to you and so many others who are standing with me in this critical campaign.

During the first two months of the campaign we raised more than $1.7 million and transferred approximately $1.4 million from my Congressional campaign account, giving us a campaign war chest that exceeds $3 million.

This means that the Portman for Senate campaign has exceeded the amount Lt. Governor Lee Fisher raised from donors in the first quarter by over 50 percent and we have more than three times the amount of cash on hand. At this time, we cannot be certain what Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has raised but we expect an even greater advantage over her campaign.

Our support came from every region of Ohio, and more than 78 percent of our donors were Ohioans. As impressive as our fundraising efforts have been, I have been even more humbled by the many Ohioans who have stepped forward to volunteer in the effort.

Since we announced this campaign on January 14, we’ve received the endorsements of an overwhelming majority of Republican activists, elected officials and key party leaders.  From every corner of Ohio, thousands of you have come forward to join our campaign for a better future for our great state and country.

As I’ve travelled the state speaking at Lincoln Day Dinners and meeting with the working families and small business owners who are struggling in this economy, it is clear that Ohioans want a better way than the tax, spend and borrow policies of the Democrats in Congress.

We offer a positive alternative that focuses on job creation and economic growth; with your help we’re well on our way to having the resources to share that message in 2010.

Fundraising is an important barometer this early in a campaign. We could never have achieved this initial success without your hard work and the help of thousands of Ohioans. Thank you for all that you’ve done and will do for our campaign.

I look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail.

All best,

Rob Portman

Sometimes I forget just how expensive politics has become these days

At present, it looks like the ball is in Portman’s court, however it’s way to early to be confident in retaining that seat.

I am certain that Ohio will be a state where both the unions and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will be (probably already are) planning a full, well-funded, assault against Portman.

While $3mil+ this far out is a good sign for any campaign, he definitely has a long way to go.