My understanding is that middle-class blacks, fleeing the corruption and incompetence of a third-world city government in Detroit, have been moving to southern Oakland County, and that is what has changed those numbers. They are not net-gain numbers statewide. Now, maybe we'll lose the MI-9th or one of those districts as a result, but someday soon after 2010 Michigan will lose another seat, which will probably be a currently Democratic one. There are only so many ways to gerrymander a state like Michigan to produce two such worthies as John Conyers and Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick.

Following the 2000 U.S.Census. it was the Republican majority state legislature that redistricted the congressional districts you are referring to here. Lynn Rivers. an up and coming Democratic Congresswoman's district was reconfigured to put her in the same district as Democrat, long-term Dingle in the primary. So the Democrats had to make a Hobson's choice between two fine congresspersons, and Lynn - an equally fine environmentalist - lost. David Bonnior, admired progressive congressman, was gerrymandered right out of the demographics. Conyer's distric was gerrymandered into a tortured configuration intended to take his territory into hostile or indifferent territory. Four elections later, Conyers - and rightfully so - still owns that seat.

About Carolyn: You do know, E-man, her territory includes Grosse Pointe. She weathered this primary against a couple of rivals unsuccessfully trying to conflate her record with her son Kwame. Do you know of anything in her or Conyer's congressional record that is either "corrupt" or "incompetent" or evenly, remotely "third world"?

I am a native fifth-generation resident of Detroit. What are your creds - better yet - documentation for your assertions here?

Now that Kwame Kilpatrick (son of CBC Chair Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick) is gone, and a reorganized city government is working on turning out the vote (Michigan is a Red state without Detroit), the bonus for McCain might no longer be there.

It may come as a surprise to you E-man, but there is significant white voter support for Obama here in my state.

As of the 2000 census, Deroit had less than 1,000,000 residents and has continued to lose population these past 7+ years. No way has Obama surged from a dead heat to a nine point lead in MI because Detroit now has a different mayor. People all over the state are finally paying attention. Macomb County's Reagan Democrats are coming around to Obabma, and the affluent Oakland County had been turning increasingly purple since 2006.

Yeah! McCain is folding up his tent and stealing away, mayhap to campain in Missouri, which was to a sure bet for him.

I'm from Motown, and I had to hit the mute button before I got run out of town.

Here in Michigan, Obama's polls are moving up while McCain's are stagnant: Obama's lead in recent polls range from +5 to +9.

I just mosied over to the CNN site to see their take on this breaking, lead story.

http://www.cnn.com/

The headline is:

"Presidential debate the next victim of economic crisis."

WTF?

Sorry, I'm not good on spelling words related to spooky beliefs.

I was in an absolute snit when I heard Franklin Graham give his invocation at Bush's inauguration. His opening statement was to some god who was "sovereign" over all of this nation. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and virtually all of the surviving debate that went on during the Constitutional Convention and its subsequent debates during ratification all clearly demonstrate that the revolutionary concept of this nascent republic was that it derives its sovereignty not from God - as manifest in the devine right of kings - but from its people.

By the argument put forth in this e-mail regarding Muslims, American Christians who believe America derives its sovereignty from God rather than its people do not good Americans make. Heh.

You're out drinking with your buddies instead of being in front of your computer because you have nothing to say profound, original or even moderately fresh about your own academic field?

Like Clarence Thomas, there are academics just smart enough to know they aren't smart enough; consequently, they keep their mouths/Word 7s shut.