Wait, don't run away.

This isn't a candidate diary. It's not even a test.

If this had been an actual candidate diary, you would have been instructed where to tune in your area for news and official information. Or you could just hide under your desk until the diary was over.

This diary exists only to ask the following questions:

Who is the greatest man in America?

And why are we letting a bunch of Canadians answer that question for us?

I hope NYCEVE will forgive me for appropriating her "Murder By Spreadsheet" headline, but it fit the theme of this diary.

As we've learned from Eve's diaries, including her recent diary about CIGNA delaying the liver transplant for a teenager who ended up dying, insurance companies often delay or deny payments because a treatment is deemed "experimental".

This problem has the potential to affect a large number of us, not just those in need of new livers or modern treatments for cancer, as insurance companies start cracking down on off-label prescriptions.

What are off-label prescriptions? How will the drug and insurance companies screw us this time? Read more after the jump...

The excellent diary by Turkana from earlier this week about the passing of jazz great Oscar Peterson really got me thinking. The roster of classic jazz masters is shrinking rapidly, but all too often they are only mentioned here on Kos when one passes, as with this diary about drummer Max Roach, who died this past August.

For the benefit of jazz lovers of all ages, including those of you just discovering jazz, I thought I'd write a diary about a few of the great artists who are still with us. Some of these folks are getting pretty old, but they still play shows here and there and they are definitely worth seeing if you have the opportunity.

Follow me for a brief appreciation of these living jazz masters.

Did you know that there are only 7 different kinds of Republicans? In their study "The Elephant Looks in the Mirror 10 Years Later" by Fabrizio, McLaughlin and Associates, which is a follow-up to their original study from a decade ago, you can neatly divide Republicans into 7 groups that reflect their reasons for voting GOP.

Romney has apparently taken this study to heart, and is changing his focus from the "Moralists" wing of the party to the "Bush Hawks".

What are the 7 types of Republicans? What prompted the change in Romney's strategy? Read more after the jump.

Tonight I had the rare pleasure of seeing Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead do her stand-up act at a comedy club here in Manhattan.

Among the many gut-busting bits in her routine was one idea I thought was truly inspired:

All presidential candidates should be required to dress like NASCAR drivers, with patches on their jackets that represent the corporations who fund their campaigns. The more money the corporation gives, the bigger the patch.

More details after the jump:

With football season upon us, how many of us consider the long-term effects of the game on our favorite players? It’s easy to assume that these highly-paid athletes will all retire in comfort and luxury, open restaurants or bars, and live happily ever after. Sadly, this is not the case for a growing number of NFL team members including some former gridiron stars.

Make the jump to read more:

This just in from CNN:

Several well-placed GOP sources in Washington and Idaho have told CNN that embattled Republican Sen. Larry Craig is likely to resign soon, possibly as early as Friday.

A GOP source with knowledge of the situation told CNN's Dana Bash that the Republican National Committee was poised to take the extraordinary step of calling on Craig to resign.

However, that move was put on hold, the source said, because top party leaders have received indications that Craig himself is preparing to step down.

More after the break...

Happy Thanksgiving All,

My apologies for posting a politics-free diary. I'm writing about a completely personal issue tonight.

I'm turning to the California Kos community for a bit of advice.

I've had a rather shocking development in my life in last few days:

I'm moving to the LA area in June. My wife just accepted an offer for a new job. I wasn't able to go with her for the interview, and I've never even been to California, so I'll admit I'm somewhat apprehensive about moving someplace I've never seen.

Among our biggest challenges is figuring out the territory. I need some suggestions from local residents about where to live.

We're thinking about Pasadena. I need to know the good, and the bad, about living there.

More details after the break.

Does anybody else suspect that a crack team of GOP muckrakers is currently digging around for a Capitol Hill page or intern to finger a Democrat in a smear campaign aimed at distracting everyone from The Foley Affair?

I expect the news to break any day this week. Whatever dirty laundry the GOP can find is sure to be aired for all to see (especially for those who watch Fox News) .

Given my low level of trust for this administration, I wouldn't put it past them to pay huge sums for information that might influence a page to tell, or even make up their story. At the risk of venturing into tin foil hat territory, Rove and company might manufacture a scandal if they can't find something juicy enough. Rather than cleaning their own house, the GOP will seek to shift the blame. If I were a betting man, I'd put money on it.

More after the break...

Confession time: I've been cheating Kos out of ad revenues. At least I didn't do it on purpose. The root cause was Firefox, and the extensions I was running.

More details after the break...

Here we go again...

Seemingly unfazed by his lack of credibility after the WMDs-in-Iraq falsehoods, Bush is now claiming that Iran is supplying parts for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to Iraq.

The Associated Press buried the information in the story about the US pouring billions of dollars into fighting the deadly IEDs.

Bush said in a speech Monday that Iran had supplied IED components to Iraqi groups, but U.S. officials have presented no evidence to support that, nor did Bush explain why Shiite Muslim Iran would aid Iraq's Sunni-dominated insurgency.

More after the break:

"So Ratzinger is pope. I feel like my mostly non-Catholic progressive friends felt the morning after Bush was elected -- sort of sucker-punched in the gut, hurting in the heart."

A dear friend of mine, who is a minister at our neighborhood Catholic church, wrote this morning-after manifesto for Buzzflash: