According to Fox News, efforts to get Grayson to shut his lips on how the Republican health care reform was doomed to “die” were akin to those made by Democrats to get Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) to apologize for the “You lie!” incident we all know so well. But in Grayson’s case, as it was surely fact for Wilson, was he telling the truth with his shocking statement?

The Republican effort proved futile. Grayson refused to apologize…at least for what the red elephants wanted. Instead, Grayson gave this apology, as reported by Fox: “I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven’t voted sooner to end this holocaust in America.”

I find this all to be extremely interesting. Why? Well, I’ve visited the Holocaust Museum in D.C., I’ve visited my local museum in St. Petersburg, Fla., and I’ve personally written at least ten reports on the horrifying event; however, I see absolutely zero evidence of this “holocaust” Grayson speaks of in the U.S. What, exactly, is this man talking about?

I love how Democratic ads on Obama’s health care reform plan always seem to say something along the lines of, “…to prevent all those who die in the streets…”

Have you recently witnessed any American citizen die in the street? If you have, please post a comment ASAP and I’ll respond with my personal contact information so we can get together on this.

Of course, I know I won’t be receiving any because this simply does not happen in the United States, even with our currently lacking health care system. That’s because people who need medical attention can go to the emergency room and be treated. Sure, they’ll receive a massive bill in the mail that they likely can’t afford, BUT, they don’t die in the street.

Get your facts straight, Grayson, before you go spouting any more stupidity. And furthermore, you should be ashamed of yourself as an official representative, “Congressman Grayson,” for Florida, and my own home state no less.

What was once a good idea to liberals and fans of big government meddling into the private affairs of citizens has now turned taboo, with many of the former supporters jumping ship.  The proposal for health care reform has lost plenty of steam over the last several months, calling on Obama and the few liberals still in cahoots with the President over his plan to host a variety of town-hall meetings to discuss the details, or lack there of.  

What was once a keystone for Obama in his election campaign can now be best summed up as “Obama’s health plan woes.”

Prior to Obama’s speech this week, the major headline came from a Senator who proposed fines for those without health insurance, ranging from $950 for single citizens up to $3,800 for families depending on income.  Even though Obama had said in the past that he opposes fining citizens for opting to not carry coverage, there is much talk about the necessity for such a thing to cover the tremendous financial burden that Obama’s plans will add to the national debt.

That brings us to Rep. Joe Wilson and his “You Lie!” outburst during Obama’s speech on  health care Wednesday night.  Wilson has been a proponent of small government since his election to Congress in 2001, and the last time he was in the headlines was during his verbal assault waged on John Kerry over comments on the Vietnam War.  Wilson has four sons that serve in the U.S. military.

Wilson deserves some credit.  It was a rare moment in politics: someone was honest.

So Clinton won the election (with the help of Ross Perot taking a decent chunk of Republican votes) and Bush was taken out of office.

The tables may have turned, with the Democrats on the receiving end.

Obama pledged during his campaign a lot of things, many of which probably won’t happen now that he understands what all it takes to govern a nation.  It’s also another beast entirely to try and be the figurehead standing before millions of people who don’t care about the good of the nation and want to know specifically what it is the president can do for them.  Knowing this, Obama pledged no new taxes on the middle class.  It was a campaign keystone for Obama.

Yet our good friend Timothy Geithner has said that the promise might not stand the test of time.

If Obama can’t keep that promise and keep middle class taxes off the legislative docket, a world of hurt may be ready to bear down upon the Democratic Party.

It has not been a good year for them.  Having a super majority in Congress has done virtually nothing to push through any legislation, giving the image of incompetence and removing much of the credibility Obama’s charisma pumped into his lofty promises before election.

And the prize goes to…

California, and more specifically, Los Angeles, as reported by Fox News.

The posters show Obama’s face covered in white with his eyes blacked out in smudgy rings, and a bright red smile painted on his lips, smile lines extra long and curled around his cheeks. It looks absolutely creepy.

Could it be that our great nation is finally realizing its mistake last November in electing him? Perhaps.

Could this also have something to do with the recent issue regarding socialized health care? I think yes.

According to the report from Fox, we still have no idea on where the posters are coming from, just as we have no clue if it’s the Democrats or the Republicans.

Gee, I wonder which party it could be?

The answer may seem likely as Republicans, of course, but that may not be true. With this health care reform Obama’s trying to force through Congress, many people are worried, both Democrats and Republicans, about where this could possibly take us in the future, if passed. And many are crying socialism.

There are many pros and cons to this reform. It just depends on what you believe in and where you moral ground lies. It does, however, appear in this case that those in support of the cons to this health care mess are a little friskier than those who support it.

According to Reuters, Americans can expect to be waiting for a while longer. Democrats in the House of Representatives told Reuters on Tuesday that it was “unlikely they would vote on a healthcare overhaul before heading home for their August recess at the end of the week.”

The Senate Finance negotiations are pulling for a plan where co-ops compete against private insurers, which they think will cut down healthcare costs. But, there’s some controversy surrounding the idea of cooperatives.

If this were to be passed, the non-profits would be used at a state, regional and national level and could affect up to 12 million people.

Democratic Senator Kent Conrad told Rueters that the government would provide about $6 billion to help healthcare cooperatives start up. Then, each co-op would need about 25,000 members to be “financially viable” and 500,000 members to “negotiate competitive rates with providers.”

What President Obama had been pulling for wasn’t met with much support. It probably has something to do with the price tag: $1 trillion.

“I understand people being scared that this is going to be way too costly,” Obama said. “It’s not too costly if we start making changes right now.”

Maybe, but is it really worth it?

This past week, Obama really stirred the cauldron by saying that Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department in Massachusetts “acted stupidly” when he arrested Scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Gates is a friend of the president’s, and a black man. Sgt. Crowley is white.

As reported by the Associated Press yesterday, the extent of Obama’s apology is as follows: “I could’ve calibrated those words differently.” Oh yes, and Obama called both Gates and Crowley to invite them over for a beer at the White House.

Those are two surefire ways (especially that last one) to try and douse these racial flames…

We’ll never know for sure if the president accidentally intended any racism toward the white Sgt. Crowley by his choice words, however, I think it’s interesting, and an excellent example that proves we’re all just human. Even the president of the United States has his moments.

Something else I find interesting is how big the media are blowing this up to be, which, I guess, is what they’re good for: blowing anything and everything out of proportion.

I also took notice to how often the words “white” and “black” appear in reference to these two men in the articles written about them. How often is that: quite often. Doesn’t this affect a person’s bias while reading an article like this? Doesn’t immediately stir racial emotion in the viewer/reader? Of course it does.

One one hand, it’s nice to know how the president feels about matters such as this, to know that he does possess some bias, whether it be because Gates is a friend or because they share the same race, or what have you. On the other hand, does this story, essentially about a single adverb, elicit such attention from the media.

Well, I guess it does seeing as how this is one of the most popular stories on the Web right now. I have been known to have a wrong opinion or two in my life.

The keystone for Obama’s legislative docket was to pass his healthcare bill.  The goal is to offer government sponsored health insurance to help cover the 40 million plus people without any insurance at all, and also compete against insurance companies to keep costs down.  The plan looks great on paper and Obama has sworn he will get it passed before the end of the congressional year; a promise that may make or break public opinion of the man.

Public opinion has already dropped for the president’s plan, falling under 50% for the first time since it was sent to Congress.  The main concerns opponents have for the plan are the potential increases in the federal deficit beyond its already astronomical proportions as well as lowering the quality of health care in the United States (something Canadians and other socialized medicine states have had problems with) to a standard of what most HMO’s offer: as little as possible.

America has had expensive health care, it’s true.  Many people complain saying that it isn’t worth it or that hospitals essentially rob the sick with their fees.  That may be true, but in the end, Americans can still find health care services when they need them, and expect a higher standard of treatment than a bandage and an ice pack.  Where socialized health care makes health care affordable, it also makes it less obtainable, with some people having to wait several weeks for treatment.

In the end, the question that determines this bill’s success or failure is one of practicality: Does inexpensive health care mean more than quality health care?

According to the Associated Press, a recent study recommended that the military slowly become tobacco free.

The study was conducted by the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department. They’re suggesting that more aggressive measures be taken to eliminate tobacco use. They’re not saying that it needs to be done immediately. Their goal is in the next 20 years. Some ideas for doing this include banning recruits from smoking and outlawing tobacco in military academies.

This isn’t the first time that the Pentagon is encouraging troops to cut down on tobacco consumption. In 1999 the Pentagon set out to decrease smoking by 5 percent and chewing tobacco by 15 percent by 2001. It didn’t quite work. Now, they’re noticing an increase in tobacco use, which may be because of deployed soldiers. The study noted that although tobacco use in America is decreasing, tobacco use in the military has remained high. In 2005, one-third of members in the active duty military smoked compared to one-fifth of the adult U.S. population.

Now, it’s impossible to say that any type of tobacco use could be beneficial to your health. Nonetheless this is getting a lot of flack. Soldiers are saying that they deserve the right to smoke and, sure, since we’re Americans, we have special rights to do many things.

Still, this ban would only do more good than harm…if the Pentagon can get it to happen.

Palin told the AP she’s going to write a book, campaign for political candidates, and build up a “right-of-center coalition.”

“I will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation,” she said in an interview published Sunday in The Washington Times.

The former Republican vice presidential nominee and strong representative of both the Republican Party and conservative movement, I’m personally glad to hear Palin’s not going to back down and go home, even in the face of all the ridiculous lawsuits and radically skewed liberal media attention she’s received almost nonstop since the world first really heard about the backwoods Alaskan governor when Sen. John McCain announced her as his vice presidential running mate 11 months ago.

I expected nothing less from the woman who touted herself as a fisherwoman, huntress, snowmobile rider, and conqueror of corrupt politics.

Palin is also the first woman to be nominated for vice president as a Republican and only the second to run for vice president on a major party ticket, after Democrat Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.

Representing Alaska big time, Palin’s also the first Alaskan, let alone woman, to be on the ticket for either party.

And if Palin gets elected as president in 2012….

According to online news site Reuters, Palin dropped the bomb without taking any questions from the media, and hinted at branching out with her political influence. Some analysts, as the article reported, think she was implying that her leave would give her time to prepare for the 2012 election.

Wow…ya think? I wonder how much money those analysts make in a year making predictions like that….

“We are not retreating, we are advancing in a different direction,” Palin said, as Reuters reported. “We know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time.”

Palm spoke in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska. Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell and her state cabinet were by her side and say her decision came after a good deal of “prayer and consideration.” She also announced that Parnell would take over the job on July 26.

Palin’s term as governor wasn’t up until the end of 2010.

It’s true that Palin has held, and probably will continue to hold some major pull in the Republican domain, but how can you blame the woman for this decision? The media have been in a frenzy over her since McCain picked her as his vice presidential running mate. And not only have the media attacked Palin herself, but they’ve attacked her family, particularly Bristol Palin, due to the the whole child out of wedlock ordeal.

Maybe Palin is relinquishing the reins as governor of Alaska to prepare herself to take on the presidential race in 2012 and maybe she’s just taking a break from the mess that has been her life for the past year.

Whatever her reason, I don’t blame her.