Obama's high approval ratings are because he is in line with what he talked about before the Election. He is attempting to make good on his promises and his team of advisors are showing that they can continue the successes shown during Obama's brilliant campaign.

Naturally, toes will be stepped on but that is a good thing. Nothing of value is accomplished if the failed status-quo of the previous Administration is perpetuated.

The Republicans are in a very defensive posture and they have good reason to be fearful for the future of their Party. Obama is moving forward on many fronts, and this forces the Republicans into hasty responses and blatant negativism that is not appreciated by most voters.

I'm watching the DJIA and I'm reading bits and pieces of good economic news dribbling out here and there. Granted, we're still in very bad shape and economic progress is very fragile but a shred of good news is good news indeed.

The hard right, of course, wants Obama to fail. The country be damned, they want the White House back in 2012. It is fun to watch conservatives trip over themselves trying to paint everything Obama does as "socialist" or "communist". They rail against Obama's foreign policy, calling it "apologist" while ignoring the Bush Administration foreign policy disasters. They call Obama a "traitor" for publishing the Torture Memos. Never mind that the the memos are, or will be, in the public domain anyway.

What emerges from the right is a blatantly desperate attempt to enlist the support of voters in the hope of gaining the majority. They are going about it all wrong. They will satisfy the stupidity of their hard-core supporters and they will accomplish little else.

Luntz wrote: "But if you offer no vision for what's better for America, you'll be relegated to insignificance at best and labeled obstructionist at worst."

Therin lies the problem for Republicans. Medicare is doing a pretty good job providing coverage for seniors. Compared to private insurance administrative costs Medicare is far cheaper. Republicans will be hard-pressed to offer a plan that is not based upon fear and misrepresentation of facts.

Private insurers make money by limiting or denying coverage for procedures and treatments. Luntz conveniently forgets this.

Is fully explained and represented on Fox News whereby viewers can perform armchair psychoanalysis with 98% accuracy. The anger and faux discussions presented are blatantly biased in the extreme, while they must be soothing to those folks sitting at home sticking pins in their Obama dolls.

The Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage style of news prostitution is replacing common sense in conservatives' lives. This garbage is pereceived by a vocal minority as the path to a political comeback and eventual Permanent Republican Majority.

How does one explain to these folks that the world is, indeed, not flat and Fox is, indeed, not "fair and balanced" journalism as advertised.

and turn up the 5.1 sound volume.

Much better than video sex.

I'm on Medicare and I scarcely notice the difference from my private insurance that I had before I retired. If Medicare is an example of "government run healthcare" I don't know why the dittoheads are so fearful.

Medicare is not perfect but it works, and it can be improved. Getting rid of the prescription coverage "doughnut hole" that the drug industry cleverly lobbied into the system will be a huge improvement. Why are American-made drugs cheaper in other countries?

Most of the problems within our healthcare system can by mitigated by adequate oversight and the realization that for the most part the private insurance industry adds little value to the process in exchange for its vast control and profits.

"Gaming the system" is epidemic. Here's how it works: A quadruple-bypass procedure can be billed by the hospital at close to $200,000. This does not include the required private doctor visits and post operative rehabilitation costs. The hopital submits the billing to the patient's insurer. The insurer typically will not pay the full amount on the invoice. It will review and challenge amounts it deems to be excessive and the full payment by the insurer will be substantially lower than the invoice amount. This is more often than not accepted as payment in full by the provider.

What is happening here? On the surface it appears that the insurer is performing the admirable task of reducing the cost of the procedure by refusing to pay the full invoice amount. The provider is left to accept what the insurer offers. This would appear to be a loss for the provider but it is not, because the provider BUILDS IN EXCESS COSTS to make up for the reduced payment from the insurer.

Does this result in better healthcare? It does not. Does this build in excessive administative costs? It does.

What he cares about is finding issues to rant about.

There is too much hysteria over where to house the Gitmo prisoners. These guys are no more dangerous than the average street punks.

The American Fear Industry has imparted superhuman powers to these prisoners in the same manner that has been used to manufacture threats (China, Vietnam, Korea, Russia, Iraq, Iran, Mexico, Cuba) to our country to the benefit of the war industry and the Republican Party.