a couple things

President Obama has not completely dismissed single-payer health care as part of health reform (well, not publicly, anyway). According to a recent NBC poll, forty-three percent of Americans support "a public health care plan administered by the federal government that would compete directly with private health insurance companies," forty-seven percent oppose.

Health co-ops have been gaining traction in recent days, but what exactly is a health co-op?

Check out this article to find out – and discover why health co-ops are NOT a viable alternative to single-payer health care.

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If you've been watching the news over the last couple of weeks you are probably familiar with a growing trend among certain right-wing wackjobs: bringing LOADED handguns – including assault-style rifles – to presidential rallies.

Last night on Hardball with Chris Matthews, Ron Reagan, who is a liberal pundit and son of conservative hero President Ronald Regan, was asked for his opinion concerning these potentially dangerous "demonstrators":

I don't think [people bringing guns to presidential events) is about second-amendment rights, I don't think it's about health care or any of the specific issues here; the future is coming, and many people are scared of the future. This is one of those pivotal moments in this country's history when you can sense something is happening, something is going to change, and many people get very frightened by that. Some people can hire lobbyists to push back against that change, other people who don't have that capacity do things like carry guns around.

The only real reason to carry a loaded handgun or assault-style rifle, anywhere: hunting, target practice, or you intend to kill someone in self-defense. Now they're not going hunting, they're not going for target practice, so who is that they think they might have to kill? Well, they're holding up signs talking about "the tree of liberty needing to be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots," maybe that gives us a little hint.

Chris Matthews summarized the entire premise of bearing arms at presidential events with this: "You have the right to jump around on a pogo stick; you don't go to church on a pogo stick."