If our country were not having such economic trouble, it would be completely hilarious to watch economists and other so-called experts trying to predict what our economy is going to do next. Anyone who happens to be paying attention to the news knows that unemployment is [...]
A major obstacle to the health care reform legislation in the Senate is looming ahead and it may be one that can not be easily overcome. When the House version of health care reform passed, it was only because moderate Democrats were persuaded to vote for it after anti-abortion language [...]
It was a terrible tragedy that happened Sunday, with four police officers being shot and killed by Maurice Clemmons in the Seattle, Washington suburb of Lakewood. We can all offer our condolences and prayers, but there is really nothing that can be said or done to take [...]
We have been patiently waiting, you and I, for President Obama to announce how he will be changing the strategy for Afghanistan. It has been 92 days since General Stanley McChrystal gave the President his advice on how that strategy should be changed. Part of the advice included sending some [...]
As was dutifully noted last week, global warming, aka. climate change, is an issue of very contentious debate. That is true, not only in America, but also across the world. It received even more attention last week with the release of e-mails showing the data that [...]
One of the most contentious debates in our time is the debate over global warming and it’s supposed causes. It seems that most of the far left liberals in the world all want to blame human beings (that’s you and me) for global warming. So far, they have done a [...]
Everyone should be familiar by now with South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and his infamous disappearing act in June. You know the one, where he went to Argentina to meet with his mistress and failed to put anyone in charge of the state while he was gone. He didn’t even [...]
My readers (all three of you) are probably going to think I am way behind the times with this story, but I think it bears mentioning. Imagine my surprise as I was listening to NPR this morning and one of the commentators said something about how health care reform was [...]
Senator Mary Landrieu
After ten hours of floor speeches and debate, the United States Senate is set to vote at 8:00 PM EST to send it’s version of health care reform to the Senate floor for debate. For a while, it looked as if they may fall two [...]
Just over a week ago, United States Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he would be bringing five of the suspects in the 9/11 attacks to New York to stand trial in federal civilian court. These suspects are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Waleed bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa Ahmad [...]
One of the reasons Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was able to scrape her version of health care reform by earlier this month was because of concessions she made to the moderates in her party, concerning abortion. Those concessions were due, in large part, to the [...]
This post is a bit unusual, in that I came to write it as part of a blog campaign. It is something I normally do not participate in, but I felt this warranted an exception. Today is Universal Youth Day and it is fitting that bloggers across the world are [...]
One of the most publicized decisions President Obama has made since taking office has been his order to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It was a decision that was heralded by most of the world, as the prison is very unpopular, and by the liberals [...]
When the House of Representatives passed their version of health care legislation earlier this month, I did some very extensive reading of the final version of their bill. (Final as in before they reconcile with the Senate.) At at time, I wrote an article detailing some of the things [...]
Who says lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place? Do you remember the Maersk Alabama and the ordeal they faced in April? They were hijacked off the coast of Somalia and the crew fought back, recapturing their ship. The pirates managed to keep Captain Richard [...]
Well, here I go again, treading waters where I probably have no business swimming in. I was very
President Obama bows to the Japanese
busy over the weekend with computer problems and was unable to keep up with the news. Imagine my surprise when [...]
What is it about some of us that we can not be civil to one another? This question is prompted by an article I just read from The Associated Press, concerning the upcoming trial in New York of Heather Ellis. Ms. Ellis is an African-American and [...]
As the deadline for the Obama administration to decide how to deal with the detainees at Guantanamo Bay approaches, it is being reported that five of them will be moved to the United States and will stand trial in civilian federal court in New York. The men [...]
Much ado was made last year about the Mormon church’s support of Proposition 8 in California, which basically took away the right of homosexuals to marry. The vicious backlash from homosexual advocates was something the Mormon church simply had to endure, as they were not about to change their position [...]
I thought I would not be revisiting the shooting at Fort Hood so soon, but as the investigation into what happened begins to unfold, I think there are some things that merit mentioning.
First of all, the shooting at Fort Hood had nothing to do with post traumatic [...]
As a disclaimer, let me state categorically that I am not trying to bash the Catholic Church with this article.
If there is one thing the Catholic Church is known for, it is it’s secrecy. I am not versed at all in their religious proceedings, but the first thing I think [...]
I knew there was a reason I liked Joe Lieberman. With the House passing their version of health care reform late Saturday night, the battle over how to reform the system moves to the Senate and conservatives seem to have an ally in the Democrat turned [...]
Throughout the day Saturday, one could never tell what was about to happen. First, there was news that President Obama would be traveling to Capital Hill to woo Democrats who were thinking about voting against the health care legislation Nancy Pelosi was trying to pass. Then came [...]
As the aftermath of the shooting at Fort Hood begins to unfold and more details are released, one thing is apparent. There are a lot of questions and no so many answers. It is now known that Major Nidal Malik Hasan is still alive and is in stable condition. The [...]
Even though I made the decision to cover breaking news and current events after the 2008 Presidential election was over, I hate writing about happenings such as this.
Around 1:30 PM this afternoon, a soldier went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, TX and at the last count, 12 people [...]
Remember how Barack Obama and his hordes of aides descended on Washington, D.C. before he even took the oath of office and began making the push and the sell for a massive economic stimulus package? To the tune of $787 billion, they told the American people that [...]
As the news coverage of the GOP wins in Virginia and New Jersey continues, it is clear November 3rd was a big day for the Republican Party. Even though they lost the congressional seat in New York, they managed to pull off big wins in both of the previously mentioned [...]
It is a well known fact that voters in the New England area of our country are more independent than most and tend to vote more on the liberal side of the political spectrum. That statement is not meant to be a slam towards those voters, just [...]
Does anyone remember how it was last year around this same time? Barack Obama had just won the White House, due in no small part to a large influx of new voters, people who usually did not participate in the election process. For weeks now, we have heard how today, [...]
For most of this year, it seems all I have written about has been the health care reform debate. Every time I turn around, there is something new to add to the discussion and even though I get tired of writing about the same old song and dance, it is [...]
I have been out of the news loop for most of the weekend, due to having other obligations and it appears that I have missed a lot. Mike has already written about the struggle between the conservative and moderate factions of the Republican Party and how this struggle is [...]
News stories began to break over last weekend about a tragic turn of events at a homecoming dance at a Northern California high school last Saturday. I have yet to write about this case and have no intentions of getting into the specifics, but I have been watching it with [...]
Since the advent of mobile browsing seems to be growing stronger and because I have seen several visits from mobile devices, I have decided to make Political Realities as mobile friendly as possible. I have installed a plugin that should allow those of you who are using mobile devices to [...]
I know, I know, this is an unusual post for me. I do not generally write about sports related issues, but as I begin to hear and read about the hearings held by Congress today, I decided to make an exception.
Those of you who do not know me personally have [...]
Early reports this morning are saying that a major explosion has taken place in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing at least 80 people, with the death toll expected to go higher. Care to take a guess at where the bomb went off? It was at a women’s market. According [...]
Earlier this month, Mike wrote an article that talked about the decision of Olympia Snowe to support the health care legislation and help it proceed from committee. Consequently, she was the only Republican to vote for the bill that came out of the Senate Finance [...]
What is the first thing you think of when you hear a nation or an individual has committed human rights abuses? If you are like me, you think about war crimes or genocide. Countries such as Burma and Iran come to mind. Imagine my surprise to learn that the United [...]
As you are probably aware, there is a very heated debate going on in our country over the need for health care reform. It was one of the main agendas that Barack Obama ran on and with Democrats controlling Congress, it seems a given that some sort [...]
Here is a formula for you. Take greed and bad business practices in equal parts and mix it with companies who were deemed “to big to fail”. Once stirred together, combine the resulting mix with $700 billion in bailout money. After baking for several months, what do [...]
As the debate over how to reform our health care system rages on, there has been one part of the argument that has been largely ignored. The Republican Party has been pushing for some sort of tort reform, in an effort to curb the costs of medical malpractice suits and [...]
Over last weekend, I began reading different news stories about the appointment of Kevin Jennings as assistant deputy for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education and the opposition of Republicans in Washington. The man has been a well known homosexual activist for years and some [...]
If there is one thing the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona is not, it is afraid of the federal authorities who continue to tell him to stop the law enforcement sweeps that have netted several arrests of illegal aliens. Sheriff Joe Arpaio has made news before, with his tough stance [...]
You could say I am a bit behind the times with this story, as it has already been posted all over the Internet. I suppose my attentions have been focused elsewhere, but even at that I should have already written about this. As I live in Oklahoma, I think it [...]
I have followed politics for a long time and I have to say I have not seen such a disagreement between a single administration and a news organization as I see between the current White House and FOX News. It is getting to the point that it is slightly ridiculous.
President [...]
Here is a first for you. The news came out today that there would be no cost of living adjustment in Social Security payments next year. Using a formula I can’t even begin to understand, the Labor Department has determined that the cost of living has actually went down (I [...]
Can I help it if I am proud to have Tom Coburn as one of our Senators from Oklahoma? The good doctor from Muskogee is at it again.
Anyone who has followed Coburn’s political career will know that he has two major issues that he cares deeply about. [...]
Let’s see now, Congress hasn’t even finished work on health care reform and now the House of Representatives is taking up another issue that has been a priority of President Obama. In my opinion, one of the main reasons Obama won the election against John McCain was the complete and [...]
I really don’t have time to do an in-depth article about this, but I have to give it mention. In what appears to be the first move of the health insurance industry not playing nice with health care reform. They have released a report that is not [...]
In a case of “you would’ve thought they would’ve been smarter than this”, two state workers at the Oklahoma Governor’s Mansion have been fired as allegations of rape have emerged. The alleged rapes occurred between March 2008 and January 2009, but they were not reported until [...]
A lot of people, myself included have questioned George W. Bush about the war in Iraq. I have always liked the man, but that didn’t keep me from questioning the validity of sending our troops into the country and removing Saddam Hussein from power. Not that I was a great [...]
On November 4, 2008, when it became clear that Barack Obama would be the next President of the United States, there was a lot of reaction from both his opponents and his supporters. This reaction stemmed from the fact that he had promised a lot of people a lot of [...]
Here is a story about something I would have never considered doing to my family growing up, no matter how upset and angry I was. A teenager from Falmouth, Massachusetts is in some serious trouble after throwing himself a temper tantrum after his cell phone was taken away by his [...]
Imagine my surprise this morning when I first started scanning the news stories on my home page. The story at the top was explaining how President Barack Obama has just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I am honestly shocked at the news.
As I began to read the story, I [...]
Rain, rain, please go away. That’s how a lot of us feel in Oklahoma right now. Yes, I know that we can’t control the weather and it rains on whom it will. It just seems that the rain will never stop. In the last three days, we [...]
It seems that one can not read, watch, or listen to the news these days without finding a story about a sex offender. I mean no disrespect to any woman who has been raped, but it seems the ones we hear about most are those offenders who are guilty of [...]
I suppose this could also go in my Technology category, but given the ramifications, I thought I should put it on the front page. A very fierce battle of words has been raging over how much regulation the Internet should have. With the advent of blogging, it is very [...]
Of all the questions that have been raised during the ongoing debate over health care reform, I believe the question in the title of this article has been addressed the least. The real reason millions of Americans do not have health care insurance is because they can [...]
I don’t normally write about things like this, but this story is simply too good to pass up. In the “makes me shake my head in disbelief” department, The Associated Press is reporting that an Alabama woman was stopped and arrested Sunday while driving down a state highway. Her [...]
I wrote a few days ago about President Obama and the decision he has to make about sending more troops to Afghanistan.General Stanley McChrystal has requested some 40,000 additional forces to combat the rise in violence as the Taliban continues their struggle to return to power. [...]
Senator Max Baucus has announced that the Senate Finance Committee, which he chairs, has finished their work on the proposed health care reform legislation and it is now ready for a final vote. Once it has cleared the committee, it will go to the floor of the [...]
Oh, the wonders of technology. Everywhere we turn, there it is. From Model A cars, we have progressed to vehicles that tell you where you need to turn and will alert the authorities if you have a crash. They can even unlock your car remotely, if you [...]
Do you remember June 26 of last year. The Supreme Court finally handed down it’s ruling in the District of Columbia v. Heller case concerning the district’s outright ban on handguns. When that ruling was delivered, it was known that it would not be a blanket decision [...]
It sounds like deja vu, but a quake deep under the South Pacific Ocean has triggered a tsunami that has swept across the Samoas. Early reports have the dead at 99 and dozens of people are missing. The quake registered at a magnitude of between 8.0 and [...]
During his campaign for President in 2007-2008, Barack Obama stated repeatedly that he believed the war in Iraq was a mistake. His reasoning for that belief was that Afghanistan was where we should have focused our attention. While he may have been correct, I am left to wonder at the [...]
As I was reading different news stories this morning, I was struck by how much immigration, both illegal and otherwise was in the news. The Associated Press had two different articles this morning that covered parts of the issue.
The first one I read was about how the [...]
Is there any doubt left that Iran is working to gain every advantage they can before the talks between them and six other major power in Geneva on Thursday? We have already discussed the implications of Iran having a second uranium enrichment facility and now the stakes have been [...]
Does it seem like Iran is determined to be in the news every day? Maybe not to anyone else, but I am beginning to get that feeling. From the United Nations General Assembly to their nuclear program, there is always something to discuss about this country in [...]
