Today is the six-month anniversary of the passage of President Obama’s signature legislation, what has come to be known as ObamaCare.  The White House is feting this semi-anniversary, but few Americans are in a mood to join the celebration.

Obama, who can be thin-skinned when people disagree with him, was downright irritated when the early polls showed that a majority of Americans opposed his health care “reform” bill.  On April 1, he criticized the polls as premature, saying “So before we find out if people like health care reform, we should wait to see what happens when we actually put it into place.  Just a thought.”

The problem with his argument is that the more Americans find out what is actually in this monstrosity of a bill, the less they like it.  Polls conducted by Rasmussen Reports show that 55 percent of the public supported the repeal of ObamaCare on March 25, just two days after its passage.  Today, a half-year later, the number of those favoring repeal has grown to 61 percent.

I am not one to call the President a liar.  I have too much respect for the office held by giants like George Washington and Ronald Reagan for that.  But I do believe that much of what Obama has said about his own health care bill is simply not true.  He claimed in Maine that people could keep their own health insurance, in Maryland that people could keep their own doctors.  In Washington, DC, he promised that his plan would cut costs but would not lead to the rationing of care.  He has consistently claimed that it would not fund abortions, and that its “end-of-life visits” would not lead to euthanasia.

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Enough said…

From the Associated Press:

Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak, targeted for defeat by Tea Party activists for his crucial role in securing House approval of the health care overhaul, said Friday he would retire from Congress this year.

The nine-term congressman told The Associated Press he could have won re-election and insisted he wasn’t being chased from the race by the Tea Party Express, which is holding rallies this week in his northern Michigan district calling for his ouster. Instead, Stupak said he was tired after 18 years in office and wanted to spend more time with his family.

“The Tea Party did not run me out,” he said in a telephone interview. “If you know me and my personality, I would welcome the challenge.”

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What a tragedy. After standing firm for so long against such pressure, Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak (D) betrayed his fellow pro-lifers and bought in to a worthless promise from the Abortion President. The Stupak Amendment banning abortion funding in health care garnered 240 votes in the House. The final vote on this unconstitutional and unwise health care takeover – which includes federal funding of abortion – was 219.

There is probably no other measure connected with health care that could command such strong bi-partisan support as last fall’s Stupak Amendment. All the cries for civility and comity, for “reaching across the aisle,” for bringing the American people together were realized in that Stupak Amendment. Bart Stupak got 64 Democrats and every Republican to vote for his amendment last November. And then, he threw it all away.

Henry Hyde’s name will forever be associated with opposition to federal funding of abortion. As a freshman Congressman in 1976, in a House of Representatives dominated by Democrats, big, bluff, friendly Hank Hyde was truly willing to extend his hand across the aisle. He worked with deeply committed pro-life Democrats gladly. Protecting Hyde’s back then was the Hon. William Natcher (D-Ky.), one of the great legislators of the twentieth century. Mr. Natcher’s wisdom, integrity, and deeply held faith were respected by all who knew him. From his post as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Natcher made sure that Freshman Hyde’s amendment would not be gutted by pro-abortion lawmakers operating behind closed doors in the Democratic caucus.

The Hyde Amendment has been voted up time after time, for the past thirty-three years. Henry Hyde has gone to his reward. So has Mr. Natcher. But those who remember this great pro-life Republican and this great pro-life Democrat cherish their memories.

What will we remember about poor Bart Stupak?

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The horse trading went long into the night. In the end the House Democrats bought, cajoled, wrangled and bullied enough votes to pass the health care debacle. The battle is far from over and will range into next November and beyond.

As a far right wing nut job I will enjoy the coming downfall of the Democratic Party. I will enjoy the stunned looks on the faces of those who will lose their union and employer health care plans if this legislation stays around long enough to take effect. I will enjoy the coming revolt of the middle and upper class taxpayers. I could of course, be wrong. Maybe the American people are tired of being free and maybe rugged individualism is dead. Maybe the vast majority of my neighbors are looking forward to the never ending growth of the Federal Government. Maybe everyone except we gun owning, SUV driving, meat eating, smaller government, right wing nut job pro lifers want the nanny state.

So now that the first battle of the “health care reform” movement is over we need to ask some questions. Is that it from the left? Will there be no further movement to start a government option? Will there be no push to get to a single payer system? If you believe that you need to get in the line that starts right behind Rep. Bart Stupak.

Rep. Stupak has become the Neville Chamberlain of our time.

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From The Hill:

Democrats have reached a deal on an executive order on abortion that could hand them a victory on healthare.

“Eight or nine” Democrats, including Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), will announce the deal at a 4 p.m. press conference, according to an anti-abortion Democrat.

“We’ve changed [our votes],” said Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio).

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On Monday, I floated a theory about the purple bracelet Robert Gibbs was wearing on a couple Sunday talk shows.  I wondered if it had any connection to a similar purple bracelet SEIU heavy Andy Stern had worn at some point.

The silly theory, which I called “doubtful,” solicited a reaction that surprised even me.  Besides Robert Gibbs himself tweeting about it, I scored the lefty trifecta: MediaMatters, DailyKos and a blogger for Salon.com all responded.

A rash of hysterical e-mails also came through.  Consider this gem:

Really Mr. Olson, REALLY? While I’m aware you wingnuts are not the brightest bulbs around, and the fact you are associated with the huge steaming pile of moron known as Breitbart indicates you are quite possibly mentally retarded…

Or this:

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