In the clip, Beck does his usual bit denouncing both Republicans and Democrats and the ever-expanding government of President Obama. Then he decides to give his audience a visual example of how Obama’s programs are so huge that they’re forcing people to fight back — though it’s actually unclear what point Beck is trying to make.  He says, “You know the old saying, if you put a frog into boiling water, he’s going to jump right out, because he’s scalding hot, but if you place the frog in lukewarm water and gradually raise the temperature, it won’t realize what’s happening and die?”

Beck continued:

Barack Obama has galvanized the country, because of the sheer size of the bills he’s proposed, and the number of the bills, the urgency that he’s placing on the bills. He’s forced us to think and get involved! We have — not like John McCain, been boiled slowly — we have been tossed quickly into boiling water, and don’t forget what happens, what happens when you throw ‘em in! When you throw ‘em in, frogs into boiling water!

He then appears to throw a frog into the boiling water but the frog does not jump out. Beck seems mildly amused with himself and continues, “Okay … forget the frog. I swear I thought they jumped right out. But they don’t.”

However, it doesn’t seem like there’s any reason to send an animal abuse alert to PETA. The act was almost certainly staged. If you look closely at the video, it appears that he’s not actually throwing anything in the water at all. And Beck finished the segment by saying, “Forget about the Republicans, because most of them are fake. Forget about the Democrats, because most of them are fake. And forget about the frog, because it was fake!”

Glenn Beck, on the other hand, is decidely real.

And, for the record, frogs will die if you put them into boiling water.

“The United States stands ready to begin a new chapter of international cooperation — one that recognizes the rights and responsibilities of all nations,” Obama said to applause at the conclusion of his speech.

Obama sought to differentiate himself from Bush in a number of areas, highlighting policy changes he’s made since assuming control of the Oval Office: Obama mentioned his plans to close Guantanamo Bay, as well as his commitment to ending torture and fighting terrorism within the “rule of law” as examples of how “America will live its values, and we will lead by example.”

The President also directly addressed the perception of American arrogance around the world, saying, “I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. Part of this was due to misperceptions and misinformation about my country. Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies, and a belief that on certain critical issues, America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others. And this has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism, which too often has served as an excuse for collective inaction.”

But he added that the U.S. can not solve the world’s many current crises on its own. “But make no mistake: This cannot solely be America’s endeavor,” Obama said. “Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world’s problems alone.”

While much of the speech focused on cooperation within the international community, Obama did take the time to condemn two countries that have remained trouble spots during his presidency.

“If the governments of Iran and North Korea choose to ignore international standards; if they put the pursuit of nuclear weapons ahead of regional stability and the security and opportunity of their own people; if they are oblivious to the dangers of escalating nuclear arms races in both East Asia and the Middle East — then they must be held accountable,” the president said.

According to the New York Times, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is set to address the body this afternoon, remained impassive during this part of Obama’s speech. Much of the assembly burst into applause when Obama finished his remarks, but the Iranian delegation did not.

A day after meeting with leaders from both Palestine and Israel and encouraging the two sides to reengage in negotiations to end their decades-long conflict, Obama weighed in on the issue at the U.N. as well. He reiterated his position that Israel must put a stop to new settlements before any progress towards peace can be made.

“The time has come to relaunch negotiations — without preconditions — that address the permanent-status issues: security for Israelis and Palestinians; borders, refugees and Jerusalem,” he said. “The goal is clear: two states living side by side in peace and security — a Jewish state of Israel, with true security for all Israelis; and a viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967, and realizes the potential of the Palestinian people.”

However, Obama may have been upstaged by another leader who took to the microphone at the U.N. Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi went off on a rambling, lengthy rant in which he called the Iraq War “the mother of all evils,” condemned U.S. military action in Vietnam and Korea and called for investigations into the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

“Why did this Israeli kill the killer of John F. Kennedy? … We have to open the files!” he said.

Throughout his speech, Gadhafi referred to Obama as “our son,” an apparent reference to Obama’s Kenyan heritage. In an interesting side note, Fox News ran with this as its top story from Gadhafi’s speech. However, Gadhafi had a much closer relationship with Bush than he has so far established with Obama.

Lately, O’Reilly has made some decidedly confused comments about the public option being debated as part of the healthcare reform plans circulating in Washington. And it seems he’s none too happy with himself — or the liberal media — about it.

The public option would in essence provide a government-backed insurance option for Americans in an effort to put pressure on private insurers to lower their costs and provide better coverage to consumers. Given O’Reilly’s ideological bent, it’d be safe to assume he’d be against government involvement in healthcare. Yet, on his show on September 16, O’Reilly seemed to support the idea of a public option. On that show, he had this exchange with Nina Owcharenko, the deputy director of health policy studies for the conservative Heritage Foundation (video is below):

OWCHARENKO: Well, it has massive new federal regulation. So you don’t necessarily need a public option if the federal government is going to control and regulate the type of health insurance that Americans can buy.

O’REILLY: I want that. I want that. I want, not personally for me, but for working Americans to have an option that, if they don’t like their health insurance, if it’s too expensive, they can’t afford it, if the government can cobble together a cheaper insurance policy that gives the same benefits, I see that as a plus for the folks.

As O’Reilly had previously called healthcare reform efforts “socialism,” his comment about the public option led many liberal blogs to claim that O’Reilly was suddenly in favor of the public option.

However, this interpretation is a bit of a reach. If you listen to O’Reilly’s entire interview with Owcharenko, it seems like he really doesn’t understand what a public option is. He said earlier in the conversation, “The public option now is done. We’ve discussed this. It’s not going to happen. But you say that this little marketplace that they’re going to set up, whereby the federal government would subsidize some insurance for Americans, that is, in your opinion, a public option?“

O’Reilly seems to have conflated the public option with an insurance exchange. The latter is a proposal put forward by Democrats in which a market would be set up so that small businesses and individuals could work as a collective to bargain for better insurance rates. However, this exchange would not necessarily involve a government-run insurance option and wouldn’t directly subsidize insurance for Americans.

But O’Reilly’s never been one one to suffer criticism in silence. So on Monday he attacked liberals who he said had taken his statement on the public option out of context. Calling the Internet a “safe-haven for liars,” O’Reilly sought to clarify that he was in no way in favor of a public option. Yet, his guest, staunch right-winger Bernard Goldberg pointed out that O’Reilly had sounded as if was backing government-run insurance last week.

GOLDBERG: Bill, Bill, don’t shoot the messenger. Right? I’m your friend. I’m telling you this as a friend. You also said, “If the government can cobble together a cheaper insurance policy that gives the same benefits, I see that as a plus for the folks.” Now, I know what you meant by that.

O’REILLY: But I clarified it: private hands.

GOLDBERG: You did. You absolute — you absolutely did. But you’re a big prize for the left. But they can get… What I’m saying is when — when you say — when you say if the government can cobble…

O’REILLY: I clarified. I know what you’re saying, but it’s just drives me crazy that you can’t have an honest dialogue in this country anymore.

The moral of the story here appears to be that O’Reilly is less a liberal when it comes to healthcare reform than he is just mixed-up about the issue in general. And while liberal blogs have exaggerated the meaning of his comment on the public option, O’Reilly’s clear lack of understanding of healthcare reform is at the root of the controversy. He apparently wants a public option that is in “private hands.” As a public option would be a government-run program, such a position makes no sense.

From the September 16th show:

From the September 21st show:

Sometimes it doesn’t. President Obama knew that Biden had no problem speaking his mind when he picked him to be his running mate: Biden once famously made headlines for all the wrong reasons when he called Obama an “articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy” in 2007. Former President George W. Bush reportedly once said of Biden that, “If bull was currency, Joe Biden would be a billionaire.”

Monday, Biden may have let slip an admission that the White House would have preferred he kept to himself. Speaking at a fundraiser for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., Biden warned that if Republicans take control of Congress in the 2010 elections, it could mean the end of the Obama administration’s goals to remake Washington. “They’re going to put their chips on movement in the 35 seats in the House that have been traditionally Republican districts and trying to take them back,” Biden said. “If they take [those seats] back, this is the end of the road for what Barack and I are trying to do … This is their one shot. If they don’t break the back of our effort in this upcoming election, you’re going to see the things we said we’re for, happen.”

While Biden hardly said something that Democrats and liberals didn’t already realize, his comments come at a time when the White House is engaged in a tough fight on healthcare reform and needs to appear as strong as possible. But Biden has made a number of high-profile flubs since Obama first tapped him to be his running mate back last  Here’s a look at some of his most notable gaffes:

• On Russia, July 2009: After the White House reached out to Russia in an attempt to better relations between the two former Cold War rivals, Biden seemed to directly contradict the administration. After a trip to Russia in July, Biden lashed out at the Krelim, stating, “Russia has to make some very difficult, calculated decisions … They have a shrinking population base, they have a withering economy, they have a banking sector and structure that is not likely to be able to withstand the next 15 years, they’re in a situation where the world is changing before them and they’re clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable.” The comment led to outrage in Russia and a demand for clarification from the White House.
• Misreading the economy, July 2009: Former President George W. Bush was good at not admitting mistakes. The Obama administration may wish Biden had learned something from him. During an interview on ABC, Biden said, “The truth is, we and everyone else misread the economy.” This led to a public rebuke from Obama.
• On Israel attacking Iran, July 2009: During an interview on ABC, Biden made comments that many took as giving tacit approval to the prospect of Israel attacking Iran. He said, “Look, Israel can determine for itself — it’s a sovereign nation — what’s in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else … If the Netanyahu government decides to take a course of action different than the one being pursued now, that is their sovereign right to do that. That is not our choice.“
• A teleprompter joke at Obama’s expense, May 2009: Throughout the presidential campaign, Republicans and the media have criticized Obama for his over-reliance on teleprompters while giving speeches. Thus, Biden’s comments that reinforced this line of attack in May could hardly have been met with smiles in the White House. After wind knocked over a teleprompter while Biden was giving a speech he quipped, “What I am going to tell the president when I tell him his teleprompter is broken? What will he do then?“
• Raising fears of swine flu, April 2009: With fears of a pandemic outbreak of swine flu spreading across the globe, Biden did his best to make sure everyone remained worried. Biden said he told his own family to stay away from “confined places” and to avoid airplanes and subways due to the swine flu.
• Chastising Chief Justice John Roberts, January 2009: Biden chided Chief Justice John Roberts after the judge mangled the presidential oath of office during Obama’s inauguration. The botched oath led to a tempest in a teapot that resulted in Obama retaking the pledge to certify that he was president. Soon afterwards, while Biden was swearing in new White House staffers, the Vice President joked, “My memory is not as good as Justice Roberts‘.”
• World will test Obama, October 2008: Obama campaign staffers had to be slamming their foreheads after Biden predicted foreign nations would manufacture an international crisis to test Obama soon after he after he assumed office. Biden said, “”Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking … Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.” John McCain ate up the statement, replying, “The next President won’t have time to get used to the office … We face many challenges here at home, and many enemies abroad in this dangerous world. If Senator Obama is elected, Senator Biden said, we will have an international crisis to test America’s new president. We don’t want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars.”
• Clinton might have been the better running mate, September 2008: While speaking at an event on the campaign trail, Biden voiced his support of Hillary Clinton a bit too vociferously. Biden said, “Make no mistake about this, Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Let’s get that straight … She’s a truly close personal friend and she is qualified to be president of the United States of America; she’s easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America and quite frankly [she] might have been a better pick than me.“

Blagojevich told Remnick that he isn’t ruling out a political comeback of some variety and then showed his typical modesty by comparing himself to Winston Churchill and Richard Nixon. Blagojevich said, “I believe in those comebacks” adding that, like Nixon, he “knows what it’s like to be screwed by the liberal media.”

But in what will surely be devastating news for Americans everywhere who love freedom and perfectly coiffed hair, at the end of his interview with Remnick, Blagojevich made sure to add some clarification: “When I say ‘comeback,’ I’m not necessarily saying I’m going to run for President. You understand that, right?”

Along with the piece, the New Yorker also has video of an Elvis, I mean Blagojevich, performance at a recent corporate event that really can’t be described adequately in words.