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2010All MAY POSTS (37)
Obama Speaks on Murder of Kansas Abortion Doctor
The murder of Dr. George Tiller—an abortion rights advocate who practiced medicine and performed abortions in Kansas—-as he attended church services Sunday morning, has prompted this statement from President Barack Obama...
Black Cop Gunned Down—By His Colleague
Here we go again. Last night, an off-duty, black NYPD cop, 25-year-old Omar Edwards, was shot and killed by his white colleague, Officer Andrew Dunton.
Gays: Out of the Courts, Into the Streets
Yesterday’s California Supreme Court ruling upholding the voter-initiated ban on same-sex marriage was no surprise. But as I’ve written before, this is more of a political than a legal fight, so I was heartened to see tens of thousands of gay right supporters—of all races, by the way—flood the streets in protest. Out in Cali, more than 100 were arrested during a San Francisco civil disobedience action. San Diego organizers called for more of the same. And here in New York City...
The Health Care Story You Should Read Today
Via TIME's Karen Tumulty, Atul Gawande looks hard at why health care costs so much more in McAllen Texas, and, writes Tumulty, "why more health care isn't the same as better health care."...
Judge Sonia Sotomayor is Not a "Latina Single Mother"
President Barack Obama has nominated Second Circuit Federal Appeals Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as his pick for the Supreme Court. Swapping out his previous formulation, that a potential justice ought to embrace “empathy,” Obama stressed “experience”...
Obama Takes on Guantanamo, Torture, and Dick Cheney at National Archives
President Barack Obama addressed the nation from the National Archives this morning in a speech that had been billed as “a comprehensive overview” of United States national security, according to Ben Rhodes, a policy adviser who is also a speechwriter for the president....
Photo of the Day—Tiny Tot Inspects Presidential 'Do
The White House Flickr feed is really something to behold. Here's the president getting his caesar 'do inspected by a tiny hair afficionado....
Steele Shank: RNC Chair Draws First Blood
If the Washington, D.C. commentariat was a prison gang, they’d have already passed RNC Chair Michael Steele around, turned him out, and tossed his salad. Under those circumstances, I’d say it’s a break for Steele and the GOP that Steele found his game Sunday on "Meet the Press."...
Brown v. Board in Middle Age
Given his seeming reluctance to explicitly draw attention to the historic nature of his election as the first black president of the United States, Barack Obama’s Sunday commencement address at Notre Dame was notable for his mention not only his presidency as a racial milestone, but also for his acknowledgment of the 55th Anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education. It’s become fashionable in some black circles to downplay the significance of Brown...
No Joke: The Rise of States' Rights in Today's Politics
In recent weeks, I have been as troubled by the conservative revival around nullification as I have disturbed by the progressive bloggers who have dismissed the modern-day nullifiers as “nutty.”
Over at the HUFFINGTON POST, Chris Weigant recently called nullification “nutty.”...
President Obama Talks Faith, Makes Nice with Abortion Opponents at Notre Dame
President Barack Obama spoke at the 164th commencement at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana this weekend. The speech was freighted with political controversy, primarily because Notre Dame is affiliated with the Catholic Church, which uniformly opposes the abortion rights and protections that the president supports. These weeks of tension leading up to the speech held an ironic quality—though Americans of many faiths are opposed to the woman's legal right to choose an abortion, Obama had worked with Catholic churches in his early days as a community organizer in Chicago when, as he said with a laugh, "I was really broke and they fed me."...
Fasting for Darfur and Haiti and Chicago
This is my 16th day of fasting for Darfur, Haiti (where I visit once a month now) and my hometown, Chicago. I waited until the hoopla of Mia Farrow's hunger strike was over to announce my decision to do this. I began my fast on May 1st....
Obama’s Health Watchdog—Visionary or Bully?
The White House announced this morning that it has tapped NYC Health Commissioner Tom Frieden to run the overworked, underfunded U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s a bolder, potentially more consequential choice than it appears to those not familiar with Dr. Frieden. In his seven years as our city’s top doc, the man has pissed off just about every constituency—left and right, grassroots and industry....
Drug Czar Wants to End the ‘War'—Will He?
In his first interview as the director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy—otherwise known as the drug czar—Gil Kerlikowske told the WALL STREET JOURNAL that the Obama administration will put an end to the long, failed “war on drugs.” He said:
“Regardless of how you try to explain to people it’s a ‘war on drugs’ or a ‘war on a product,’ people see a war as a war on them”....
The Root's Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Wins Prestigious Public Television Award
Henry Louis Gates, Jr,. editor of THE ROOT, has been awarded the 2009 Ralph Lowell Award, public television’s most prestigious honor. Announced today by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Lowell Award is intended to celebrate an individual's outstanding accomplishments and lifelong contributions to the development of public broadcasting.
