-
Why the Dems Can’t Count on Specter
Arlen Specter likes it when he’s described as the best lawyer in the Senate; there are a lot of lawyers in its chambers. Specter, 79, particularly enjoys his reputation as someone who will go wherever the facts lead. This is the man, after all, who served as chief counsel of the Warren Commission, which investigated…
-
100 Not So Black Days
The torrent of analysis and appraisal, hagiography and scorn leveled at Barack Obama’s first 100 days will be relatively quiet on the issue of race. That’s shocking when you consider how all-consuming the issue was during his campaign for the White House. There is a perfectly obvious explanation: The Obama presidency, which so far has…
-
Obamaism: Charm and Disarm
The Barack Obama global charm offensive continues unabated as he returns to Washington from Trinidad and Tobago where he spent two days as the main attraction and the great hope at the Fifth Summit of the Americas. In a single weekend, Obama completely transformed the diplomatic landscape of the region, by saying the most reasonable,…
-
How Port of Spain is Not Prague
Port of Spain is not Prague. For one thing, the weather forecast calls for average temperatures around 90 degrees this weekend. But when President Obama arrives in the Caribbean on Friday for the fifth Summit of the Americas, climate will not be the only dramatic change from his recent European travels. Festive will replace formal.…
-
The Man With the Plan
He’s got a plan, and don’t you forget it. One of the more curious things about President Obama’s big economic speech yesterday, and this is admittedly cynical observation, is why the president decided to so dramatically change the subject of the public conversation from his handling of pirates back to his handling of the economy.…
-
Dead Pirates, Good Politics
After his make-nice tour of Europe and the unfortunate Saudi bow, Somali pirates may have been exactly what Barack Obama needed. There is nothing like a little lethal sniper action to shut down questions about whether you’re decisive enough. It is not the basis for a broad foreign policy, but the willingness to kill bad…
-
Polarization We Can Believe In
Even in politics, things are often exactly what they seem. So it should have been reasonable to dismiss as fiction recent reports that Barack Obama is the most polarizing president in recent history. There is nothing in our experience to support that; based on the president’s personal favorability rating and his high job approval numbers,…
-
A Lil Bow Wow Never Hurt America
The bow thing is exactly what’s wrong with American politics; we are constantly obsessed with the inconsequential. The economy is in collapse and we’re waging two wars with no end in sight for either. Still, all anyone is talking about is whether the president of the United States bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia.…
-
The Straight Talk Address
It is a good thing that the president’s address to Congress tonight is not billed as a State of the Union. We all know the sorry state of the union right now, and no one really wants to spend an hour gawking at it in prime time. For Barack Obama, tonight is about successfully communicating…
-
Of Fools and Democrats
There is an old saying, or there should be, that God looks after fools and Democrats. Look at Roland Burris, the political has-been and perennial loser who got one of the all-time greatest second chances in American politics and blew it by lying under oath to a state impeachment panel. Still, Burris is a U.S.…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
