blogging the beltway

(The Root) — Clearly frustrated with how his message on finding a compromise to avert a fiscal cliff is being received by Congress, President Obama decided to take his message directly to the American people with a fiery appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press. Taped on Saturday, Dec. 29, and aired on Sunday, the appearance…

(The Root) — While most Americans pulled together and really showed the world America at its best following the tragic murder of 20 kids and six adults at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Conn., there were some Americans who went out of their way to epitomize America at its worst.  From insensitive remarks to…

For those breathing a sigh of relief that America’s political season filled with non stop campaign ads, and name calling, was finally over, here’s some bad news. The nomination of Sen. John Kerry to become the country’s next Secretary of State, and his anticipated confirmation is setting up one of the most hotly contested Senate…

(The Root) — One week after the tragic shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., claimed 26 innocent lives, including those of 20 children, the National Rifle Association held a press conference. The organization, normally known for being one of the most brash and intimidating in all of politics, had been unusually quiet in…

(The Root) — The 2012 election marked the first in which Twitter emerged as a media form just as relevant as any other, and sometimes more so, with campaigns, candidates and those covering them using it to break news, make news and respond to news. Below, take a look at the defining political tweets of…

(The Root) — Practically overnight, Rep. Tim Scott has been catapulted from being just one of the hundreds of nationally unknown members of Congress to one of the most recognizable and influential politicians in the nation. With his appointment by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to replace Sen. Jim DeMint in January, Scott will become…

(The Root) — Shortly after the Jovan Belcher tragedy I was asked on a television program whether or not the NFL player’s high-profile murder-suicide and sports announcer Bob Costas’ courageous comments about gun violence in the incident’s aftermath would have any impact on gun control in America. I answered that they would not. The reason?…

(The Root) — When President Obama released a statement on Thursday disclosing that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice had formally withdrawn her name from consideration as a nominee for secretary of state, it marked the conclusion of the first major political battle of the 2012 postelection cycle. Republicans, still smarting from their losses on Election Day,…

(The Root) — On the heels of a major loss for organized labor in Wisconsin earlier this year, when the state’s governor signed a law limiting collective bargaining rights (a law later struck down by a judge and pending appeal), unions are now under siege in the state of Michigan. On Tuesday Gov. Rick Snyder signed…

(The Root) — It looks like Christmas may have come early for the Obama White House, with Santa delivering not one, but two welcome surprises.  First comes some positive jobs numbers — not just positive but extraordinary. As reported in the Huffington Post, unemployment fell to a four-year low, to 7.7 percent in November. The…