blogging the beltway
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Cordoba House Opponents Fueling Terrorist Propaganda
A few weeks ago, on Slate’s Political Gabfest, I warned that the anti-Islam sentiment behind the Cordoba House controversy was a national security risk, saying, “By not allowing [Muslims] to be anywhere near Ground Zero I think you’re not doing anything except breeding the kind of resentment that led to the 9/11 attacks in the…
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White House Black Media Liaison Resigns
It’s always on Friday afternoons. Shortly after 5:30 p.m. today, Corey Ealons, director of African-American media for the Obama administration, sent an e-mail saying he was leaving his post, effective immediately. “It is with some sadness, but also great anticipation for the future, that I make my exit from the White House today,” he wrote.…
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Glenn Beck Censors His Fans
For evidence of how little Glenn Beck trusts his biggest fans’ behavioral inclinations, look no further than the guidelines the Fox News host has established for his August 28 rally at the Lincoln Memorial, an event he’s calling “Restoring Honor.” Along with rules forbidding guns (“real or simulated”), knives and alcohol, Beck is also putting…
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Glenn Beck: God Put My Rally on 'I Have a Dream' Anniversary
As you may know, Fox News’s enfant terrible Glenn Beck is hosting a rally at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s momentous “I Have a Dream” address. As you may not know, Beck is claiming that divine intervention, not the careful machinations of a marketing team, led…
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The Week in Obama for August 16
It’s a week of campaign stops for Barack. President Obama began this week with a visit to ZBB Energy Corp., in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, where he touted the benefits of clean energy. “For years, we’ve heard about manufacturing jobs disappearing overseas. Companies like this one are showing us how manufacturing jobs can come back,” Obama…
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The Week in Obama for August 9
It’s a relatively simple week for Obama. After a weekend spent goofing off with some basketball greats, Monday will find the president consorting with the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints. After that, he’ll fly to Austin, Texas, to give a quick speech about education at the University of Texas at Austin. On Tuesday, like…
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Black Conservatives Bar Press from National Gathering
A throng of black conservatives is meeting at the National Press Club today and, somewhat ironically, barring the press from their proceedings. More than a dozen right-wing African American leaders—some of them more infamous than famous—are set to speak at the event, including Alan Keyes, Star Parker, Timothy F. Johnson of the Frederick Douglass Foundation,…
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Why Tom Vilsack Should Keep His Job
The Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association is calling for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to resign in the wake of a fiasco that saw USDA employee Shirley Sherrod fired unnecessarily late last month. In a press release, BFAA President Thomas Burrell, whose organization represents more than 10,000 black farmers or their heirs, says: [The] USDA and…
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Virginia Takes First Step in Rejecting Health Care Reform
The state of Virginia’s lawsuit challenging President Obama’s landmark health care reform bill has circumvented its first legal blockade today. Despite the Justice Department’s protestations, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson refused to dismiss the suit, which claims that Congress can not force Americans to purchase health insurance under penalty of fine. Earlier this year, the…
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The Week in Obama for August 2
After pledging to withdraw America’s combat forces in Iraq by the end of August, this month is set to be one of Obama’s most important thus far. Naturally, he’s starting it with a bang, with a speech at the national convention of Disabled American Veterans in Atlanta, Georgia. Here, the president will outline the plan…