Politics
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So, Who’s With Her? Clinton May Have Made History, but It’s Just the Beginning
The Democratic National Convention ended on history. Hillary Clinton became the first woman to lead a major American political party’s ticket as a presidential nominee. Now, to complete her game of ultimate women’s-history bingo—from Ivy leaguer to first lady of Arkansas to first lady of the United States to senator from New York to secretary…
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President Obama Rebukes Trump’s Pessimism, Embraces Clinton, Gives America Some Love
When President Barack Obama embraced Hillary Clinton at the end of his rousing speech at his last Democratic National Convention as president of the United States, it was a fascinating bookend from 2008 when the then-rivals battled hard to reach an uneasy detente. “We battled for a year and a half,” recalled Obama during his…
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Hollywood Celebrities Show Up in Support of DC Statehood
In a room sprinkled with celebrities—and there were quite a few, from Ashley Judd to David Schwimmer—one stood out for reasons other than a starring role on TV or in the movies. Eleanor Holmes Norton has been on the front line of social-justice causes her whole life, and she has no problem uniting with more…
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#DNCinPHL? Don’t Forget to Ask Black Philly About That
No convention of a major political party in the city of Philadelphia can take place without great degrees of deference to its blackness. Pundits unable or unwilling to do so will quickly melt into nonsensical half-assedness, the consequence of white-typecasting Philly with the lore of cheesesteaks, perennially angry Eagles fans and “Brotherly Love.” But in…
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Dear Michelle Obama, Never Leave. Sincerely, Everyone
I am not unique when I say I have had a long and special relationship with first lady Michelle Obama. It started way back in 2008 when I got so many robocalls from her to get out and vote that I thought Barack might get jealous. In the last eight years, that nonexistent fantasy relationship…
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Democrats Will Unite After They Finish Self-Destructing Over Emails, Bernie-or-Bust Crowd
As the Democratic National Convention gets underway, it’s always good to remember what Will Rogers once said: “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” And boy, those words have never rung more true than this year. Where the Republicans, when not running Donald Mussolini for president, are usually…
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This Election, Let’s Refocus on the Pillar Issues
As citizens, we deserve election seasons that are seesawing, back-and-forth spectacles of clashing ideas. Instead we find ourselves often immersed in the frantic pace of the horse race. Campaigns devolve into poll-watching parades, focused more on opposing personalities than on issues of great consequence. Issues get lost. This is one of those elections. The general…
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Debbie Wasserman Schultz Shoots Herself in the Foot Right Before the DNC
The Wikileaks drop on Friday has brought up the dreaded words “email,” “rigged” and “Debbie Wasserman Schultz” again right before a week that was supposed to eliminate all of those words from the minds of Democratic National Convention-goers and viewers. Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz will resign from her position at the end…