Politics
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A Close Alliance Between MLK and Nelson Rockefeller Revealed
While much is being made about the new movie Selma’s depiction of the complicated relationship between the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Lyndon B. Johnson at the summit of the civil rights movement, it was actually King’s friendship with a larger-than-life Republican governor that speaks to our more complicated political past. Looking past it,…
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Why Majority Whip Steve Scalise Should Meet With Civil Rights Leaders
Last week, Marc Morial of the National Urban League and I sent a letter to Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, asking him to meet with us to explain his 2002 speech to the white supremacist, anti-Semitic European-American Unity and Rights Organization and to discuss ways to work together for the good of all Americans, regardless…
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Obama to Propose 2-Year Tuition-Free Community College Program
Forget about making education simply “affordable.” President Barack Obama is planning to announce a program to make the first two years of community college free “for those willing to work for it,” as he revealed in a recent video message made while he was aboard Air Force One, which was posted to the White House’s Facebook…
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Obama to Veto the GOP’s Proposal to Change the Definition of a Full-Time Job in Health Care Law
If Republicans send a health care bill to President Obama’s desk that changes the Affordable Care Act’s definition of a full-time job from 30 hours per week to 40, the White House said on Wednesday that the president will veto the bill, the Associated Press reports. Republicans argue that the current 30-hour requirement encourages companies…
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BuzzFeed’s Plagiarism Report Probably Isn’t the Way Ben Carson Wanted to Kick Off His Campaign
A few months back, I reviewed Ben Carson’s latest book, One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America’s Future—and before reading that, I pored over a pretty good chunk of his prior work, America the Beautiful: Remembering What Made This Nation Great. But I confess that I was looking for bread crumbs that…
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The Root’s 7 People to Watch in 2015
In 2015, rubber will meet road as a new Republican-dominated Congress convenes, state legislatures open for business, and the grind of political process forces fresh legislative and legal decisions. Of course, there will be countless players on the field. The Root narrows it down to seven; nothing biblical or metaphysical about that number, just a…
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Obama: US Sen. Edward Brooke ‘Led an Extraordinary Life’
Updated Sunday, Jan. 4, 7:45 a.m. EST: While mourning the loss of former U.S. Sen. Edward Brooke, President Barack Obama and others praised him as a giant who left an outsized footprint on America’s political landscape. “Michelle and I were saddened to learn of the passing of former Senator Edward Brooke,” the president said in a…
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La. Black Republican Defends Scalise Against White Supremacist Controversy
A black Louisiana state senator is coming to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s defense after the congressman was discovered to have given a speech before a white nationalist group founded by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke in 2002, the Daily Caller reports. “It is a desperate attempt to create something that does not…
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DNC Slams La. Rep. Steve Scalise’s Explanation for Speaking to White Supremacist Group
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) is facing a backlash after attempting to explain that he was unaware he was speaking to a white supremacist group when he appeared at its convention in 2002 while still a state legislator. But the Democratic National Committee isn’t buying it. The controversy began Monday when the recently elected House majority…
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Projected 2016 GOP Presidential Hopefuls Are a Diverse Bunch
The short list of Republicans who are expected to throw their hats into the presidential ring come 2016 is awfully diverse, the Associated Press reports. A quick sizing up of the potential GOP contenders produces “two Hispanic senators, an Indian-American governor, a female business leader and an African-American neurosurgeon,” AP explained. That roundup describes Sen. Marco Rubio…