Politics
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Record Number of Black Candidates Vie for Federal Office in 2014 Midterms
This year 82 black candidates are vying for federal office, a record number, beating by 10 candidates the previous record set in 2012. USA Today reports that out of the “82 candidates running, 64 are Democrats and 18 are Republicans, and all but three are seeking election to the U.S. House.” The three who…
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A Man Posing as a Congressman Gets Backstage at a Dinner Keynoted by Obama
According to Bloomberg News, an unidentified man pretending to be a U.S. congressman finagled his way backstage at an awards dinner hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation on Saturday. President Barack Obama keynoted the event, which first lady Michelle Obama also attended. The unidentified fake congressman mingled backstage to chat and take pictures with…
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Secret Service Director Julia Pierson Steps Down Amid Scrutiny
With the Secret Service under intense scrutiny as more and more incidents of lapses in security around President Barack Obama come to light, Director Julia Pierson has decided to step down, NPR reports. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson confirmed Pierson’s resignation, which he accepted. “I salute her 30 years of distinguished service to the Secret…
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Education Department Seeks to Level Public-Education Playing Field
The U.S. Education Department is taking the first steps to further ensure educational equity for disadvantaged students, including students of color and low-income students, by announcing a new guidance for states, school districts and schools. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday announced the guidance, which came in the form of a “Dear Colleague” letter (pdf), at the…
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1 Year After the GOP’s Government Shutdown, It’s Time for America to Change Course
One year ago today, the federal government came to a dead halt—shut down by the obstructionism of Republicans in Congress. For more than two weeks, national parks closed, critical medical research stopped and our economy lost billions of dollars. American families and small businesses were unable to acquire federal loans and mortgages. Contracts between small…
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What Obama Should Do for His Last 2 Years in Office
It was just a couple of weeks ago that first lady Michelle Obama seemed to weigh in on how President Barack Obama’s legacy was shaping up thus far. “When folks ask me whether I still believe everything we said about change and hope back in 2008, I tell them that I believe it more strongly…
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Congress Interrogates Secret Service Director About White House Invasion
One silver lining in this media firestorm about how the Secret Service has had one too many mishaps lately is that it’s at least nice to see that Republicans are concerned about the president’s safety. They may not like President Barack Obama, but they want him alive and his house intact and impenetrable. According to…
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Paging Dr. Ben Carson: Based on That Fox News Interview, You Need a Political Tuneup—Stat
If you’re a regular The Root reader, you already know that I’m fairly skeptical about the prospects of a 2016 presidential run by current Fox News contributor and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. If not, read here, here, here, here and here. My basic takeaway is that Carson—the first surgeon to successfully separate twins conjoined at…
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Secret Service: You Can’t Slip Up With This President
More than a week after the world watched a deranged Omar Gonzalez somehow slip his way into what we thought was one of the most impregnable fortresses in the world, we find out that what actually happened was even worse. According to a Washington Post exclusive, not only did Gonzalez get across the White House…
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3 Theories on Holder: Why Is America’s 1st Black Attorney General Rolling Out?
That Attorney General Eric Holder was resigning was really no surprise to the perennial Washington watchers who have nothing better to do than track the lives of the politically famous. Sources were chattering quietly about it late last year, and the New Yorker’s eager legal eagle, Jeffrey Toobin, got something of a scoop on it…