Politics

  • Sarah Palin: Federal Debt Like Slavery

    Sarah Palin continues to link the Obama administration to slavery, comparing the administration to slave masters. During a conservative fundraiser in Iowa, the former governor of Alaska told some 750 attendees that the federal debt will keep the younger generation shackled because of the country’s spending, the Des Moines Register reports. Palin told the crowd…

  • Activists Battling 'Stand Your Ground' State by State

    The hearing in room 417 started a lot like any other. The chairman took roll call. A stream of Florida elected officials spent a half hour paying almost impossibly earnest homage to the democratic process and the importance of civil debate. Then, a host of student activists, gun rights and gun control advocates took their…

  • Obama Apologizes for Canceled Health Plans

    President Obama accomplished something yesterday that most presidents before him have struggled with severely. The president apologized. Obama told Chuck Todd during an interview with NBC News at the White House that he was sorry for promising Americans that they would be able to keep their current health care plans, and that some of them…

  • GOP Blocks Black Nominees to Thwart Obama

    The modern-day Republican Party appears to have a problem with black people—and especially black people in positions of power. Perhaps that can explain why they spend so much political capital trying to deny, undermine or prevent African Americans from entering or staying in the ruling class. Earlier this year, in anticipation of then-U.N. Ambassador Susan…

  • Christie’s Respect for Obama Key to Minority Votes

    (The Root)—Although the Republican National Committee’s 2012 “autopsy” report has been gathering dust on the shelf ever since it was rolled out to much fanfare earlier this year, it looks like at least one 2016 presidential contender actually printed off that report and read the part about the urgent need for Republicans to make inroads…

  • Virginia Race Proves That GOP Won’t Nix Tea Party Easily

    (The Root)—Thank providence for Robert Sarvis, the Libertarian candidate for governor of Virginia. Because of him, I don’t have to sell my house in Richmond and move out of the state. Even though there is little hard evidence to support it, I can’t shake the feeling that if Sarvis had not been on the ballot,…

  • If You Love It, Stop Calling It ‘Obamacare’

    (The Root) — Here’s a fairly simple concept for supporters of that persistently troubled health care law with the glitchy website that runs as slow as a NetZero connection: Stop calling it “Obamacare.” For sure, that’s a tough pill for fan girls and boys to swallow. There are legions of stubborn partisan Democrats who want…

  • NSA Spying, Cuba Policy Weaken US Image

    (The Root)—Years from now, when pundits give way to historians—and the Tea Party has imploded—Barack Obama’s presidency will be judged not on the success of his national health care law, but instead on his ability to repair the damage done to this nation’s image on his watch. Since the beginning of the 20th century when the…

  • Black, Brown Voters Factor Heavily in Major Political Races

    (The Root)—Those who were expected to win did just that, as Kerry Washington, Barack Obama, Harry Belafonte and Shaquille O’Neal all used their star status to campaign for winners. In the end, Election Day 2013 proved to be chock-full of expected results. In New Jersey, incumbent Gov. Chris Christie crushed Democratic challenger state Sen. Barbara…

  • Sharpton’s Celebrity Is Key to His Cause

    (The Root)—Al Sharpton’s recent decision to move to Chicago to highlight the city’s violence-plagued communities demonstrates both the creativity and limits of contemporary black leadership. The Rev. Sharpton’s personal trajectory, marked by high-profile political setbacks and victories that have culminated in his improbable rise to national civil rights leadership, offers a unique vantage point to…