Politics
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Tavis Smiley: White House Pressured Sponsors to Pull Support
On Friday, television and radio host Tavis Smiley celebrated the 10th anniversary of his Tavis Smiley show on PBS and defended his right to critique President Obama, reports Lynn Elber of the Associated Press (via the Huffington Post). According to Elber, Smiley says freedom of speech hasn’t come without its price and that sponsors have been…
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Time for a Moratorium on School Suspensions?
(The Root) — A sociologist presenting at a strategy session at the NAACP Leadership 500 Summit in Naples, Fla., on Friday proposed a radical change to school discipline policies that she said would improve educational outcomes, in particular for black and Latino children, who are subjected to disproportionately harsh punishments. “We need to look at…
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Obama: Sexual Assault Threatens Military Trust
On Friday, President Obama used his U.S. Naval Academy commencement speech to decry sexual assault in the military, writes USA Today. “Those who commit sexual assault are not only committing a crime, they threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong,” Obama said during commencement services at the U.S. Naval Academy. Obama…
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Obama: We Must Define the War on Terror or It Will Define Us
On Thursday, President Obama delivered a major speech at the Natonal Defense University in Washington, D.C., on the changing face of the war on terror, repairing U.S. relations with the Muslim community, his efforts to close Guantánamo Bay and the necessity for drones, reports NBC News. “We must define the nature and scope of this…
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Look: President Obama's 'Foxy' 1979 Prom Photos
President Obama’s senior-prom photos from high school have surfaced, thanks to classmate Kelli Allman (née McCormack), and Time reveals that his outfit was fantastic. Time also got ahold of some choice pages from Allman’s yearbook, in which a young “Barry” Obama spits major 1979 game, writing to Allman, “You are extremely sweet and foxy.” Barry spent his days…
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Obama at Morehouse: Try Another Listen
(The Root) — As I suspect is the case with many African-American voters who hoped against hope that Barack Obama’s presidency would bring about a sea change in the condition of our people, I’ve been disappointed with what he has been able to accomplish. I give him full credit for the considerable achievements of his…
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Oklahoma and Defense of Big Government
(The Root) — The tornado that devastated Oklahoma this week requires significant government aid to support recovery. This presents a unique problem for the Republican Party writ large — both in the state and in Washington, D.C. — as requests for aid, and approval thereof, undercut its meme of “self-reliance” and the dangers of “big…
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Obama Can't Win With Some Black Critics
Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart says that what’s missing from most African-American critiques of President Obama is an appreciation for Republican resistance to his agenda. Here we go again. President Obama’s critics in the African American community are hammering him for doing nothing for black people. Drawing my attention this time is “How the Obama…
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Why the Scandals Aren't Touching Obama's Approval Rating
MSNBC‘s Evan Puschak looks at the theories about why the president’s approval has gone untouched despite government scandals. A Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Obama’s approval rating holding steady at 51%, the same as it was a month ago. Gallup shows the same trend: in their poll Obama has remained at 49%. A CNN poll…