Politics
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Three-Fifths Clause: Why Its Taint Persists
(The Root) — President James Wagner of Emory University recently asserted that the three-fifths clause of the Constitution is a good example of how people with differing political views can find common ground. He was referring to the provision in the U.S. Constitution, written in 1787, that counts each enslaved person as three-fifths of a…
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Michelle Obama Talks Presidential Date Night
After her mom dance-a-thon skit with late-night TV host Jimmy Fallon, first lady Michelle Obama sat down on the show’s couch and admitted that date night in the White House isn’t as romantic as it was before her husband became the leader of the free world, according to the Huffington Post. Of course, it’s well…
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Deciphering the Sequester
During the ever-evolving battle between President Obama and Republican John Boehner, New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow weighs in on the latest financial crisis, the sequester. But I’m not sure where all this you-are-the-father origination blame game gets us. The bill got bipartisan support in the House and at the time Boehner bragged: “When…
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Watch This: Michelle Obama's Mom Dance-Off
Following Michelle Obama’s popular appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, on which she beat the TV host in an exercise contest, there’s a new viral video to enjoy. The FLOTUS joins the comedian for a mom dance-a-thon, where she shows off moves like “the sprinkler” and “the Dougie.” Buzzfeed has even chopped their moves…
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NRA Chief's Racial Rant Hides Larger Truth
(The Root) — Last week Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association, wrote a troubling column for conservative outlet the Daily Caller. In it, the 64-year-old gun-rights advocate painted a horrifying picture of a postapocalyptic world in which African Americans from “south Brooklyn” and Hispanic members of “Latin American drug gangs” were such a…
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Check Out Michelle O's New Official Portrait
There are countless photos of first lady Michelle Obama, but only one each year is official, and the White House released it on Wednesday, the Huffington Post reports. Taken by Chuck Kennedy, the portrait shows FLOTUS in the Green Room of the White House in a two-toned dress and leaning against a green chair. She’s…
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Does Obama Owe a Debt to Black America?
(The Root) — Does President Barack Obama owe a special debt to black America? Does he have a duty to spell out a specific black policy agenda? Is it time for him to squarely talk about race again, something he hasn’t really done since his 2008 Philadelphia speech? Will he have failed as the first…
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Cory Booker: Criticism of Him 'Overblown'
(The Root) — Friday was a busy day for Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker. In the morning, New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg announced that he would not run for re-election, and that evening NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous remarked at a star-studded dinner that Booker might be the one to follow in President…
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Obama's Sit-Down With Chicago's Young Black Men
(The Root) — Before his public remarks touting the newly announced “Ladders to Opportunity” initiative at Chicago’s Hyde Park Academy on Friday, the president had another, more intimate event planned: a private roundtable with 16 students enrolled in an anti-youth-violence program called Becoming a Man, or “B.A.M.” In Obama’s hometown, whose reputation for gun violence…
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Obama: Family and Community Can Help Stop Youth Violence
“Ladders of success” and “marriage” were the catchphrases of President Obama’s speech on Friday regarding gun violence, family values and the economy at Chicago’s Hyde Park Academy. During his speech, the POTUS said that government alone can’t provide a solution to the gun-violence problem in the Windy City, because when a child shoots another child,…