Politics

(The Root) — Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Four years into Barack Obama’s presidency, this polyglot nation of ours finally seems to have become accustomed to the reality of a black man in the White House. It’s especially significant that among those most at ease with this astonishing new normal is the president…

THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press SecretaryFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FORWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2013 In the morning, the President and the Vice President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing in the Oval Office. This meeting is closed press. In the afternoon, the President and the Vice President will meet for lunch…

(Special to The Root) — The start of the 2012-2013 academic year brought a nasty surprise for thousands of parents of low-income college students. They had kept their sons and daughters in school thanks to a popular federal loan program called “Parent PLUS.” But when they applied for the loans, normally a routine transaction, they…

(The Root) — It may seem hard to believe, but the modern-day gun-rights debate was born from the civil rights era and inspired by the Black Panthers. Equally surprising is that the National Rifle Association — now an aggressive lobbying arm for gun manufacturers — actually once supported, and helped write, federal gun-control laws. In…

(The Root) — After many Americans finish celebrating the second inauguration of the first black president, many others, including feminists and progressives, will recognize another milestone: the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a landmark Supreme Court decision that decriminalized abortion. The occasion has also sparked a great deal of reflection on the role of…

THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press SecretaryFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FORTUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2013 In the morning, the President, the Vice President, the First Lady and Dr. Biden will attend the National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. There will be in-town travel pool coverage of the service.…

President Barack Obama subtly embraced the legacy of the civil rights movement simply through the selection of the two Bibles used during his swearing-in ceremony, Michael H. Cottman writes at BlackAmericaWeb. When Obama is publicly sworn-in on Monday as America’s 45th president, he will place his right hand on two weather-worn Bibles — one owned…

(The Root) — Obama deserves very high but perhaps not superlative marks for his second inaugural address. It had more the character of an inside-the-park home run, not a grand slam. A 9 on my Olympic scorecard, not a full 10. Not a standout, A-plus effort, but certainly a quite solid A-minus.  The speech will…

(The Root) — Recently Thom Hartmann published an essay on Truthout titled “The Second Amendment Was Ratified to Preserve Slavery.” Hartmann, who is described on the Internet as a radio host, author, former psychotherapist and entrepreneur and a progressive political commentator, said the amendment to the U.S. Constitution was intended, in part, to protect slave-patrol…

President Barack Obama may have been sworn in on Sunday, but it is Monday’s public inauguration ceremony that is the true draw. Four years ago, Obama made history as the first black president. Then, he and first lady Michelle Obama did something that bonded them with onlookers who had braved freezing temperatures for hours to…