Politics

  • Let's Not Be Distracted by Casey Anthony

    Let me say at the outset that the death of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, or the murder of any child, is a tragedy. Am I outraged at the verdict of not guilty of murder or manslaughter for Casey Anthony? No. Was Casey involved in the death and/or cover-up of Caylee? In my opinion, she probably was.…

  • Obama Calls the GOP's Bluff on Debt Ceiling

    In an op-ed, the Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson highlights President Obama’s approach to dealing with the GOP’s bullying tactics over the debt-ceiling debate. Robinson maintains that the president’s “in-your-face attitude” seems to have thrown Republicans off their stride. Their march to default on the nation’s financial obligations came to a screeching halt. The president is not…

  • The Lighter the Skin, the Shorter the Prison Term?

    Colin Powell said it, Sen. Harry Reid hinted at it about President Barack Obama, and black folks have known it for hundreds of years. There are advantages to being a light-skinned black person in the United States. Research on those advantages isn’t new, but with the release of a recent study by Villanova University, the…

  • No, Obama's Not Dead. Fox News Twitter Feed Hacked

    Update: The fake Tweets, which were up for about half a day, have finally been removed from Fox News’ politics Twitter feed. This incredibly sick prank can’t be blamed on Fox News, but it figures they’d be the vehicle for it: Early this morning, hackers broke into the Fox News politics feed on Twitter and…

  • Haiti Made Me Do It

    Journalists who have reported from Haiti know that it’s not an assignment for the weak of heart. Parts of the country — particularly the capital, Port-au-Prince — are tough places to work and even tougher places to live. This is especially true for poor Haitians who were made homeless by the earthquake last year, who…

  • Van Jones' American Dream Movement

    After Van Jones, former White House special adviser for green jobs, resigned from the position in 2009 amid controversy and misconceptions over his political activities, the activist and author busied himself with other work. He led the Green Opportunity Initiative for the Center for American Progress and held a teaching fellowship at Princeton University. Then…

  • Marriage Equality: How Blacks Paved the Way

    The debate over same-sex marriage has proved a controversial topic among African Americans — a conflict that reflects the myriad and contrasting opinions across the community. Because of an entrenched religious history and struggle for equality, blacks remain sensitive to the needs of those denied basic human rights but extremely conservative in applying a Christian-values…

  • President Obama and Eric Cantor's Leadership Questioned

    The Washington Post’s Fred Hiatt is taking Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and President Barack Obama to task for recent decisions that diminish the role of the United States as a world leader. Hiatt cites the Republican backlash against immigrants and Cantor’s “our way or the highway” approach to government as examples of a crisis in…

  • Is Chocolate City Over?

    In a who-woulda-thunk-it scenario, about half of Washington, D.C.’s elected city officials are under one kind of cloud or another, a situation that has left residents angry, embarrassed, racially divided and fearful for the political future of their shaky and shaken local government. The controversies include the two top leaders of the district government —…

  • Why Michelle Obama's Africa Trip Matters

    I didn’t have to be in the room or even in the country — which I am not right now — to have anticipated the rousing reception for Michelle Obama when she visited with young women and girls in South Africa’s black township of Soweto. Reading the White House pool reports, as even most reporters…