Politics
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Obama and O'Reilly Team Up for Charity
Reuters reports that President Barack Obama and conservative TV host Bill O’Reilly have teamed up to raise nearly $750,000 for U.S. military families. After the end of their infamous pre-Superbowl interview (the one in which the president was interrupted 48 times), O’Reilly asked Obama if he would sign his research notes as long as O’Reilly…
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Hunting for Muslim Radicals
On Thursday, Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, will hold hearings on the Muslim community and terrorism. “The main goal is to show the extent of radicalization within the Muslim-American community, how dangerous that is, how serious that is,” he said on Fox television Sunday. “It’s a real…
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Guantánamo: Obama Creates Indefinite System of Detention
The Washington Post is reporting that President Obama signed an executive order Monday that will create a formal system of indefinite detention for those held at the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, who continue to pose a significant threat to national security. The administration also said that it will start new military-commission trials…
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Tyler Perry Wins Big at NAACP Image Awards
In the black community, there may be some strong objections to Tyler Perry’s work (because of its perceived “reiteration of stereotypes that black filmmakers like Spike Lee and black actors like Denzel Washington have worked so hard to suppress“), but evidently, they aren’t shared by the NAACP. At the NAACP Image Awards on Friday, Perry…
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Note to Republicans: Cuts Don't Cut It
Written by Eugene Robinson After slamming Democrats for not focusing on “jobs, jobs, jobs,” Republicans have decided to ignore their own winning message in favor of “cuts, cuts, cuts.” This is bad economics — and bad politics. If you don’t believe me, read a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, published Thursday, that has what should…
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Double Talk? White House Promotes Muslim Help Against Terrorism
The Associated Press is reporting that the White House is pushing a message of religious tolerance ahead of this week’s congressional hearing on Islamic radicalism, which has sparked protests on grounds that it unfairly singles out Muslims. President Barack Obama sent his deputy national security adviser, Denis McDonough, on Sunday to a Washington-area mosque known…
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Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Considering Presidential Run
Former Godfather’s Pizza chain CEO Herman Cain may toss his hat in the ring for the 2012 presidential election. It seems that conservatives, particularly Tea Party members, are less concerned with a candidate’s political experience and more concerned with his conservative values. Mike Glover of the Associated Press reports that even though many Americans haven’t…
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The Supreme Court Is Wrong on Soldiers' Funerals
The Supreme Court has ruled that the Westboro Baptist Church’s First Amendment right of free speech outweighs a grieving family’s right to privacy when they bury a loved one. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the 8-1 majority (pdf) in Snyder v. Phelps, said last week that the First Amendment protects “even hurtful speech on…
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Religious African Americans React to Obama's DOMA Shift
The Washington Post reports that President Obama’s recent shift on the Defense of Marriage Act (he’s instructed the Justice Department not to defend it) doesn’t seem to have had a huge impact on his support from the socially conservative African-American religious community: When same-sex marriage was upended in California by popular vote in 2008, gay…