Politics

Ron Christie’s new book on black poindexters getting called out for “acting white” is welcome in many ways. What a year, for one, when we get two books putting paid to the myth that people calling attention to the “acting white” charge are just fantasizing. Not to mention that it’s always good to see smart…

Who is President Barack Obama? The question gives you pause, doesn’t it? That’s because there is no quick or obvious answer. This circumstance, more than any other, is a critical problem for Obama as he prepares for the 112th Congress to assume office. We still don’t know who Obama is, what he is committed to…

Looks like President Barack Obama has reached a compromise with congressional Republicans, though whether he can get it by lawmakers in his own party is another matter. The tentative deal would extend for two years all the tax breaks set to expire on Dec. 31, continue unemployment benefits for an additional 13 months and cut…

The Associated Press is reporting that an outline of a bipartisan economic package is emerging that would temporarily extend the Bush-era tax rates for all taxpayers while extending jobless benefits for millions of Americans. Differences remained over details, including White House demands for middle- and low-income tax credits. But Republicans and Democrats appeared to come…

Whitehouse.gov is reporting that President Barack Obama has nominated Judge Bernice Bouie Donald for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. “Judge Donald has shown an outstanding commitment to public service throughout her career and as a district judge in Tennessee,” President Obama stated. He went on to say that…

In his recent piece for The Root, “Why We Need Net Neutrality,” James Rucker, founder of ColorOfChange, offers his take on why everyone who happens to disagree with him on the issue of net neutrality has suspect motives and is working against the interests of African Americans. As co-chair of the Internet Innovation Alliance; as…

President Barack Obama issued the first pardons of his presidency today, all for relatively minor offenses. Clearly he’s playing it safe, because six of the nine people didn’t even go to prison. One of them, Georgian Russell Dixon, was caught making moonshine 50 years ago.  The pardoned people are: • James Bernard Banks, Liberty, Utah.…

Sometimes the best political move you can make is to give folks exactly what they say they want. It may seem counterproductive to your best interests at first, only to prove beneficial later. That is why it’s time for President Obama to let the Republicans have their tax cut for the rich. It would be…

As a writer himself, President Obama surely understands the advice a writer friend once gave me: Sometimes you have to drown your own kittens, no matter how cute. The metaphor, while a bit unsettling, makes a key point. However attached one might be to an idea, sometimes you have to hit the delete button for…

Perhaps needing a break from his battles with Republicans, President Barack Obama dropped in on the troops in Afghanistan today. “You will succeed in your mission,” he told more than 3,500 cheering troops in a huge airplane hangar at Bagram Air Field. “We said we were going to break the Taliban’s momentum. That’s what you’re…