Politics
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The Root Cities: Oakland's Political Power
The story of the Serenader bar is a metaphor for what’s happening in Oakland, Calif. For 30 years, it was tucked between a fast-food place and a Chinese restaurant in central Oakland. It was known for its strong drinks, blues and R&B bands, and a clientele of gents in colorful suits and ladies in dresses…
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Post-Oil Spill Recovery: Who Benefits?
On Tuesday the Obama administration cheered the release of the Long Term Gulf Coast Restoration Support Plan authored by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. The 130-page document asks that Congress apply the bulk of civil penalties and fines imposed on BP for its Clean Water Act violations toward a Gulf Coast Recovery Fund that would pay…
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Walking in Roosevelt's Footsteps
A good deal of the fun in reading Jeff Shesol’s masterful work, Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court, is contained in the first half of the book, when the author’s description of the American political scene under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the early years of the Depression sounds so familiar. From the…
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The Root Interview: The DNC's Tim Kaine on the Midterms
In 1994, under the new Clinton White House, the Republican Party fielded a strong pack of candidates in the midterm elections. The result was that they took 54 House seats from the ruling party and wrested control of a Congress that had been largely under Democratic sway for several decades. That was also the year…
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White People Have Lost Their Minds
Puzzled about how the country has gotten into the state it is, with Sarah Palin setting the agenda, a guy who e-mails bestiality and racist jokes challenging for governor of New York, and the Tea Party scaring the Republican Party more than the Democrats? This article by Steven Thrasher might be the best explanation yet.…
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One of Bishop Long's Accusers Speaks Out
One of the Rev. Eddie Long’s accusers went public Tuesday in a Fox News television interview that was both poignant and revealing. Jamal Parris, a 23-year-old who claims that Long began seducing him with attention, gifts, travel and other luxuries when he was just 14, vehemently defended the truth of the accusations that they were…
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President Obama: 'I'm a Christian by Choice'
Fresh from our “Please read the memo” file, President Barack Obama is a Christian. After addressing several issues, including the Republican economic agenda, at a “backyard chat,” he also answered a number of questions, one of which was why he is a Christian. In response, Obama stated, “I am a Christian by choice.” He told…
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Obama: Democrat Voters Need to 'Buck Up'
President Obama is putting his foot down with Democratic voters, saying it would be “inexcusable” to sit out this election cycle over apathy. In a Rolling Stone interview, the president compares energized Republican voters with apathetic Democratic voters, which could have dire consequences for the country if Republicans regain the House and more control in…
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Who Pays Income Taxes?
It has often been repeated by conservative strategists and pundits like Karl Rove and Sean Hannity that close to half of Americans don’t pay income taxes. But is that true? Well, not exactly. It’s true that 47 percent of American households didn’t owe federal income taxes in 2009, up from 38 percent in 2007, according…
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Drowned Out by the Tea Party Hype: Progressive Voices
Ever wonder when progressives will find their voices again? Well, about 800 gathered in Chicago recently at the Facing Race Conference in Chicago to collaborate and generate ideas for the future at a time when they feel drowned out by conservatives and Tea Partiers. It is a pivotal moment on the nation’s political front. Midterm…