Politics

WASHINGTON — In 1809, a young boy from a wealthy Virginia estate stepped into President James Madison’s White House and caught the first glimpse of his new home. The East Room was unfinished, he recalled years later in a memoir. Pennsylvania Avenue was unpaved and “always in an awful condition from either mud or dust,”…

From the NY Times: The White House, facing increasing skepticism over President Obama’s call for a public insurance plan to compete with the private sector, signaled Sunday that it was willing to compromise and would consider a proposal for a nonprofit health cooperative being developed in the Senate. The “public option,” a new government insurance…

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s recent trip to Africa included a noteworthy visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a brief stop at Goma, the epicenter of the violence in the east. Clinton’s stopover marked a significant departure from previous U.S. policy with Congo. Her visit, undoubtedly the highest-level visit by an American dignitary ever, represents…

On Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s recent visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo—part of a seven-nation tour of sub-Saharan Africa—a flurry of attention focused on her sharp reply to a local student who seemed to question her role as chief diplomat of the United States. All the attention overshadowed the substance of…

The road to redemption.

From Getty: U.S. President Barack Obama (L) struggles to present the Medal of Freedom to Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow – High Bird (R) during a ceremony at the White House August 12, 2009 in Washington, DC. The Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the United States. Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow – High…

Obviously, this is way bigger than milk, at least one would hope that is the case. That being said…yikes, man. YIKES.

During the presidential campaign, then-Sen. Joe Biden made an off-the-cuff observation that his rival, then-Sen. Barack Obama was “… clean …” and “… articulate …” Then Don Imus slurred the Rutgers University’s women’s basketball team. Then the managers of the Valley Swim Club banned black campers from swimming at their pool. And let us not…

From Jennifer Anyaegbunam, CNN Medical Intern: One night, during one of my late study sessions at Harvard, my two best friends were kidding about donating their eggs to raise money for a student organization. Over the years we have seen a number of ads on Facebook and in our school paper seeking students’ eggs in…

If ever there was a “teachable moment” about race in modern America, now is it. With the birthers and the reparations conspiracy theories and the Nazi imagery at health care meetings, someone’s gotta explain why all these white folks are wilding out. We need an articulate, impassioned race man to clarify things. But not Al…