Politics

From The AP via The Grio: SREDNYAYA AKHTUBA, Russia (AP) — An African-born farmer is making an improbable run for office in Russia, inspired by President Barack Obama and undaunted by racial attitudes that have changed little in decades. Joaquim Crima, a 37-year-old native of Guinea Bissau who settled in southern Russia after earning a…

From the AP: A federal appeals court on Friday revived a discrimination lawsuit brought by more than 200 black police officers who claim they were mistreated by white supervisors with the U.S. Capitol Police. The black officers had sued in 2001, charging white senior officers had created a hostile work environment by regularly referring to…

From the Washington Post: As the Senate prepared to debate the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday, the Republican leadership sought to rally opposition to President Obama’s nominee on grounds that she represents a dangerous new standard of judicial “empathy” rather than impartiality in deciding cases. In a morning floor speech ahead of…

From CNN: “Read my lips: No new taxes.” That famous phrase from George H.W. Bush came as he accepted his party’s presidential nomination at the Republican National Committee convention in 1988. At the time, it was exactly the red meat Republicans were looking for. But campaigning and governing are two very different things. Bush was…

By now you surely know this much: It’s August, there’s still no health reform bill in either chamber, and that’s a political setback for Barack Obama. This scorecard is not trivial. In a democracy, the politics matter. That said, we’re talking about society-defining public policy here. How we get and pay for health care affects…

Let’s cut to the chase regarding President Barack Obama’s health care plan, or, as it’s formally called, the Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. At least three versions exist at the moment: the administration’s and those of the House and the Senate. In the days remaining until the congressional recess begins this week, they will…

This year, Barack Obama celebrates his birthday in the White House as president of the United States. But, Michelle Obama and the first kids will be hard-pressed to find the right present for the commander in chief who has everything. The Root readers recommend a few gift ideas for the POTUS as he turns the…

From the AP via NewsOne: Osama bin-Laden’s deputy said in a video message released Monday that the al-Qaida leader’s offers of a truce with the U.S. and Europe remained on the table, though he ridiculed President Barack Obama as “the new face of the same old crimes.” In a video posted on an Islamic militant…

CHILMARK, Mass. (AP) — Henry Louis Gates, Jr. said Sunday he has been able to joke about his arrest by a white police officer that led to a national debate on race, but he also has received death threats and bomb threats. In his first public appearance since meeting with Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley…

is a former columnist for TIME magazine and a regular contributor to The Root.