Politics
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Stanley Crouch: On Lady Obama
Through her combination of cunning, empathy and resilience Michelle Obama embodies the blue steel level of revelation that’s central to the blues itself and to the tragic optimism of Americana at its best. Even though she is from Chicago, the urban blues capital, and her husband has the same birthday as Louis Armstrong, it is doubtful…
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Why Michael Steele Must Stay
Recently, I got a call from a Republican National Committee member from the Mid-Atlantic. She was worried that Michael Steele may be ousted from his RNC chairmanship before he ever gets started. She told me that she had received repeated calls from concerned committee members in Georgia, Tennessee and some Midwest states about Steele’s foibles and…
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Bye-Bye, Buckwheat!
I almost didn’t recognize Buckwheat when he walked into the breakfast room at the Home for Retired Racial Stereotypes. Instead of the customary tangle of pigtails and ill-fitting T-shirt, his hair had been neatly trimmed, and he was dressed in a dark-blue suit, crisp white shirt and red striped tie. An American flag pin adorned his…
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Another Cop, Another Video
Don’t get caught slippin’. That’s the lesson for anyone who wants to put forth any malarkey about a post-racial nation. If you haven’t heard by now, NFLer Ryan Moats and his wife were pulled over while rushing to the hospital to see her dying mother. Before you fly off the handle, try to put yourself…
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Overexposed? Obama Takes it Back to Prime Time
Maybe next time President Barack Obama’s conservative critics would be happier if he puts on a Navy flight suit and hang glides down onto Wall Street into a crowd of hedge fund managers holding aloft a huge banner that reads: “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.” On second thought, they might claim that Obama was stealing their ideas. Taking…
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A World-Class Fix for Schools
“In a 21st-century world where jobs can be shipped wherever there’s an Internet connection, where a child born in Dallas is now competing with a child in New Delhi, where your best job qualification is not what you do, but what you know—education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success, it’s a…
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Even Further Behind the Joneses
The chips are in. Every three years, the Federal Reserve, in its Survey of Consumer Finances, takes a look at how households in the United States are doing and reports on our assets and liabilities. The euphoria of our gambling spree is over. In the harsh glare of morning, the hangover’s tough. And the data…
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The Root's Talented Ten: Marlon Marshall
Marlon Marshall Age: 29 Hometown: St. Louis, Mo. Campaign Positions: Field Director (Hillary for President); General Election Director—Missouri (Obama For America) Campaign Turf: Nevada, Ohio, Indiana (Hillary for President) Missouri (Obama For America) New Washington Gig: Deputy White House Liaison to the State Department According to Marlon Marshall, the best part of the 2008 campaign…
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The Root's Talented Ten: Jason Green
Jason Green Age: 28 Hometown: Gaithersburg, Md. Campaign Positions: Field Director—Connecticut, National Get Out the Vote Director Campaign Turf: Nevada, South Carolina, Connecticut, Maryland, Wisconsin, Texas, North Carolina New Washington Gig: Deputy Associate Counsel to the President The Root last caught up with Jason Green when he and Addisu Demissie (also on this list) were…
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The Root's Talented Ten: Myesha Ward
Myesha Ward Age: 33 Hometown: Olney, Md. Positions: Delegate Counter, Midwest Political Director Campaign Turf: Chicago; Iowa, South Carolina, Missouri New Washington Gig: Coordinator for Intergovernmental Affairs, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative If Myesha Ward were any less persuasive, it’s pretty safe to say Barack Obama would not be president. Her official title on…