Politics

THE REAL PRIZE : I was torn between two essays, both by Kim McLarin—one of The Root’s gems, by the way. I loved her playful but devastating response to Whiteygate. So much about America’s purported conversation on race is simply absurd, and Kim beautifully illustrated that fact with her mocking attempt to take America’s bizarre…

GOODBYE TO A STANDUP BROTHER : Since his sudden and untimely death on June 13, it’s been said that no newsman would have enjoyed Campaign 2008, and its historic climax, more than Tim Russert. Gwen Ifill’s smart and surprisingly emotional reflection, “Goodbye to a Stand-Up Brother,” on the death of NBC’s Washington bureau chief is…

Want to know how many folks are expected for the inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009? Well, it depends on whom you ask. Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty predicts at least 3 million people could be crammed onto the National Mall for the swearing-in ceremony. Law enforcement agencies expects about 1 million folks will witness the…

“He totally just wrote me off like I’m that nigga to steal on.” – Charlie Murphy “I’m Rick James, he’s Charlie Murphy.” – Rick James If the Iraqi justice system worked anything like ours, Muntader al Zaidi, reporter for the Al-Baghdadiya network and erstwhile thrower of hard-soled dress shoes at President George W. Bush, would…

It’s easy to forget about Canada these days. Despite the fact that many Americans can actually see it from their windows, most of us get little news about our neighbor. With so much chaos in the world—a global financial meltdown, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, terror attacks in Mumbai, riots in Greece—the lack of focus…

Dear Transition Team, Okay, so you haven’t granted The Root an interview yet, but we’re willing yo wait our turn if you sit down with Damon Weaver, a 10-year-old student reporter at Canal Point Elementary in Palm Beach, Fla., who is coming to Washington for the inauguration. Yes, he’s only in the fifth grade, but…

There is a lot of head shaking over Jesse Jackson Jr.’s murky involvement in the swirl of muck engulfing Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. While Jackson is clearly not a target of the federal investigation that has ensnared Blagojevich, he may the one taking the biggest political hit so far. Jackson’s chances for the Senate seat,…

It’s become something of a parlor game for the chattering class to compare President-elect Barack Obama to the pantheon of presidents. Is Obama the second coming of Abraham Lincoln? A recent Newsweek magazine cover cast Honest Abe’s long shadow behind the incoming president’s silhouette. Inside, writers Evan Thomas and Richard Wolffe found the parallels between the…

This week Barack Obama will choose his environmental team, the group of people responsible for dealing with everything from climate change to energy policy, and concern is building in some Democratic circles about whether this is the point at which he will finally appoint a prominent liberal to his Cabinet. After a swift set of…