the browntable
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Don't Tax the Kool-Aid!
Mentholated cigarettes may have avoided the FDA’s axe last week, when all other flavored smokes were banned outright. But another African American favorite—sugary drinks—is increasingly a subject of legislative interest. Though New York State has tabled discussions about “sin taxing” (just the name is problematic) sugar-heavy drinks like soda and Kool Aid, the New York…
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Is President Obama Really Going to Grovel in Copenhagen?
The president heads to Europe today—not to bargain for an international treaty on climate change, or to join the heated Swiss negotiations on Iranian nuclear ambitions, but to beg and plead on behalf Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid. There had been some speculation about who might go fight for the president’s adopted hometown (last week, Michelle…
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Mr. President, Your Wife Is Awesome, So…
Why not let her handle this Chicago Olympics thing? Like you, the First Lady is smart, charismatic and tough. If there’s any shrinking violet part of her, we have yet to see it—except for maybe when she lets you be taller than she is. Unlike you, she won’t be blamed into perpetuity for the fate…
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Health Care Public Option: One Down, Three to Go
Andrea King Collier is a blogger for The Root. Yesterday the Senate Finance Committee said no to a version of the public option portion of health care reform. News headlines declared the vote a surprise KO punch to the public option. Dig a little deeper and find this vote was only a surprise to those…
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You Can't Tweet Wrapped Around a Telephone Pole
DUMB: Attempting to operate a motor vehicle while focusing on a handheld device. It’s like drinking and driving minus the flimsy excuse of intoxication and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wants to put an end to it. Calling on a battery of experts, elected officials and members of the pulic, LaHood has organized the Distracted Driving…
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The Public Option Is Dead, Long Live the Public Option
A government-administered health insurance plan—similar to Medicare, for any American who wants it—has had a rocky debut on the national political stage this year. Known to its supporters and detractors alike as “the public option,” it was debated anew by the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday. As befits such a heated debate, there were charts, there…
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Is Higher Education in America Worth Saving?
As the 2009-1010 school year gets underway, President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have been making strong moves to ensure that American higher education remains competitive in the 21st century economy. Commentary has focused on Obama and Duncan’s plans to extend the school year to match the time foreign counterparts spend educating their…
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Stephen Colbert Defines "Blackwashing" for Obama's Critics
On Thursday’s episode of “The Colbert Report,” Comedy Central’s faux conservative talk show host stuck it to actual conservative media figures Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck—as always, in the guise of chastising liberals (in this case, former president Jimmy Carter). Sarcastically defending Beck and Limbaugh and North Carolina Rep. Virginia Fox for their outrageous comments…
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PHOTO OF THE DAY: The Obamas hit the G20
US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk to Air Force One at JFK International Airport in New York, NY, September 24, 2009. Michelle and Barack will be hosting their first G20 bash in Pittsburgh today and tomorrow. Michelle who will be entertaining the spouses of the 20 world leaders that are poised…
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The Proof is in the Racist Pudding
Here’s the problem with parlor games about who is and is not a racist: It’s exactly the conversation that conservatives have spent 30 years fostering in order to drive discussions about racial justice out of public policy. If racism is nothing more than an individual holding hateful ideas, then it’s impossible to correct and of…