Jamelle Bouie

With the release of Stuart Buck‘s book Acting White: The Ironic Legacy of Desegregation, there’s been some interesting discussion over whether there is actually racialized antipathy toward educational achievement among young African Americans — the basic premise of Buck’s book. At The New Republic, John McWhorter agrees, and at Slate, Richard Thompson Ford seems to […]

The Associated Press’ Liz Sidoti reports that Sen. Russ Feingold has found himself in an unexpectedly tough race for re-election: The Wisconsin Democrat faces a wealthy political newcomer with early backing from tea party activists in a state that has many independent voters and is known for doing its own thing. … The Republican seemingly […]

Jeff Zeleny reports on one aspect of the GOP’s strategy for November’s elections: If Republicans are to win control of the House, party leaders are relying on candidates like [Ohio’s Steve Chabot] to whittle away the 39-seat Democratic majority. Their strategy is rooted in the belief that the Republican base is significantly more energized than […]

The week is over and it’s time for me to head back to my corner of the interwebs, so some thanks are in order. First, thanks to everyone for reading my posts! This has been a fantastic week, and I’m really glad that I’ve had the chance to share my opinions with you. I really […]

David Brooks is a little disappointed that President Obama doesn’t make him feel giddy like a schoolboy on Christmas Eve: His policies are often a balance as he tries to accommodate different points of view. He doesn’t generally issue edicts. In matters foreign and domestic, he seems to spend a lot of time coaxing people […]

The reaction to my last post was a lot stronger than I expected, and as such, I think it’s worth clarifying my thoughts a bit. Contra a few of the commenters, I am not asking progressives to uncritically accept whatever decision President Obama makes. But I am asking progressives to look at Obama’s decision in […]

There is a right way and a wrong way to express anger at President Obama for committing more troops to Afghanistan. This is the wrong way (from Tristero at Hullabaloo): If the Democratic party today doesn’t have viable candidates who are prepared to oppose this crazy policy, it sure as hell will have them two […]

As Chris Matthews revealed last night after President Obama‘s speech, some pieces of Beltway conventional wisdom just won’t die: “It seems like in this case, there isn’t a lot of excitement,” Matthews said. “I watched the cadets, they were young kids – men and women who were committed to serving their country professionally it must […]

Stephen Walt (by way of Paul Campos): Americans have come to believe that spending government revenues on U.S. citizens here at home is usually a bad thing and should be viewed wth suspicion, but spending billions on vast social engineering projects overseas is the hallmark of patriotism and should never be questioned. This position makes […]

I want to quickly highlight this chunk from James Wagoner’s great post on the Stupak Amendment at RH Reality Check: I believe pro-choice leaders may have made a fatal mistake in not challenging the Democrats’ 2004 decision to recruit and run anti-choice candidates. They believed Democratic leadership when they were told that the pro-choice agenda […]