June 2009 Archives
In a written message to supporters Monday, Mark Sanford asserted that God's plan for him includes finishing his term as South Carolina governor.
Sanford is facing calls for his resignation after disappearing to Argentina then returning last week to admit an affair.
Since its earliest days, the United States has suffered periodic financial crises. The first dates to 1792. In the 19th century, bank panics occurred regularly. Then, of course, came the great stock market crash of 1929 and the failure of two-fifths of the nation's banks in the Great Depression. Now we're in the midst of another crisis. It would be reassuring to think that the Obama administration's financial "reforms" -- or, indeed, any conceivable alternative -- would prevent these collapses for all time. Dream on.
Secretary Duncan reads to children at Fanwood Memorial Library to highlight the importance of combating reading loss during the summer on June 22, 2009.
Over the past two months, I have waded into the national debate regarding gay marriage by writing two widely distributed editorials. These op-eds largely addressed the false comparison between African-American oppression and the push for gay rights. I am neither a member of a pro-family organization nor an official advocate for traditional marriage.
The Supreme Court handed a victory Monday to a group of white firefighters charging racial discrimination, while also giving some fodder to critics of President Barack Obama's pending nominee for the high court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
For the past five months, White House aides and friends of the Obamas have been quietly visiting local churches and vetting the sermons of prospective first ministers in a search for a new -- and uncontroversial -- church home.
Obama has even sampled a few himself, attending services at 19th Street Baptist on the weekend before his inauguration and celebrating Easter at St. John's Episcopal Church.
If my purse ever gets stolen, it's Dave Chappelle's fault. In the spring of 1997, I attended a barbecue at the home of a friend in Los Angeles. Since the party was almost exclusively populated by a particular type of television writer (think Conan O'Brien), I was taken aback when a young black gentleman entered the festivities. Given L.A.'s then-fearsome reputation as the home of rogue cops, riots, and drive-by shootings, I was scared that the newcomer was a crack-crazed Crip out for honky blood. But, no, it was Dave. Once I realized my mistake, I spent the entire evening agreeing with his every word and laughing at all the comedian's jokes.
What, I wondered, is a Christian minister doing on CNN pitching the president's health-care plan? Last week the Rev. Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, a Christian social-justice outfit, made a seven-minute appearance on Lou Dobbs's show. Facing off against Tony Perkins of the conservative Family Research Council, Wallis made a disclaimer.
It's official: If DC pundits consider you a contender for the GOP nomination in 2012, then it's just a matter of time before you are publicly humiliated (or sent to China.) Seriously. In light of Sanford's stunning admission of an affair today, let's take stock:
White House family chef Sam Kass talks to students from Washington's Bancroft Elementary School about harvesting organic produce from the garden they helped first lady Michelle Obama plant on the South Lawn.
He grew up in a home without a dad. So far as politics goes, he says, "The question I have is where can we meet on common ground." He says he wants to find "a kinder, gentler way" on the abortion issue." His official title is president--of Focus on the Family.
Senate Republicans have abandoned the courteous, meet-and-greet phase of the Sonia Sotomayor nomination. They've transitioned to full-blown attack mode, talking up "empathy," gun rights and "judicial activism" three weeks before Sotomayor sits in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation to the Supreme Court. 
Although bloody images continue to be replayed on American television, the protests that broke out in Tehran following Iran's presidential election on June 12 are, predictably, dwindling. They are fading because further demonstrations would no longer be about alleged election irregularities but, rather, would be a challenge to the Islamic Republic itself -- something only a small minority of the initial protesters support.
President Barack Obama came closer Tuesday to declaring common cause with street protestors in Tehran who have mounted wide-scale protests against the Iranian regime in recent days, but he stopped short of a full-throated endorsement that he said could undercut the reform movement there.
For the first time since their 2006 election drubbing, top Republicans
see signs -- however faint -- of a political resurgence over the next
year.
A dozen Cabinet officials and first lady Michelle Obama fanned out across the country Monday to kick off a 12-week program, called United We Serve, that aims to stimulate economic growth and encourage community service through extended volunteer work. 
Back last fall, when Barack Obama sprang his surprise about naming former rival Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state, many people assumed she would be the Cabinet's brightest star -- a celebrity at large on the world stage, the face of American foreign policy while the president was consumed back home by domestic issues and a troubled economy.
It was always going to be hard for President Barack Obama to pass health care reform by the fall. Lately, there are signs it'll take a political miracle.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) say there is a lack of diversity on the Sunday political talk shows.
The Obama team has long embraced David Brody, the Christian Broadcasting Network's political correspondent and blogger. Obama gave him four separate interviews (!) during the course of the 2008 campaign.
There is little question that in most families the mother is the
central unifying person emblematic of unconditional love that can be
tough love when necessary. Recent research, however, suggests that
fathers are more important in the lives of children than had been
previously understood. 
Columnists Mark Shields and David
Brooks discuss the Obama administration's response to political turmoil
in Iran and new plans to overhaul the financial regulation system.
The President explains his plan to address one of the major causes of the current economic crisis -- the breakdown of oversight leading to widespread abuses in the financial world. The new Consumer Financial Protection Agency will have the sole job of looking out for the financial interests of ordinary Americans by banning unfair practices and enforcing the rules. This is a cornerstone in America's new economic foundation.
Read More.
President Obama's campaign for health care reform by this fall, once considered highly likely to succeed, suddenly appears in real jeopardy.
After being pummeled by his successor, the 43rd president ends his
silence on America's slide into socialism and timidity. He reminds us
leadership is not something that comes off a teleprompter. 
The Obama administration's unwillingness to speak frankly about the situation in Iran as peaceful protesters are shot dead in the streets by regime thugs is troubling. But even more concerning is the fact that recent events have not caused President Obama to rethink his strategy of engagement with Tehran. Since his Inauguration, the President has called on all Americans to serve our communities and be a part of building a better future for our country. And given this unique moment in our history with the unprecedented challenges we are facing, there isn't a more important time than now for us to get involved.
That is why today the President is announcing United We Serve -- a call to action for all Americans to volunteer this summer and be part of building a new foundation for America, one community at a time.
We know that ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things when empowered with the proper tools. The Corporation for National Service, the federal agency dedicated to fostering service in communities across the country, is providing those tools on their website, Serve.gov. They make it easy to not only find volunteer opportunities in our neighborhoods, but also to create and promote our own projects.
It's time to roll-up our sleeves and get to work. Watch the President's announcement below and get started at Serve.gov.
On June 16, the Public Broadcasting Service decided to forbid member stations from carrying any new religious TV programs while allowing the few stations that are already doing so to continue.
Read More.
Though the White House is encouraging Attorney General Lisa Madigan to run for Senate, asked what President Obama, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett were up to when they met with Madigan Friday, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said she was "terrific" but the White House would make no endorsement.
Two attorneys from opposing political camps, David Boies, a Democrat, and Ted Olson, a Republican, announced last month that they plan to challenge California's ban against gay marriage all the way to the Supreme Court. One of the cases Boies and Olson are using as a precedent is Loving v. Virginia, which, in 1967, ruled that it was unconstitutional for any state to have a law prohibiting marriage on the basis of race.
It's not easy being a father, because with fatherhood comes responsibility, dedication, obligation, and commitment. God Has Smiled On Me, by Daniel Whyte III, is a tribute to his father, Daniel White Jr., who did the mature and right thing by accepting the responsibilities of fatherhood, and dedicated himself to staying with his family, through thick and thin.
Chicago, Illinois
Hoping to persuade the International Olympic Committee to award the 2016 Summer Games to his hometown of Chicago, President Obama on Tuesday afternoon announced the formation of a new White House Olympics office. 
Iran is in chaos -- and so is the usually well-oiled Republican message on foreign policy as the party struggles to find its voice on this pivotal world event.
It's time for President Obama to rethink his policy of "engagement" with Iran.
A judge on Monday denied a defense motion to exclude photographs of the body of a 15-month-old child who died after her parents prayed rather than seeking medical attention for her.
Read More.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu blew his chances of diffusing tensions with the United States long before he made last night's speech. True, the speech didn't help. His reluctant and unconvincing acceptance of the need for Palestinian statehood - he still could not bring himself to say the magic words "two states for two peoples" - does not bode well for future negotiations. Just as importantly, Netanyahu's failure to announce a settlement freeze clashes directly with President Barack Obama's clear call in Cairo that "it is time for these settlements to stop."
This weekend marks the one year anniversary of when "Meet the Press"
host and NBC Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert died -- and, by most
measures, a natural successor to his vaunted position in both
journalism and the nation's heart has yet to emerge.
The "FOX News Sunday" panel discusses North Korea and U.N. sanctions after the show.
Read More.
The White House is welcoming Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's call for the creation of a Palestinian state.
Vice President Joe Biden is escorted down the red carpet past an Honor Guard by Bosnian Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj during an early morning arrival ceremony for the Vice President in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Tuesday, May 19, 2009.
Iran's state-run news agency said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won Iran's presidential election in a landslide just two hours after the polls closed Friday night. But his main rival, Mir Hussein Moussavi, announced defiantly that he had won and charged that there had been voting "irregularities."
The White House just released an official statement from the President regarding today's shooting at DC's Holocaust Museum, which left one security guard dead. Patrick Bibb, a 19-year-old from Dallas, glanced at his cell phone. He was in the middle of his economics class at Texas Christian University on a February morning. His caller ID read withheld. He decided not to answer. When class ended, he checked his messages and found that George W. Bush had been trying to reach him.
Sen. Jeff Sessions speaks with Sen. Patrick Leahy speaks before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Rev. Jeremiah Wright on Thursday tried to step back from a
controversial comment he made earlier in the week, explaining that when
he said "them Jews" were keeping him from getting access to President Barack Obama he meant to say "Zionists."
Read More.
Two Baptist ministers responding to President Obama's recent speech to
the Muslim world said world peace is a realistic hope, but ultimately
it lies in the hands of God. Obama's June 4 speech at Cairo University in Egypt ended with a statement that Christianity, Judaism and Islam all teach that God desires for the world to live in peace.
"Paying for what you spend is basic common sense. Perhaps that's why, here in Washington, it's been so elusive," said Barack Obama on Tuesday June 9th. He was urging Congress to pass a new "pay-as-you-go" (PAYGO) plan that would oblige it to pay for new spending either by raising taxes or by cutting outlays. By following the same principles that guide "responsible families managing a budget", he said, Americans could dig the country out of the "very deep hole" that "the reckless fiscal policies of the past have left us in."
Republicans on Capitol Hill think they've finally found Barack Obama's Achilles' heel: rising public concern about government spending and the federal deficit. 
He's done it while talking about abortion and the Middle East, even the economy. The references serve at once as an affirmation of his faith and a rebuke against a rumor that persists for some to this day.
As president, Barack Obama has mentioned Jesus Christ in a number of high-profile public speeches -- something his predecessor George W. Bush rarely did in such settings, even though Bush's Christian faith was at the core of his political identity.
The reason given for Sarah Palin's snub was that NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions was concerned about not wanting to upstage former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the fundraising gala's keynote speaker. Photo: AP
The U.S. is considering adding North Korea back to a list of state sponsors of terrorism, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in an interview broadcast Sunday after President Barack Obama pledged "a very hard look" at tougher measures because of the North's nuclear stance.
The communist country has conducted recent nuclear and missile tests, and there are concerns about the North's shipping nuclear material to other nations.
Resolution on racial reconciliation and the election of Barack Hussein Obama
Submitted by Wm. Dwight McKissic, Sr., Cornerstone Baptist Church, Arlington, TX
Submitted to the Messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention, June 24, 2009, Louisville, Kentucky
A black Southern Baptist pastor has asked his denomination to acknowledge the importance of President Barack Obama's election, despite the convention's opposition to many of his policies.
Thank you very much. Good afternoon. I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning; and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement. And together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I'm grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. And I'm also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: Assalaamu alaykum.
The recent Supreme Court nomination of 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor should only help cement President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party's relationship with the nation's largest minority group. This appointment also provides an opportunity for African-Americans to strengthen the black-brown coalition by enthusiastically supporting the first Latina nominee to the Supreme Court.
Before the 1990s, most African-Americans did not encounter Hispanics outside New York, Texas and the Southwest.
It might be the oddest political pairing of the year. Barack Obama, whose campaign for president carefully avoided race-based political appeals, is teaming up with the man who practically perfected them: the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's comments last
month to RNC state chairmen calling for the party to turn the corner
"on regret, recrimination, self-pity and self-doubt" and to declare "an
end to the era of Republicans looking backward" weren't ill-advised or
inappropriate. They were just irrelevant. Decades of dumb decisions helped send General Motors to a bankruptcy court yesterday, but one stands out.
General Motors filed for bankruptcy on Monday morning, submitting its reorganization papers to a federal clerk in Lower Manhattan in a move that President Obama said marked "the end of an old General Motors and the beginning of a new General Motors."
If Congress were to take a vote on a health reform bill today,
Democrats and Republicans would find a surprising level of agreement --
so much so that the broad outlines of a consensus plan already are
taking shape.
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