Eager to talk black-white politics after the Ferguson riots, and openly discussing slavery and his skin color in India last week, President Obama is finally tackling the issue of race that he artfully dodged in his first term.
And now we know why. While he was thrust into the issue at times in his first administration, such as at the infamous “Beer summit,” Obama treaded lightly because he didn’t want to scare off white voters or energize the Tea Party during his re-election.
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“They did not want to amplify race because they knew that they were going to rile up certain segments of society, particularly the Tea Party and people who don’t care for him much or for the issue much,” said April Ryan, White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks. “They had to be very strategic in their approach to it.”
Now, he seems to mention it everywhere, not just in India, but at Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s retirement ceremony. After recalling Hagel bringing his black former Vietnam War platoon commander to the Oval Office, Obama said, “It wasn’t lost on any of us for how far this nation’s come.”
Previewing her upcoming book, “The Presidency in Black and White,” Ryan said that “in the first term, he was a president who happened to be black. Now he’s the African-American president who is African-American. He’s very comfortable in his skin. He knows who he is.”
Ryan has covered the last three presidents and gives Bill Clinton a grade equal to Obama, B-plus, on black issues. That might shock some of her readers who think Obama should get an “A” just for being the first black president.
“To some in the black community, it is God, Jesus, then Obama,” she said. But Ryan said the realities of being president to all Americans rules out a total focus on African-American issues.
HISTORIC: LA KINGS, GALAXY REPEAT CHAMP PARADE TO WHITE HOUSE
History is repeating itself this week when hockey’s Los Angeles Kings and soccer’s LA Galaxy return to the White House to celebrate their dual championships just two years after their first historic tag-team trip.
Never before had two national champions gone to the White House together until March 22, 2013, making Monday’s event special for the teams owned by AEG Sports’ Philip Anschutz, also the Washington Examiner’s owner.
During their last White House celebration party, members of both teams cut a video for Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” project talking about healthy eating on game days.
This year, the 2014 Stanley Cup-winning Kings and Anschutz Trophy-winning Galaxy, together dubbed the “Los Angeles Champions” by the White House, will meet with local youths at the White House to talk soccer and hockey.
Why both teams at the White House at once? AEG Sports Vice President Michael Altieri said “it’s kind of a prideful thing for our ownership group. Both of these teams have won championships in multiple seasons and now for the second time they have won championships in the same year which allows us the opportunity to showcase that.”
He added, “To have the opportunity to be up close with the president of the United States is something I don’t think you can ever get used to. That’s always a thrill.”
PETA WARNS NBC’S ‘TODAY’ SHOW OVER PUPPY MASCOT
Yellow labrador puppies are turning up all over, and puppy mill foes are getting nervous about a potential surge in demand.
The Super Bowl was the latest to feature an adorable pup in the popular Budweiser Clydesdales ad. And even though it was yanked from the game-day lineup, GoDaddy’s controversial lab puppy ad was seen by millions on the Internet.
But credit NBC’s “Today” show with starting the trend. It recently added “Wrangler,” a seeing-eye dog, to the cast.
It has the attention of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch said the group is keeping a close eye on how the network handles the pup — and if it increases the number of labrador puppy mills.
“PETA hopes that the puppy featured on ‘Today’ will be handled with the utmost care throughout his life and that this segment will not inspire people to contribute to the dog overpopulation crisis by churning out litter after litter of labradors like him,” she said.
QUOTED
“It could have won the Kentucky Derby. I had no right to be on the back of this thing.”
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, on Washington’s WTOP radio on being injured after he was thrown from a horse during a vacation in Africa.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
