President Obama calls African-Americans a ‘mongrel people’  —  NEW YORK — President Obama waded into the national race debate in an unlikely setting and with an unusual choice of words: telling daytime talk show hosts that African-Americans are “sort of a mongrel people.”

Ousted USDA Employee Sherrod Plans to Sue Blogger  —  Ousted USDA employee Shirley Sherrod says she will sue conservative blogger over edited video  —  Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she will sue a conservative blogger who posted a video edited in a way that made her appear racist.

Shirley Sherrod To Sue Andrew Breitbart  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  SAN DIEGO — Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she will sue a conservative blogger who posted an edited video of her making racially tinged remarks last week.

Journalism's Age of Shame  —  This article appeared in the August 16/23, 2010 edition of The Nation.  —  Recommended by  —  The black political art of “working the refs” with constant and vociferous complaints of “liberal bias” in the media has a long and distinguished history.

Rangel to Stand Trial on Ethics Violations  —  WASHINGTON — The House ethics committee laid out 13 charges of House rules violations against Representative Charles B. Rangel on Thursday, and began the process for a public trial on the charges.  —  The move came after Mr. Rangel …

The Rangel case — Lessons from Sherrod?  —  (This post is being published before the charges against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) have been published by the House ethics committee subpanel.  I will try to update this post after the charges have been published.)

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — July 2010  —  The July Health Tracking Poll indicates overall public support for the health reform law is steady from June, while unfavorable views of the law have trended downward.  Half the public (50%) now expresses a favorable view of the law …