I'm back ... on NPR's "Tell Me More" with Michel Martin this Wednesday. We'll be talking about the recent Supreme Court decision on Arizona's controversial anti-illegal immigration law, women "not" being able to have it all and that horrible Fifty Shades of Grey book that's oh-so-popular. I'll post the audio of the chatfest when it goes live later today online. Check your local NPR listings for Tell Me More.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's finger found her way into President Obama's face Wednesday when he stopped in the great state of sunning seniors and low allergens to do "presidential stuff." But another day, another indignity from people who act like it's the hardest thing ever to respect the office even if you don't like the man.
Danielle Belton | 7 Comments | 1 Reference | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article | tagged 2012 election, Barack Obama, Jan Brewer, Republicans, arizona 
In a disturbing start to a new session of Congress, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was shot in the head at a voter meet-n-greet outside a Safeway grocery store in Arizona. Six others were killed in the insuing melee, including a federal judge, John M. Roll, and a 9-year-old girl, Christina Taylor-Green, who came to the event with neighbors. She'd just been elected to her student coucil and the neighbor thought meeting Giffords would continue to fuel the young girl's interest in politics.
As in any tragedy, a lot of finger pointing has gone around in search of a cause. But the more and more I read about the man accused of attempting to assassinate Giffords (she is currently recovering in a medically induced coma from a shot to the head), the more and more this sounds like a case of a distrubed person who had too easy of access to an automatic weapon and not enough access to care for his worsening mental conditions.
Danielle Belton | 25 Comments | 1 Reference | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article | tagged Gabrielle Giffords, Politics, arizona, congress, crime, gun laws, mental illness 
Anger in Oakland over the Oscar Grant verdict only slightly overshadowed by ESPN dedicating an hour to LeBron James reciting the lyrics of the Will Smith summer jam, "Miami." (You can bet there's a "party in the city where the heat is on" tonight!) Also, the government sues the state of Arizona and your children may grow up in a world never knowing what the hell a "Radio Shack" is.
Danielle Belton | 12 Comments | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article | tagged Cleveland, LeBron James, Miami, NBA, Oakland, Oscar Grant, arizona, crime, economics, immigration, police brutality 
I'm sure it's going to be "fun times" for anyone brown with an accent living in Arizona. Perhaps they can start sewing scarlet "Cs" to their chest to let the cops know that they're citizens before they get the pat down. Or at least that's what I'm envisioning in a state with a more than 30 percent Hispanic population. That means, in general, there are just a lot of legal people there who happen to look exactly like the folks who may be illegal who can all be detained, legally, by the police. All based solely on how they look thanks to a new law passed in Arizona. It's a legal form of racial profiling that will only just affect nearly 2 million people. No big! You know? Unless you're a citizen of Arizona and the United States who feels that they shouldn't have to roll around with their birth certificate or other proof of being a citizen around.
