Obama: African-American museum could spur dialogue on nationa s racial struggles

President Barack Obama, dedicating the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Saturday, said it would tell an American story, one of “suffering and delight, one of fear, but also of hope, of wandering in the wilderness, and then seeing, out on the horizon, a glimmer of the Promised Land.” Speaking to dignitaries and thousands of people watching from the National Mall, Obama said the museum would document the stories of Americans who are often overlooked in history books - “the president but also the slave, the industrialist but also the porter, the keeper of the status quo, but also the activist seeking to overthrow that status quo.” On a day rich in symbolism, under a gray sky that seemed to capture the ambiguity of the black American experience, Obama warned that the museum would not be a panacea for the nation's racial struggles.

Will Trump stick to themes, or have to go deep? Michael Smerconish

Many remember that in 1984, Ronald Reagan defeated Walter Mondale in a 49-state landslide, but few recall that Reagan turned in a poor performance in their first debate. After his sluggish behavior in their initial encounter reignited concerns about the 73-year-old president, Roger Ailes was recruited to advise him.

Realities behind the wall

Heavy machinery and construction workers are seen along a motorway stretch in Calais as work continues to build a wall to secure the approach to the city from migrants trying to reach Britain, Calais, France. - REUTERS The fuss over measures to prevent illegal migration seems as out of touch with popular sentiments as it is with political platforms championing these measures.

Mike Coffman is a Republican worth voting for

Here on the High Plains, where the deer and the antelope once played, Denver's suburbs roam toward the Rockies' Front Range and the nature of today's polyglot politics is written in the local congressman's campaign schedule. One day last week, Republican Mike Coffman went from a Hispanic charter school in a strip mall, to another strip mall for lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant with leaders of the Ethiopian-American community, then to a meeting with the editor of the largest of two Korean-language newspapers serving more than 3,000 Korean-Americans in the metropolitan area.

We don’t need a national Latino museum

Should we build a Latino Smithsonian museum? Some Hispanic politicians think so. Piggybacking on the attention garnered by the opening this weekend of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, they have renewed a push for the creation of a National Museum of the American Latino.

Study: in person fraud rarely occurs

Voters check in at a polling station on Super Tuesday in Austin, Texas on March 1. A federal appeals court in July ruled Texas strict voter ID law, passed in 2011, discriminates against minorities. A study confirms that in-person voter fraud, what voter ID is designed to prevent, just doesn't happen much at all.

Attacking the IRS as political theater

The U.S. House Freedom Caucus has demonstrated once again why Congress is held in such low esteem by voters. In attempting to impeach the IRS commissioner over alleged "high crimes and misdemeanors," conservative Republicans chose political theater over the nation's needs.

Hack of San Bernardino attackera s iPhone raises big questions

After the attack in San Bernardino last December that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others, the FBI hired a private hacker to unlock the iPhone of one of the two dead terrorists. Perhaps the FBI learned some of Syed Rizwan Farook's evil secrets.