Quiet Va. Wife Ended Interracial Marriage Ban
Washington Post, Patricia Sullivan, May 6, 2008

“Mildred Jeter Loving, 68, a black woman whose refusal to accept Virginia's ban on interracial marriage led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1967 that struck down similar laws across the country, died of pneumonia Friday at her home in Milford, Va.”

The equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment requires that the law be applied equally to everyone. This plain reading, however, was contested well into the 20th century. The resistance to “nationalizing” the Bill or Rights enabled states to pass laws intended to maintain white supremacy (see Incorporation via the Fourteenth Amendment, pp. 161-164). Most of these were overturned starting in the 1940s (see Emergence of a Civil Rights Coalition, pp. 130-133) and accelerating with the 1964 Civil Rights Act (see The Civil Rights Movement, pp. 133-133-139). This Washington Post story remembers the life of Mildred Loving, a plaintiff in the 1967 Supreme Court case that overturned laws banning interracial marriages.

On Economy, Unlikely Allies Forge Winning Strategy
Washington Post, Lori Montgomery and David Cho, May 5, 2008

“One is a free-market Republican from Wall Street with roots in the rural Midwest and a passion for bird-watching. The other is a rumpled, union-hall Democrat from Bayonne, N.J., who once famously described himself as ‘a left-handed, gay Jew.’”

Despite consistently low approval ratings during the past 20 years (see Evaluating Congress, pp. 254-256), Congress continues to occupy the center of the public policy universe. With the current state of divided government (see Unified versus Divided Party Control of Government, pp. 281-282), Congress and the executive branch must work diligently to overcome gridlock. This Washington Post article describes how U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has cultivated relationships with unlikely bedfellows, like Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee. In times of heightened partisan warfare, the political skills of bureaucratic leaders are essential to effective governance (see Bureaucrats as Politicians, pp. 323-327).

Pundits Declare the Race Over
New York Times, Jim Rutenberg, May 8, 2008

“Very early this morning, after many voters had already gone to sleep, the conventional wisdom of the elite political pundit class that resides on television shifted hard, and possibly irretrievably, against Senator Hillary Clinton’s continued viability as a presidential candidate.”

Reporters and news organizations love conflict and controversy (see Selecting the News, pp. 560-561). Over the last six months, the race for the Democratic presidential nomination between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has supplied both in ample quantity. The media, for example, endlessly recycled remarks by Reverend Jeremiah Wright—a textbook case of pack journalism (see The Beat, pp. 559-560). The results of primary elections in Indiana and North Carolina this week have started a new media stampede. This New York Times story observes how reporters and pundits are rushing to declare the race over. Feeding frenzies like these, while predictable, can be unwitting causes and consequences of more durable frames (see Framing, pp. 395-397). In this case, reporters are reinforcing the view of Clinton as a hopeless candidate who refuses to abide by the rules.

$271 Million for Research on Stem Cells in California
New York Times, Andrew Pollack, May 8, 2008

“California has awarded $271 million in grants to build 12 stem cell research centers in the state, even as one of the political rationales for the building program might soon disappear.”

The federal government has several means of compelling state governments to abide by the will of national majorities. It can offer reluctant states financial inducements for particular objectives or programs (see The Carrot, pp. 103-104). It can preempt state activity by enacting federal mandates (see The Stick, pp. 104-108). Where these fail, the logic of nationalization can prevent states from going it alone (The Logic of Nationalization, pp. 87-89). This story covers efforts in California to fund research on stem-cells over the objections of the Bush Administration. The initiative demonstrates that decades of nationalization have not completely effaced the “indefinite” authority reserved to states by the Constitution.