Source: kissrichmond.com

Were you able to catch President Obama’s closing speech during the Democratic National Convention last night? If not, we’ve got a breakdown of the cutest, most poignant, Holy Ghost shout moments below. Check it out.

Gabby Giffords says the Pledge of Allegiance

If you watched the DNC at all, you were able to see it was an emotionally charged event. Everyone in the spot talked about the energy. But in the midst of all the excitement, there were moments that truly tugged on people’s heart strings. One of the biggest being when former U.S. Rep, Gabby Giffords, who was shot and wounded last year at a political rally, took the stage to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. She really embodies a spirit of determination and resilience that we all, regardless of our political affiliation, can relate to.

Janelle Monae recently performed at a recent campaign event for President Obama in Chicago. You know she rocked the house. Check out what she had to say about being invited to perform for the president.

“I was deeply honored to be invited by the President to perform at the rally in Chicago at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was an amazing feeling to be amongst so many people, young and old, black, white, red, disabled, all united, eager to help support a man who has ended the war in Iraq, gotten rid of “don’t ask don’t tell”- allowing anyone to serve this country regardless of who you love, made sure women were not paid less than men merely because they are women, doubled pell grants, given 2.5 million young people health insurance, and has created a law that recognizes that crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race or disability aren’t just any crime- they’re hate crimes that deserve justice. These are all things he said he’d do before he was elected and did them. There are more important accomplishments that can be added to this list.  I strongly believe our nation should continue upon this path, bringing justice to all and change where needed.  President Obama remains the candidate of hope and change, and he will continue to move our country forward, bringing even more change if re-elected.” – Janelle Monàe

True story. President Obama has a lot more work to do; but don’t let anyone tell you the man hasn’t accomplished anything.

See what President Obama had to say about Janelle’s performance here.

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Lady O is all up and through the news this week. First there was the “angry black woman” statement in the Gayle King interview and now the first lady has signed up for a Twitter account (@MichelleObama).

Since her account launched this morning, the first lady is following five people and has over 152,303 followers…and counting. The account is not for the first lady to engage in Twitter beef with the wives of other nation leaders. No, this account is to help President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.

Since it’s official campaign business, Michelle won’t be tweeting personally most of the time but you’ll know when it’s her because she’ll sign her personal tweets with an “-mo”.

Do you think this is a good move for the FLOTUS? Do you plan on following her?

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(The Grio) — When the framers of the Constitution designed our system of government, they specifically intended the House of Representatives to be the “people’s house” to reflect the broadest spectrum of Americans.  Unlike the Senate, the House was designed to be the lower congressional chamber of government where the electorate was represented in a more contemporary way by having the minimum age of 25 for a member of the House (versus 30 for a Senator) and by having a Member of House stand for re-election every two years.  The framers also envisioned a more intimate relationship between House members and their constituents by having members represent smaller congressional districts instead of the comparable statewide offices held by senators in the upper chamber. The framers also wrote into the constitution that a census would be completed every 10 years to ensure congressional districts were reflective of demographic changes across the states, and based upon the census data congressional districts would be redrawn based upon the migration trends of Americans.

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(AJC) — Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed raised more than $630,000 for his re-election campaign over the past six months, putting him on pace to exceed his massive 2009 totals, while sending the first shot at anyone who might want to challenge him in 2013.  Reed released his fundraising totals on July 8 to the state ethics commission in a 69-page report. He collected about $100,000 more than Republican Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal over roughly the same time frame, though in fairness Deal doesn’t face re-election till 2014.

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How do you think President Obama has done thus far?

While there are still blind supporters of President Obama, there are plenty of others who are disenchanted by the president’s actions or lack thereof these past two years. But then President Obama reported that Osama bin Laden had been killed. He made some people believers with that one. We asked some New Yorkers whether they felt the president would get re-elected. Watch the video above and see what they had to say…

When I first read the news about Representative (Rep.) Charlie Rangel filing a 2012 statement of candidacy with the Federal Elections Committee for a possible 22^nd term in Congress, I initially laughed as I conjectured that the article was somehow meant as a joke.  To my surprise, research indicated that the promulgation of Rep. Rangel’s filing was unequivocal and factual.

Just three months after being censured by the House and convicted of 11 charges by a House ethics panel for improper leasing, concealment of assets and other unethical practices, the thought that someone involved in such crookedness could potentially win an impending election in 2012 was significantly problematic.  It certainly leads one to contemplate a plethora of questions.  For example, should term limits be established for members of Congress, as well as for Supreme Court justices?  Additionally, is anti-corruption reform needed at the federal level?  Relative to both questions, I would humbly answer, “Yes.”

Currently, members of the United States Senate can serve an unlimited number of 6-year terms, while representatives of the United States House are allotted an unlimited number of 2-year terms.   And, Supreme Court justice appointments at the federal level are for life without any term limit restrictions.  As articulated by statesmen such as Thomas Jefferson, George Mason and Richard Henry Lee and existing private organizations such as U.S. Term Limits, the idea of “perpetuity in office” has been and is extremely dangerous relative to American freedom and democracy.

Of course, there are certain commentators who believe that rotation in office for Congressional members and Supreme Court justices is somehow undemocratic and would create problems due to the absence of long-term incumbents.  Thus, for these incumbency proponents, the fact that Rep. John Dingel has been in office for 55 years, Senator (Sen.) Daniel Inouye for 51 years, Rep. John Conyers for 46 years and Rep. Rangel for 40 years is not problematic.  Or, the fact that Supreme Court justices have an average tenure of 25.5 years and oftentimes serve at ages where their capacity to be highly efficient and productive is significantly diminished.

Term limits are absolutely essential and necessary in changing how Congress and the Supreme Court presently work.  With Congress, it is relatively safe to state that a plethora of incumbent members have reached a certain status where they are more concerned with reelection than the concerns of their constituency, relationships with special-interest lobbyists, micromanagement and their seniority.

With the Supreme Court, weathered justices logically become out of touch with the popular consent of the people.  Additionally, there is an unbalanced approach to appointments, where certain presidents can appoint two or three justices while other presidents choose none.  This often leads to politically-biased court rulings in lieu of unbiased decisions.  On the whole, carefully-derived term limits for Congress and the Supreme Court would unquestionably require prudent exercising of authority and would result in more choices for voters and competitive elections, which could potentially preclude someone like Rep. Rangel from being re-elected even after being convicted of egregious ethics violations.

Anti-corruption reform is also imperative for a better Congress and a better democracy.  To be sure, President Obama has stuck to his campaign promises of attempting to make the government more accountable by signing the Presidential Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government and tightening ethics to a certain degree via the Executive Order on Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel, which explicitly places bans on lobbyist gifts and revolving doors.

Unfortunately, as evidenced by Rep. Rangel and other members of Congress who have or are being investigated by the House ethics panel, corruption appears to be relatively rampant throughout both chambers.  To be sure, perversion of integrity will always be present within the context of politics; however, this inevitable truth should not permit Congressional members to continue to serve after being found guilty of ethical infractions.  Whether it is Rep. Rangel, Sen. David Vitter (soliciting prostitutes), Sen. John Ensign (affair with campaign staffer), Rep. Chris Lee (“The Craigslist’s Congressman”) and the list goes on, these public officials should no longer be able to serve in Congress.

Until such public corruption provisions and other tough laws and actions (i.e., tightening conflict of interest rules, earmark reform, stringent anti-bribery laws, etc.) are put into place, we will continue to see politicians like Rep. Rangel running for office even when objective evidence indicates that they struggle with honesty and integrity.

Anthony Jerrod is a bestselling author, speaker, and public policy expert.

(Washington Post) Hip-hop producer Irv Gotti contributed $1,000 to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s reelection campaign, according to the mayor’s latest campaign finance report filed Wednesday. Gotti is listed in the report as Irving Lorenzo, a music producer at IG Records at a Manhattan address. He was a last-minute contributor, paying by credit card on Wednesday, according to the report. His fame grew with hits for Ashanti, Ja Rule and Jay-Z, although Lorenzo has since moved into reality TV.

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