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Obama to Nominate Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx as Transportation Sec

PHOTO: AP

President Obama will nominate rising political star Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx as the Transportation Secretary today, reports Politico and the Charlotte Observer. Foxx would replace Ray LaHood, whose performance has been criticized in recent weeks due to air traffic delays.

Obama will announce Foxx's nomination on Monday, a day before the mayor's 42nd birthday, the official said. ... Foxx, the first Democrat elected to the Charlotte mayor's office in 22 years, has long seemed a person on the way up. Foxx's transportation credentials include his push for expanding the city’s LYNX streetcar to UNC-Charlotte, creating the Charlotte Regional Intermodal Facility that transfers cargo between trucks and trains, and building a new runway at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.

As an African-American, Foxx will also help address complaints about a perceived lack of diversity among Obama's top advisers. Conan O'Brien joked about that topic Saturday night, telling the president during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner that "your hair is so white, it could be a member of your Cabinet."

Attorney General Eric Holder and United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice are the only Blacks currently serving in the Obama Administration cabinet.

Foxx managed Charlotte’s hosting of the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Foxx has been largely "supportive of LGBT equality initiatives," reports the Charlotte-based QNotes.

Foxx was in favor of personnel policy changes protecting LGBT workers, instituted by former City Manager Curt Walton in April 2010 and December 2012. The mayor also supported the addition of domestic partner benefits to the city’s budget in June 2012. The mayor also made several historic firsts with the LGBT community, becoming the first sitting mayor to address LGBT constituents in a public forum at the LGBT Community Center of Charlotte in December 2010.

Foxx also spoke out against Amendment One, the state constitutional amendment banning recognition of same-sex marriages passed by voters in May 2012.

[But he] has offered no comment on where he stands regarding full marriage equality for same-sex couples. And, he has not been a proponent of other local changes that would require the vote of City Council, including the addition of LGBT protections in the city’s Commercial Non-Discrimination Ordinance. 

Charlotte has the distinction of being the state's only major city to lack protections for LGBT employees. There are also no statewide protections for LGBT citizens or employees in North Carolina.

Foxx said earlier this month that he would not seek a third term as mayor of North Carolina's largest city. The City Council will be tasked with appointing an interim mayor after Foxx submits his resignation, reports the Observer.

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Ricin-Tainted Letter Sent to Obama

The White House has confirmed that a letter addressed to President Barack Obama has tested positive for the poison ricin, reports the Chicago Tribune.

The suspicious letter to Obama contained "a granular substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin," an FBI statement said. It added: "There is no indication of a connection to the attack in Boston," where three people were killed in bombings at the city's marathon on Monday.

The Secret Service said the letter to Obama was received on Tuesday at a mail screening facility not located near the White House. "The Secret Service is working closely with the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI in this investigation," Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said in a statement.

The FBI said filters at a second government mail screening facility had "preliminarily tested positive for ricin this morning" and mail from that facility was also being tested.

Thericin-tainted letter apparently came from "from the same sender who mailed a [similar] letter" addressed to Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, adds NBC News.

What is happening? Thankfully, no one was harmed in these incidents. #SMDH

VIDEO: NYC's Rev. Calvin Butts: Marriage Equality is "the Freedom That God Has Given You"

The Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts for the win. The influential pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City's Harlem noted that his denomination did not support marriage equality ... but he delivered a passionate defense of equal rights for all Americans.

"It’s something that we don’t believe in, in terms of what we have learned from the Bible," Rev. Butts told ABC’s George Stephanopolous on This Week. "But in terms of men and women having their rights as citizens and human beings, we certainly affirm that."

The pastor and civil rights leader added: "You should have every right as a citizen of this nation and every right as a human being to enjoy the freedom that God has given you. The choice is yours. And I should not stand in the way of you making that choice."

Butts called on the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8. The court heard historic oral arguments on two federal challenges last week. Decisions are expected in June.

Abyssinian Baptist Church was previously headed by Adam Clayton Powell Sr and Adam Clayton Powell Jr..

Rev. Dr. Butts did not endorse President Obama's historic affirmation for equal marriage in May 2012. But at that time, the pastor "denounced those who are ready to 'watch others be discriminated against, marginalized, and literally hated in the name of God,'" reported CNN's Belief Blog.

Via Raw Story, watch the clip AFTER THE JUMP ...

INFOGRAPHIC: The Obama Administration's Judicial Nominees

On Monday, history was made when the Senate confirmed Judge Pamela Chen to become the first openly gay, Asian-American judge on the federal bench. Chen will serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. "There are now five openly gay judges on the federal bench," reports Think Progress. "Four of these five are Obama appointees, and the fifth, Clinton appointee Deborah Batts, recently took a kind of partial retirement for older judges."

The President has named eight openly gay or lesbian life-tenured federal court judicial nominees. These include Judge William Thomas and Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro, who would become the first out Black man and Latina on the federal bench, respectively. "Thomas would be the second out LGBT black judge," adds Buzzfeed's Chris Geidner. "The first, Judge Deborah Batts, also was the first out LGBT federal judge."

The Washington Post profiled the Obama Administration's efforts to diversify the federal judiciary on Tuesday. "Of the 35 judicial nominees currently pending before the Senate, 17 of the 35 pending judicial nominees are women, 15 are ethnic minorities and five are openly gay." Only six are white straight men.

The White House released a very clever infographic yesterday that demonstrates how it has made the federal courts more reflective of our society. Click to enlarge.

VIDEO: Romney Says He Lost Because Minorities Love Obamacare

PHOTO: REUTERS

Blame, blame, blame. Fox News Sunday broadcast former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's first interview since losing the 2012 election. Romney blamed his loss on his poor performance among "minorities" and the "lower incomes" whom he claimed were seduced by the Affordable Care Act.

ROMNEY: We did very well with the majority population, but not with minority populations, and that was a failing, that was a real mistake.

CHRIS WALLACE: Why do you think that was?

ROMNEY: Well, I think the Obamacare attractiveness and feature was something we underestimated, particularly among lower incomes. And, uh, just didn’t do as good a job in connecting with that audience as we should have.

Oh and this ... again:

Ann Romney said she blamed the media for unfairly treating her husband. The portrayals of them as rich and out-of-touch kept the public from getting "to know Mitt for who he was." While she shed tears after the loss, she said, "I'm mostly over it. But not completely."

But we're completely over you, hon. Via Think Progress, watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT: President Obama on His Opposition to Prop 8

PHOTO: GETTY

The Obama Administration announced on Thursday that it would submit an amicus brief to the Supreme Court supporting the landmark challenge to Proposition 8. President Obama was asked about his decision to take this historic step at a White House press conference this afternoon on the sequester.

The President answered in part:

I think that the same evolution that I've gone through is an evolution that the country as a whole has gone through. And I think it is a profoundly positive thing. So that when the Supreme Court essentially called the question by taking this case about California's law, I didn’t feel like that was something that this administration could avoid. I felt it was important for us to articulate what I believe and what this administration stands for.

The President added that if he "were on the Court" he would vote to strike the law. "Let’s treat everybody fairly and let’s treat everybody equally," said POTUS.

The White House Press office has emailed R20 transcript. Read the exchange and via Think Progress watch the video AFTER THE JUMP ...

Congress Passes LGBT-Inclusive Violence Against Women Act

After a prolonged political battle, the House has finally approved an LGBT-inclusive Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The Washington Post notes that the vote indicated that opposition to VAWA was "damaging the [Republican] Party’s image."

The measure, which was already approved by the Senate, passed the House on a 286 to 138 vote, as 199 Democrats joined 87 Republicans to push the bill over opposition from a bloc of 138 conservatives, who opposed the bill for a number of reasons, including the new protections for gays and lesbians.

The outcome stemmed from a broad desire from GOP leaders to get past the Violence Against Women Act issue. It was an acknowledgment that their continued opposition to a measure that had passed with broad bipartisan support in the Senate and has strong appeal with women voters was damaging the party’s image.

The Anti-Violence Project notes that VAWA "includes LGBT people in three significant ways:

It names LGBT people as underserved populations in need of specific attention to address the unique issues they face as survivors of intimate partner or sexual violence. It prohibits VAWA grantee from discriminating against survivors of violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity when providing services. It establishes a specific purpose area to address LGBT violence at the state level.

The legislation also increases protections for Native Americans, immigrants, communities of color and students. 

This historic legislation came shortly after the Centers for Disease Control released a national prevalence survey showing that lesbian, gay and bisexual people experience violence at the same or higher rates as heterosexual people.  It comes a year after the New York City Anti-Violence Project's National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) found that transgender people experience sexual violence at twice the rate of non-transgender people.

Numerous studies have shown that Black and Latina trans women are at the greatest risk of violence and the murders of Black transgender women are often unsolved. Black trans women face "extreme discrimination and poverty", and are more than likely to suffer from violence, physical or sexual abuse, police brutality, HIV/AIDS and bullying, according to a first of its kind survey conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Black Justice Coalition.

"With VAWA and beyond, the National Black Justice Coalition is committed to taking a systematic approach to end the serial killings of Black trans women and violence against women in general," Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and CEO, said in a statement to R20. "We will continue to raise awareness and visibility as well as work closely with agencies like the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and national organizations such as the NCAVP to track, report, and expose the prevalence of violence against and within the Black LGBT community."

"I am encouraged that our Members of Congress were able to come together despite the polarized political climate we live in," stated Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and CEO. "Protecting women, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, is bigger than political agendas and party line divides. It's about fairness."

See our report for EBONY: "GOP FAMILY VALUES: Domestic Violence Act Goes, Anti-Gay Legislation Stays"

Senate Confirms Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense in 58-41 Vote

PHOTO: GETTY

The Senate has finally confirmed former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel as the next Secretary of Defense. The 58 to 41 vote ended "a long and contentious nomination process marked by an unprecedented GOP filibuster of a presidential cabinet level nominee," notes TalkingPointsMemo.

The Republican filibuster of their former colleague ended this afternoon. Hagel will succeed Leon Panetta and will "immediately inherit a budget crisis," notes USA Today.

Last week, the Pentagon announced that it plans to furlough the majority of its 800,000 civilian employees to help meet a $46 billion shortfall caused by automatic spending cuts that begin March 1 and its stop-gap budget that prevents shifting funds to urgent needs.

Four Republicans joined 54 Democrats to approve Hagel: Cochran (MS), Johanns (NE), Shelby (AL) and Rand Paul (KY). "All 41 no votes came from Republicans," adds the Washington Post. Former Republican presidential nominee John McCain also switched his vote to a "no."

Hagel voted to authorize the Iraq War in 2003. The Nebraska Republican later became a frequent critic of the Bush Administration prosecution of the war.

VIDEO: Michelle Obama's Surprise Oscar Appearance

PHOTOS: GETTY

One of the trending topics from last night's Academy Awards ceremony: The surprise appearance of First Lady Michelle Obama to introduce the Best Picture nominee.

FLOTUS appeared live via satellite from the White House to introduce the Best Picture category. Several of the nominated films had political connections, such as Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty and Ben Affleck's Argo, which ultimately won three of the seven awards it was nominated for, including Best Picture. The film is based on a CIA plan to rescue Americans trapped in Iran during the Carter-era hostage crisis.

Deadline explains how the Academy pulled off the "top secret" surprise:

The idea of getting the First Lady on the show first came from Lily Weinstein, who mentioned it to her big Obama contributor dad Harvey, who suggested it to the Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and Academy president Hawk Koch. The group flew to DC a week and a half ago to put the logistics together with the White House. The Oscar producers told Deadline’s Pete Hammond earlier this week that they "were being like the CIA" about a couple of surprises on the show, keeping things top secret.

In towns like Hollywood and DC where people love to talk, they pulled it off. There was no indication on the show’s rundown and most of the people on the Oscars had no idea who the secret guest would be. “I knew we could do it and we did it,” Koch told Deadline tonight about keeping Obama’s name under wraps.

The First Lady was actually handed the envelope with the winner’s name in it by the head of PricewaterhouseCoopers at the White House, where she and President Obama hosted a dinner for the nation’s Governors tonight. Nicholson had a back-up envelope just in case.

You'd better werkkk! Watch it AFTER THE JUMP ...

Kerry Washington's Amazing NAACP Image Award Speech: VIDEOS

PHOTOS: GETTY

The big winner at the 44th Annual NAACP Image Awards: The fabulous Kerry Washington. The star of ABC's "Scandal" was a triple threat at the ceremony, picking up trophies for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for Scandal, Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Django Unchained and the President's Award for special achievement and exceptional public service.

Kerry Washington's amazing acceptance highlighted her work for equality and President Obama. Watch it AFTER THE JUMP ...

Said the actress:

"I consider it an honor to be an advocate for the arts and to serve on [President] Obama's committee for arts and humanities because just as we must insure that 'We, the people' includes all Americans, regardless of race, class, gender and sexual orientation, we must also work to ensure that the stories we tell, the movies we produce, the television we produce, the theaters we stage, the novels we publish, are all inclusive in all those same ways."

Kerry Washington is the "first Black female lead on network television in 38 years." The President's Award was presented to Washington by actress Diahann Carroll who first broke that color barrier in 1968.

The complete winners list HERE.

Videos of all three acceptance speeches, the transcript of the big speech and a photos of "Olivia" and "Fitz" on stage AFTER THE JUMP ...