Archives for January 2016

Trump Is Gladys Knight — Huckabee and Santorum, the Pips

After finishing first in the Iowa Republican caucuses in 2008 and 2012, respectively, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum were relegated to the undercard and mostly ignored pre-debate debate. Then the duo rushed (or perhaps hastily sauntered) to Donald Trump’s veterans’ event, one timed to clash with the main stage debate from which the front-runner was conspicuously absent because of his high-profile feud with Fox News.

So the leaders of yesteryear spent Thursday night at a Donald Trump veterans’ rally at Drake University — the Pips to Donald Trump’s Gladys Knight, background voices catching a bit of the spotlight but decidedly not the person the crowd and cameras had come to see. (Yes, in reality there were more than two Pips, but the fact that you had to think about it only proves the point.)

 

To Honor MLK, Stop Shouting, Start Listening

When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. admonished the Southern white religious leaders who called his civil rights actions “unwise and untimely,” he did it with empathy and understanding. In his 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail, King prefaced his own strong, morally held belief in equality by calling his critics “men of genuine good will” whose words were “sincerely set forth.” Think of it: A minister in jail, rejected by fellow men of faith, was nonetheless respectful of those who failed to come to his aid, who failed to see his fight — rooted in the words of the founders and the principles of faith — as their own.

On this day to honor him, politicians will utter and issue statements of praise for this man the nation honors, while ignoring every one of the lessons he taught. Respect those who disagree? Give them credit for being good people and patriotic Americans? Not this season.

 

Breaking Down Gov. Nikki Haley’s Response to the S.O.T.U.

CHARLOTTE, NC — S.C. Governor Nikki Haley’s response to President Obama’s State of the Union speech is being hailed as a slam dunk.

WCCB Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis joined us live from Washington, DC to breakdown Governor Haley’s response and what it means for her political career.

‘Hamilton’: Is a Broadway Classic a Political Blueprint?

The first time watching “Hamilton,” it takes every bit of bandwidth to experience creator Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical as the Broadway game-changer most every critic has agreed it is. The second time (and for a theater and political junkie more than once is required), it is hard to miss how a show about a Founding Father killed in a duel in 1804 is as contemporary as the next political debate.