A look at topics impacting our decisions for 2024 elections. Plus, renewed debate about monuments and our country’s history of slavery raises a question: are we’re preserving history or our future? Host Kenia Thompson discusses these topics and more with Immanuel Jarvis, chairman of the Durham County GOP; columnist Mary C. Curtis (Roll Call); and Brett Chambers, lecturer at NC Central University.
Local News Roundup: CMPD responds to viral video; CATS names new management company; new fines for illegal parking; drought continues in NC
A viral video of a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers punching a woman restrained by several officers during an arrest surfaced earlier this week. CMPD released a statement saying that the woman was resisting arrest and Chief Johnny Jennings released his own statement.
Charlotte City Council voted unanimously this week to raise the fine for illegal parking in uptown. We’ll bring you up to speed on that and other city council news.
The Charlotte Area Transit System has announced the name of the company it has chosen to operate the Charlotte bus system. National Express Service would now run CATS, instead of RATP Dev. Council will vote later this month to make it official.
Fires continue to spark in western North Carolina, as drought and higher temperatures persists.
And after a disappointing fall so far for pro sports in Charlotte — the Queen City has a new team. The Carolina Chaos Lacrosse team joins the Premier Lacrosse League.
Mike Collins and our roundtable of reporters delve into those stories and more, on the Charlotte Talks local news roundup.
GUESTS:
Joe Bruno, WSOC-TV reporter
Mary C. Curtis, columnist for Rollcall.com, host of the Rollcall podcast “Equal Time”
David Boraks, WFAE climate reporter
Alexandria Sands, reporter with Axios Charlotte
Nov172023
Is it that hard to be a leader for all Americans?
It’s “so-called Islamophobia,” at least according to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who used that label to deride President Joe Biden’s efforts to counter every kind of hate in a diverse America. Mr. Governor, please tell that to the family and friends of 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, a child of Palestinian descent, born in the good old USA, who was stabbed 26 times, allegedly by his landlord and neighbor.
In the last debate of Republicans who hope to be their party’s presidential nominee, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was asked about Wadea’s murder, and the violence that has spread from the Middle East to America. It was right after DeSantis, doing his very best Donald Trump impression, had delivered his “tough guy” pronouncement about which Americans deserve protection.
It gave Christie a chance to distinguish himself among those on the stage, acknowledging that intolerance knows no limits, especially in times of war. Christie described his post-9/11 efforts, after he was tapped on Sept. 10, 2001, to be U.S. attorney for New Jersey, to tamp down “explosive” emotions in a state with citizens who did not look nor worship the same, and may have had different views on life and politics.
It’s not that Christie doesn’t support Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, wholeheartedly, and endorse the country’s right to defend itself after a surprise Hamas terrorist attack. Christie’s words that night, and in a subsequent visit to Israel, have only reinforced this notion of backing whatever actions Israel views as necessary. His answer only sounded tame when compared with the four others on the stage, full of bluster and slogans for Israel to “finish the job.”
How could they ever hope to govern a country that is a lot more messily diverse than the Garden State, full of Americans whose opinions don’t fit into neat categories?
The rhetoric sounded far less nuanced than what you can read in the pages of Israel’s Haaretz. Its columnists, while steadfast in their condemnation of the horror and brutality of the terrorist attack and the taking of hostages whose fate remains uncertain, have not been shy about criticizing the actions and tactics of prime minister Netanyahu, before and after Oct. 7.
I was reminded about another debate, one I witnessed in a divisive time, with a lineup of GOP presidential nominee hopefuls that included Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, playing to a South Carolina crowd. When the moderator asked about a hypothetical terrorist attack on America, all conjured up scenes of torture, invoking the tactics of then-popular TV hero Jack Bauer, who, in the show “24,” regularly extracted information in the most gruesome way possible.
Except, that is, for the late Sen. John McCain, the only one on the stage who had been tortured, for years, in a Vietnamese prison. “It’s not about the terrorists, it’s about us,” he said. “It’s about what kind of country we are.”
It’s not easy to take an unpopular stand when emotion and an understandable desire for payback pushes in another direction. And in 2007, while the others were bathed in cheers, McCain’s remarks were greeted with silence.
Isn’t that what leaders do, though: express thoughtful opinions that might not be popular in the moment?
Today, it is possible to condemn the Hamas attack on Israelis, demand the release of hostages who must be experiencing unimaginable terror and express empathy for innocent Palestinians, many of them now-orphaned and injured children, suffering without food, medicine, water and fuel, huddled in hospitals and United Nations shelters in Gaza. You can admire the brave medical personnel in Israel and Gaza. You can fight both antisemitism and anti-Muslim sentiment.
Nov162023
Does Speaker Johnson realize some of his best constituents are Black?
“Some of my best friends are Black” is a phrase that has become cliché, and deservedly so, since it is essentially a dodge. Folks uttering those words are looking for a free pass, credit for knowing what it means to be Black in America without doing the work.
By now, most people know that proximity does not equal understanding.
Most, but not all.
The new speaker of the House, GOP Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, has been known to showcase the Black child in his family’s life over two decades, usually when his empathy on matters of race needs a boost. Johnson controls the narrative. He doesn’t want to infringe on the privacy of a now-grown man with a family, he says, so he won’t go into too much detail.
Just enough, though, to show he gets it.
I have nothing against any person of any race who wants to foster, mentor or teach any young person in need of guidance. I applaud the realization that all parties on both sides of such relationships have opportunities to learn and grow. At the same time, I think it’s fair that reporters question just how formal the relationship between congressman and child has been, and why this child is conspicuously missing from family biographies and photographs.
I also wonder about any story cut from the same cloth as “The Blind Side,” with its simple tale of a wealthy white family “adopting” a deprived Black child, rescuing him from an ignoble fate and smoothing his way to football glory in college and the pros. That “just like a movie” story, which has been cited by Johnson as a template, was far more complicated, as the world has come to learn.
Johnson’s tale seems to be similar in many ways, with one particular problem common to these kinds of inspirational parables. They almost always place the white benefactor front and center, instead of the person who was a person before being molded by a Good Samaritan.
Nov022023
Speaker mayhem: When the rules are rigged, it breeds chaos
Just think what you would do if you got the chance to rig the rules in order to win the game every time. Wouldn’t you be tempted? Well, never let it be said that a politician with a seat in Congress let that opportunity roll by. When they have the power to pick their voters instead of letting voters pick them, few can resist.
However, that presents a problem.
What you eventually get is the chaos Americans watched before a slim majority of House Republicans in a closed-door vote chose Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana as their fourth nominee for speaker in three weeks before all GOP members, no matter how reluctantly, voted in favor of his ascension Wednesday on the House floor. Yet, the drama may be only beginning on the worst reality show ever. There is a government shutdown to avert next month and aid packages ready to award to allied countries at war.
For the House members who have been gumming up the works — the works being democracy — it doesn’t matter one bit. There will be no self-reflection or consequences because safely carved districts make most House members untouchable, and actually encourage bad behavior.
Oct262023
Local News Roundup: Early voting begins in Mecklenburg; Possible new life for the Red Line; Social District vote Monday; Mecklenburg Commissioners support Israel
Early in-person voting started this week in Charlotte, just a few weeks before Election Day on November 7. What races will bring you to the polls? Be sure to bring your ID.
As President Biden visited Israel this week, Mecklenburg County Commissioners passed a resolution to support Israel and condemn terrorism.
Charlotte City Council’s vote on a new social district will happen on Monday. We give a preview.
Charlotte Area Transit System’s long-planned Red Line commuter train may have a future in Mecklenburg and Iredell counties. We’ll discuss the letter Norfolk Southern sent to the city.
Gov. Roy Cooper sued the North Carolina GOP members this week after an overhaul to the state’s election boards removed gubernatorial power.
And global soccer star Lionel Messi may play against Charlotte FC this weekend at Charlotte’s final home game. This has many fans very excited.
Mike Collins and our roundtable of reporters delve into those stories and more, on the Charlotte Talks local news roundup.
Guests:
· Erik Spanberg, managing editor for the Charlotte Business Journal
· Mary C. Curtis, columnist for Rollcall.com, host of the Rollcall podcast “Equal Time”
· Joe Bruno, WSOC-TV reporter
· Ann Doss Helms, WFAE education reporter
Oct202023
House Republicans wanted all the control, while doing none of the real work
In his pre-Sundance, Hollywood golden boy, leading man days, Robert Redford starred in a cynical, sometimes comical take on the world of political campaigns — and even if you haven’t seen the film, you know its memorable final line.
In 1972’s “The Candidate,” Redford, who plays “The Candidate,” sheds authenticity and conviction as he begins to taste a U.S. Senate seat. And after — spoiler alert — he wins, the senator-elect interrupts the triumphant, climactic moment, corners the campaign manager who has shepherded his unlikely ascent, and asks, panic rising in his voice: “What do we do now?”
Jacket or no jacket, Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, bless his heart, is never going to remind anyone of Robert Redford — except that both have a shockingly skimpy record of legislative achievements.
But more and more, as I watched the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives try — and fail — to bring just a semblance of order to its caucus, that scene read as documentary, predicting party members so obsessed with winning the prize, they had no interest in nor inclination to figure out why they wanted it in the first place or what to do if they actually got it.
In Jordan’s case, I wondered about a candidate whose authenticity and conviction were always kind of shaky. Congressman, why would you want to be in charge of a body you always seemed more comfortable attacking, when you served as the first chair of the conservative Freedom Caucus — lobbing fireworks as an outsider — or treated a subpoena from a bipartisan committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection like trash?
You can’t paper over the lack of a reasonable and positive plan that might require compromise by raising the decibel level. And boy, does Jordan yell a lot, usually while interrupting anyone trying to answer one of his convoluted “gotcha” questions during hearings of the Judiciary Committee that he chairs.
Maybe Jordan just wanted to bang the gavel over and over again, or open up yet another Hunter Biden impeachment inquiry.
Some would say Jordan disqualified himself from any leadership post in this American democracy when he decided, after the Jan. 6 riot that endangered him and his colleagues, to join a majority of the House GOP caucus in rejecting President Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.
You can count me among the some, scared as I would be of what he might do if a similarly close 2024 election hinges on the integrity, patriotism and courage of a Speaker Jordan, who has been sketchy about his communications with former President Donald Trump about the 2020 election. Even now, he has not brought himself to definitively saying Trump lost.
Jordan’s power grab did not go as planned. Who could have predicted that his bullying tactics — demonizing skeptical GOP House members and enlisting online and on-air supporters to harass opponents — would have had the opposite effect?
The scenario, however, makes perfect sense for the party of Donald Trump. No Plan B? No problem. Trump wanted to be president so he could be president, in the same way House Republicans craved control but had no interest in doing the work, as long as it would create a meme, sound bite or fundraising appeal.
In dangerous times, that’s dangerous.
With scenes of death and devastation in Israel and Gaza, what wisdom does Trump offer? Well, the “rigged election” of 2020 is to blame, in his telling, as grotesque as that clearly sounds.
Oct192023
Does Trump’s Violent Rhetoric Matter?
Donald Trump has been saying shocking—even violent—things for so long, it barely registers as news anymore. But after January 6, and with Trump again leading the field of Republican candidates for president, is there a real-world danger to what he’s saying?
Guest: Robert A. Pape, professor of political science and the director of the University of Chicago’s project on security and threats
Oct172023
Could Student Debt Relief Still Happen?
The Supreme Court closed a door, so Biden’s looking for a window.
Oct122023
Transforming Alabama – and young voters. Nothing is off the table
Since the Voting Rights Act of 1965 opened the franchise to all Americans, Alabama has often been at the center of voting debates. This year is no exception. New maps ordered by and approved by the courts after a contentious yearslong battle could give the state’s Black voters a greater voice, and affect the balance of power in Congress after the 2024 elections. But it all depends on turnout.
Formerly a candidate, Dr. Adia Winfrey is now focused on voter mobilization and education through her organization, Transform Alabama, and sometimes uses some of the hip-hop strategies that energized her campaign. Student ambassador Maurice Gray is a believer, and has joined the cause to urge young people to care — and to vote. Both join this episode of Equal Time.
Oct062023
