Message from Charlotte: Revolution Starts at Home

Featured at Roll Call

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In this very blue city, in a state that went red for Donald Trump while sending a Democratic governor to the statehouse, a crowd estimated at more than 10,000 filled the streets at Saturday’s Women’s March. It was one of many across the country, sending a message that the story of Election 2016, far from being over, is just beginning.

The winding route took marchers — more than double in number than expected — past signposts of a region that has seen its share of divisions, but has made steady if shaky progress.

 

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Jan222017 TAGS: , , , ,

Obama and Trump: Two Presidents, Same God

Featured at Roll Call

If Franklin Graham did not actually endorse Donald Trump’s bid for the presidency, he stepped right up to the line — the one separating church and state. Graham was absolutely giddy post-election, when he gave credit to a force greater than the electorate. The evangelist and president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse credited the “God factor” for Trump’s poll-defying win.

You might be seeing a lot of Graham, starting at Friday’s inauguration where he is one of the faith leaders invited to offer a prayer for America’s new president. It marks a resurgence of a familiar name when it comes to mingling politics and religion, and a continuation of a tradition in a country that doesn’t have an official faith but celebrates a National Day of Prayer and seems most comfortable with leaders who praise a higher power.

 

Jan192017 TAGS: , , , ,

The Boycott and President-Elect Donald Trump’s Inauguration

Featured at WCCB Rising

CHARLOTTE, NC — There’s mixed reaction across the country this morning as President-Elect Donald Trump’s inauguration gets closer. So far, more than 50 democratic lawmakers are boycotting his inauguration ceremony. The wave of people not attending has grown since civil-rights icon Congressman John Lewis announced Friday he was boycotting the event. WCCB political contributor Mary C. Curtis weighs in.

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Jan182017 TAGS: , , ,

The Obama Legacy As the Trump Era Nears

Featured at WFAE

As Barack Obama moves out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Mike Collins and guests look at his legacy and how the hope he ushered in can stand up to the change that’s about to happen.

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Jan172017 TAGS: ,

What Donald Trump Should Have Said to a Civil Rights Icon

Featured at Garnet News

Donald Trump is about to become president of the United States of America. But he isn’t acting like it. He tweets in scatter-shot fashion, noticing every real and perceived slight and attacking. Doesn’t he realize that it is politically smart for any leader to think and act strategically, always anticipating many moves ahead, like a master chess player?

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Jan162017 TAGS: , , , , ,

What Would Martin Luther King Jr. Think of Obama, Followed by Trump?

Featured at Roll Call

President Barack Obama and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have both been praised for their sweeping rhetorical skills, an ability to seize the moment and provide the comfort and inspiration needed. Even their detractors — and they have plenty — would admit this. To live up to his own history, President Obama had a nearly impossible task in his farewell speech on Tuesday night from his adopted hometown of Chicago.

There was also the irony of the week to come, bookended by a celebration of the life and works of King and the inauguration of the next president, Donald Trump. After all, few would place “I have a dream” and “She should be in prison” in the same universe of lofty oratory.

 

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Jan122017 TAGS: , , ,

President Obama’s Farewell Speech and His Legacy

Featured at WCCB Rising

CHARLOTTE, NC —  President Obama’s farewell message: “Yes we can. Yes we did.” The outgoing Commander in Chief also used his speech to encourage Americans to get out of their comfort zones and get more involved in politics. Our political contributor, Mary C. Curtis, joins us to weigh in on his legacy and his final message as president.

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Jan112017 TAGS:

Special Friday News Roundup, with ‘On Point’ host Tom Ashbrook

Featured at WFAE

On a special edition of our local news roundup, On Point’s Tom Ashbrook joins Mike Collins from the stage of the Duke Energy Theater at Spirit Square in Charlotte to talk about the thrust of his show and share the spotlight with our round table of reporters.

 

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Jan062017 TAGS: ,

Washington Politics: A Hint of Compromise or North Carolina-Style Dysfunction?

Featured at Roll Call

Though the year has just begun, there are already signs that the partisan power struggle in Washington will not benefit from a fresh start or optimistic resolutions of renewal.

“I want to say to the American people: We hear you. We will do right by you. And we will deliver,” said re-elected House Speaker Paul Ryan, as he no doubt relished uniting with President-elect Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Washington to celebrate the consolidation of power by undoing President Barack Obama’s actions of the last eight years.

But is he listening to all of the American people when his party is deciding what exactly it will deliver? Does a president elected by an electoral- but not popular-vote majority present the best evidence of a mandate to completely change course?

The Republican majority in Washington might look south as a warning of what could happen when you believe you’re not only right, but good, and those who disagree don’t matter. It’s a charge that was lobbed at Democrats and President Obama during their years in power, but irony is in short supply when the tables are turned. It certainly did not matter in North Carolina, a state almost evenly split in party and political sentiment, where one party, nonetheless, is more interested in ruling than governing.

 

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Jan052017 TAGS: , , , ,

President Obama’s Legacy and the Affordable Care Act

Featured at WCCB Rising

CHARLOTTE, NC — President Obama and incoming Vice President Mike Pence will both be on Capitol Hill today talking about Obamacare. Pence is scheduled to meet with House Republicans on how to repeal and replace the health care law. Meantime, the President will meet with Democrats to figure out how to save his signature legislation. WCCB Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis weighs in.

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Jan042017 TAGS: , , ,
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