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.
Archives for January 2017
Special Friday News Roundup, with ‘On Point’ host Tom Ashbrook
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.
Jan062017
Washington Politics: A Hint of Compromise or North Carolina-Style Dysfunction?
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.
Jan052017
Fiercest Sisters of 2016: Michelle Obama, The Queen of Black Girl Magic
Black women caught on to the power of Michelle Obama before the rest of the world – before she became First Lady, in fact. The first African-American president of the United States, Barack Obama, would not have claimed that title were it not for the solid political and spiritual support of black women. And for that, Michelle Obama was the key. She was special, but instantly recognizable to all the women whose talents, smarts and beauty had been discounted and whose strength against unimaginable odds had been twisted into matriarchal stereotype.
Jan022017
