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.

Read the rest atWCCB Rising
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.

Read the rest atWFAE
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?

Read the rest atGarnet News
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.

 

Read the rest atRoll Call
Jan122017 TAGS: , , ,

Despite the Trappings, Holiday Spirit 2016 Looks Iffy

Featured at Roll Call

Since they usually jump-start around Thanksgiving, we are well into the time of Frosty and Rudolph and Tiny Tim fronting animated specials, annual favorites and tinsel-soaked movies of the week that end with the battling protagonists making up under the mistletoe.

Do we believe in Santa? I have to get back to you on that one. But I do have my favorites, all with the theme of redemption: Charlie Brown’s taunting gang recognizing the beauty of his scrawny tree; old Ebenezer Scrooge (Alastair Sim in the best version) waking up on Christmas morning, amazed that he indeed has time to be a good man, and, of course, the Grinch with his Grinchy small heart growing three sizes.

Most know these shows by heart, yet eyes moisten each time the Grinch, courtesy of Dr. Seuss, realizes “something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” These moments teach love and forgiveness and the meaning of the holiday, lessons that hit home because of their simplicity.

In any year, with retail and toy stores — both at the mall and online — becoming battlegrounds, a little reflection would be welcome. In 2016, with the results of Election Day still raging, and competing political operatives raising the stakes and their voices everywhere, including the halls of Harvard, only the Grinch, at his worst, could make sense of it.

 

Read the rest atRoll Call
Dec152016 TAGS: , , , , , , , , ,

Pat McCrory’s Next Step. On the Trump Train?

Featured at WCCB Rising

http://player.gtxcel.com/previews/MOReLkv8-XkGI5ukr

Just days after his concession, weeks after Election Day, in the North Carolina gubernatorial race, Pat McCrory may be preparing for his next act. Rumors say possibilities include McCrory as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency or a top-level appointment at the Department of Energy or the Department of Transportation. Political contributor, Mary C. Curtis weighs in.

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Dec092016 TAGS: , ,

Will Big Lies Insinuate Themselves Into Trump Policies?

Featured at Roll Call

There is the big lie, the ‘Elvis is alive and kidnapped my baby and they were all sucked up into a spaceship’ kind of lie so beloved by supermarket tabloids and fringe websites. “Pizzagate” falls into that category. When you hear a conspiracy theory about underground tunnels and a child-abuse ring involving government officials and a pizza parlor in Washington, D.C., all you can do is shake your head — that is, unless you’re a guy with a rifle who decides to “self-investigate,” and ends up terrorizing a neighborhood.

Then there’s another kind of statement that sounds a little more reasonable than Elvis and aliens, but has a similar relation to the truth — the tales of millions of illegal and fraudulent voters who usurped my popular vote win or cost me that governorship, or of inner cities as unrelieved cauldrons of criminals, minorities and hopelessness. These stories are whispered by those who should know better, then repeated by more and more people in power. Uttered with a straight face, furrowed brow and a wheelbarrow full of fake concern, they insinuate themselves into policy that can change the character of our country.

I don’t know which is scarier.

Read the rest atRoll Call
Dec082016 TAGS: , ,

Nikki Haley, Once a Trump Foe, Moves to the Front of the Line

Featured at Roll Call

When South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, all smiles, made a strategic visit to New York last week to meet with President-elect Donald Trump, it was a different vision than most of those parading in and out to see the soon-to-be top guy. She was one of the first potential candidates who was not a white guy in a suit.

And now that the Indian-American Haley has been picked by Trump to be the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, we know why she was smiling. Chosen as the first woman and first minority chosen for a Cabinet-level position, the 44-year-old leader just may be the future of the Republican Party. Those who doubt that definitely have not been following the conservative Republican governor who has charted her own path, satisfying her base yet knowing when to seize the moment even if it means taking a chance.

 

Read the rest atRoll Call
Nov242016 TAGS: , , ,

Donald Trump’s Cabinet Picks

Featured at WCCB Rising


CHARLOTTE, NC — President-Elect Donald Trump is promising to “drain the swap,” but a lot of his cabinet picks are Capitol Hill heavyweights. Appointing former Breitbart News Executive Chairman Steve Bannon as chief strategist is getting the most backlash. Political contributor Mary C. Curtis weighs in on the Trump transition.

Read the rest atWCCB Rising
Nov162016 TAGS: , ,
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