During President Obama’s upcoming European trip, he’ll be engaging in important diplomatic and political discussions, including the Nuclear Security Summit, hosted by the Dutch government, and a U.S.-EU Summit in Brussels. But perhaps most anticipated by observers of church and state — and where the two intersect — will be the president’s planned March 27 […]
The president and the pope: What will they talk about? Read More »
When President Obama visits North Carolina in a planned stop in the Research Triangle on Wednesday, it won’t be the first time a trip to the state coincided with his State of the Union address. Last year, a visit to the Asheville area followed the event; Wednesday, the president is expected to preview economic policy
President Obama may hit political turbulence in North Carolina visit Read More »
CHARLOTTE — Franklin McCain never thought he was doing enough. An icon of the civil rights movement, McCain was one of the Greensboro Four, college students who changed the world by sitting down at a whites-only lunch counter at F.W. Woolworth. Their simple request for service denied inspired many others in Greensboro, N.C., and across
Yes, Greensboro Four pioneer Franklin McCain, you did plenty Read More »
North Carolina is determined to make you look. The state is not merely content to give observers whiplash by turning from a narrow vote for Barack Obama in 2008 to installing a Republican-controlled legislature in 2010 whose laws over the past year – on everything from voting restrictions to education cuts — have protesters marching.
Congressman Clay Aiken – what are the chances? Read More »
Tim Scott, the junior senator from South Carolina, is a reliably conservative vote, most recently his “no” on Wednesday’s bipartisan budget agreement. But while the Republican’s record mirrors that of other tea party-backed members of Congress, his rhetoric is noticeably cooler. That much was clear during his recent conversation with members of the Trotter Group,
Tim Scott treads – carefully – through South Carolina and D.C. political thicket Read More »
CHARLOTTE – Merry Christmas spoken here. That could have been the slogan at Sarah Palin’s book-signing on Friday at the Billy Graham Library. As she greeted admirers, surrounded by the lights, trees and decorations, her message came across loud and clear. “She’s gorgeous,” someone said, after she appeared to loud applause from the crowd. And
Why Sarah Palin is here to stay Read More »
Did Pope Francis know what he was getting into when he spoke from his heart and from the heart of Roman Catholic doctrine? At the very least, if the pontiff didn’t know who Rush Limbaugh was before, he sure does now.
The message of Pope Francis can survive Rush and the rest Read More »
The holiday season, when family relationships, good and bad, move to the forefront, might be just the time to consider how the image of the Obamas in the White House — mother, father, two daughters, grandmother — has affected ideas about the American family in general, and the African American family in particular.
First in family values? How a White House image could change perceptions Read More »
CHARLOTTE — U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan this week congratulated former UNC-Chapel Hill head basketball coach Dean Smith on receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a move she had urged President Obama to make. Besides establishing her Tar Heel bona fides, it was one thing the North Carolina Democrat could do without anyone objecting. A year
In N.C. Senate race, it’s the tea party vs. Karl Rove vs. Kay Hagan, etc. Read More »
The film “12 Years a Slave” is one of great beauty about a great horror. Director Steve McQueen’s account of the American slave business – and it was an American economic institution that trafficked in flesh, blood and human suffering – is not particularly easy viewing, though you can’t look away. I saw it a
Could a movie cure politicians of their slavery-metaphor addiction? Read More »
