Leid Stories

Leid Stories - Obama Goes A-Stumping - 01/30/13

This week finds President Barack Obama at full tilt on the offensive. Senate Republicans say they will block confirmation of his Cabinet nominees unless they get answers about the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The NRA and pro-gun legislators aim to shoot down his proposals on gun control as the Senate opens hearings on the issue today. And a campaign-style rally yesterday in Nevada to push for immigration reform hasn't made it any clearer what, exactly, he's proposing as legislation. Leid Stories puts all three issues in perspective -- and before listeners for comment and debate.

Leid Stories - Rehabbing Hillary Part 2 - 01/29/13

Leid Stories returns to the Jan. 27 "60 Minutes'" interview with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and puts it into sociopolitical focus. Plus, listeners chime in with their observations.

Leid Stories - Hillary Does Rehab - 01/28/13

You couldn't tell from her positively giggly "60 Minutes" interview (that aired yesterday) that Hillary Clinton was the same person who couldn't (wouldn't?) give a straight answer to two congressional committees wanting specifics about the terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year. Yes, it was tragic, and there were "four dead people," but let's, for crying out loud, move on! With a pliant President Obama doing duty as her flak, Hillary was in full rehab mode, undoing the damage she sustained during testimony last week. Bill had a throng of black preachers cleanse his soul and make him fit to walk among the righteous when he ran into a bit of trouble with his lustful ways. Hillary went one better; she had a black president clean up her political mess and make her ready for her turn in the Oval Office.

Leid Stories - It's Freeform Friday! - 01/25/13

Listeners offer their analyses of major issues of the day, as well as topics that escaped media attention.

Leid Stories - The Benghazi Lunge And Parry - 01/24/13

It wasn't quite the total victory she might have planned for, but it was not a total disaster. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday parried most of the partisan lunges at her in consecutive House and Senate hearings on the Sept. 11 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. But Republicans managed to plant their swords where it would hurt for a long time, even into the 2016 presidential race, should Clinton decide to run: She owned responsibility for the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans at the consulate, and, despite her high-profile accomplishments as the country's top diplomat, her department was a bureaucratic mess riddled with systemic failures. Leid Stories reviews Clinton's rough day en garde in Congress.

Leid Stories - Hillary, The Artful Dodger, Tidies Up - 01/23/13

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's appearances today before separate House and Senate committees investigating the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, will be nothing more than a bit of light housekeeping before she bolts the Obama administration and tends solely to her personal and political ambitions. The artful dodger once again will triumph over truth. Leid Stories explains the how and why.

Leid Stories - Malice in Mali, Madness in DC - 01/22/13

The escalating war in Mali is a deadly drama with many actors in many roles. France currently is a lead actor in "retaking" Mali, its former colony, from a collapsed government, a military coup, an internal separatist movement, and an incursion of reputed al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist rebels from neighboring states. But France's intentions are far from honorable, says journalist Gilbert Mercier. The war in Mali, he says, has set the stage for the recolonization of most of Africa. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama begins his second term selling America the illusion that "we're all in this together."

Leid Stories - Messages from King to Obama - 01/21/13

It's a fortuitous day in history: The nation commemorates both the inauguration of President Barack Obama and Dr. Martin Luther King Day.  How appropriate, therefore, that Leid Stories features messages from King to Obama on leadership, the courage of conviction, justice, the "triple evils" of racism, militarism and economic exploitation, jobs that pay a living wage, and, yes, black is beautiful.

Leid Stories - Polls And PR And Power, Oh My! - 01/18/13

Want to create a lasting alternate reality? Why, just hire yourself the right PR agency and get the right polling service to deliver the right results! Leid Stories examines the art and science of messing with our minds.

Leid Stories - Taking Aim at Obama's Gun-Control Plan - 01/17/13

President Obama's gun-control proposals, which he announced yesterday, are the latest in a series of actions and policies that signal what can only be described as disdain for and self-imposed alienation from the African American community, which overwhelmingly delivered victory for him in his two presidential runs. In a searing commentary, Utrice calls Obama out on his repeated dismissal of the interests of blacks, who continue to delude themselves that they have a "friend" in the White House. The president's plan deliberately ignores what a federal agency calls "an epidemic of homicide" that has been plaguing black communities across the nation -- most of the deaths by firearms. No solutions to that!