Leid Stories

The Women’s March on Washington was a massive—and historic—retort to Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration as the nation’s 45th president. More than a million people rallied the following day in Washington, D.C., and in 616 sister marches across the country and in major cities around the world, for women’s rights and to serve notice of an intention to aggressively pursue them.

Leid Stories discusses the Women’s March on Washington and the ways it could serve as a bridge over many troubled waters.

It’s official. Inaugurated at noon today, Donald J. Trump is the 45th president of the United States, and he’s chomping at the bit to “make America great again.”

Protest marches in Washington, D.C., and in cities across the country, however, attest a different view of the incoming administration and are gearing up vigorous, prolonged battle on domestic and foreign-policy issues.

Leid Stories listeners give Trump a “Free Your Mind Friday” inauguration gift—their views and concerns about where they believe the nation is headed with him at the helm.

Call 888-874-4888 and have your say!

On the eve of the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States, listeners anticipate the likely impact his presidency and administration.

We continue with yesterday’s discussion about the transition from the Barack Obama administration to that of Donald Trump, who officially takes office on Jan. 20.

As Obama signs out and Trump signs in with his promised “changes,” are we signing up for battle with The New Order?

In just three days, some major changes will be made. President Barack Obama will return to civilian life after an eight-year term; President-elect Donald Trump formally will take his turn at the helm; and the nation will develop a keen interest in political wind patterns.

What was mere conjecture just a few months ago—Trump becoming president and causing a tidal wave of victories across the nation for Republicans—as of Jan. 20 becomes inescapably real, though it will be one of the most contentious transfers of power in U.S. history.

Leid Stories has been discussing the need to arrive at a point of “reckoning” about the political system and “clarity” about our collective interests and how we secure and safeguard them. On the cusp of The New Order, with its promised “changes,” the question is: Are we signing on off or on? Neutrality is not an option.

We commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (he would have been 88 years old on his actual birthday, Jan. 15, 1929) with his own words.

Addressing the 11th annual convention of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Ga. (Aug. 16, 1967), Dr. King laid out the strategies the civil-rights organization had been using to beat back social, political and economic oppression of African Americans in the South. Similar self-initiated grassroots action across America would produce more benefits and less misery, he said.

Dr. King warned of the power of the state to impede justice and progress, and maintain inequality and oppression. This is the “natural” order in our capitalist society, he said, and therefore “change” must be systemic, not isolated

Rep. Cedrick Richmond likened being on the last panel of witnesses to testify at the confirmation hearings for Sen. Jeff Sessions, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney general, to being made to “sit at the back of the bus.” The Louisiana congressman, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, noted the Senate Judiciary Committee’s slight against him, civil-rights icon Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, and Cory Booker, the junior senator from New Jersey.

All three legislators were scheduled to testify in earlier legislator panels, and it was not secret that they were against Sessions’ confirmation. But did they make themselves clear?

From his home city of Chicago, and 10 days before he officially leaves office, President Barack Obama last night delivered his farewell speech to the nation as its 44th president. Astutely avoiding the stunning losses the Democratic Party and his administration sustained in the 2016 elections, Obama instead focused on the many accomplishments of his two terms in office—made possible in large measure, he said, by popular support. He warned that such support will be needed again to put the brakes on some of the Trump administration’s policies.

Leid Stories discusses Obama’s farewell address, paying close attention to his penchant for rewriting history.

While Obama was preparing for his monumental moment, Hillary Clinton was having one of her own in Washington, D.C. 

Confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for Cabinet-level posts begin today. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) faces off with the Senate Judiciary Committee at 9 a.m., and the Senate Homeland Security Committee questions retired Marine general John Kelly at 3 p.m.

The hearings will be closely watched—for the nominees’ views of their prospective roles in the Trump administration and for clues to Democrats about the fight they’ll have on their hands once Trump officially takes office.

Sessions’ multiple embroilments in race issues in the past should sink his confirmation as U.S. attorney general, civil rights leaders say, and many await Kelly’s responses to fears he’ll dramatically expand the power and authority of the police while targeting certain groups for “security” reasons.

Leid Stories looks at how the Trump Cabinet is shaping up with the vetting of his first two nominees, and what we should be preparing for. 

James R. Clapper, director of the Office of National Intelligence, CIA Director John Brennan and FBI Director James Comey last Thursday jointly delivered to President Barack Obama a report he requested about Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election. (President-elect Donald Trump and his advisers, and senior-level congressional leaders, were briefed on the reportFriday, when a declassified summary was released.)

“We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency,” the declassified report said in part of its key findings. “We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump. We have high confidence in these judgments.”

The report and its findings already have sparked brisk discussion and debate—about whether the report is a pretext for U.S. aggression against Russia, whether Trump’s presidency should be challenged, and even whether the report’s claims are true.

But the report and its findings notwithstanding, here’s a golden opportunity, says Leid Stories, to engage in a long-overdue debate: A national discussion on the U.S.’s long and despicable history of interfering in elections in countries all over the world.