Leid Stories

Post-Blizzard, It’s the Political Climate That’s Being WatchedPost-blizzard weather may be big news, but the political climate is our focus today. On the cusp of the Feb. 1 Iowa Caucus and five other early-voting primaries next month, the first electoral barometers in the 2016 presidential race are consuming media attention. President Barack Obama weighs in with his own interpretation of the significance of the race for his replacement, and Leid Stories’ listeners interpret his interpretation.

Artful Dodgers: City of Cleveland, Cops, Flout $19 Million in JudgmentsThe Presidential Follies: Is This the Year to Just Say No?Cleveland, Ohio, home of some of the most egregious acts of police violence against unarmed civilians, is refusing to pay $19 million in judgments awarded to victims of police misconduct, brutality and use of lethal force. Civil rights attorney Ruth Brown, whose client, David Ayers, served almost 12 years in prison on a life sentence because rogue cops framed him for aggravated murder, explains the tactics the city and convicted cops are using to avoid paying judgments won against them.Leid Stories listeners have been expressing great dissatisfaction with political choices in the 2016 presidential race. With the 2016 presidential race in high gear, and early voting beginning next month with primaries and caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, Leid Stories “polls” listeners’ attitudes about the political choices they are likely to make at election time.

Dirty Water, Dirty Politics: A Toxic Mix in Detroit and Flint, Mich.The alarm Leid Stories sounded in August 2014 about a “water crisis and massive public-health catastrophe” in Detroit and Flint, Mich., is only now getting national attention—now that it isn’t just a “black” problem. In Detroit, still reeling from severe austerity measures imposed after the city’s forced 2013 bankruptcy, water shutoffs continue unabated for thousands of homeowners too poor to pay; about 80,000 are behind in their water bills. In Flint, tens of thousands of people have been exposed to lead-poisoned and bacteria-infected water after the cash-strapped city, now under emergency management, switched its water supply from Detroit and instead was drawing its water from the extremely polluted Flint River.Curt Guyette, an investigative reporter for the ACLU of Michigan, broke the Flint story. He return to Leid Stories to provide a comprehensive update. Abayomi Azikiwe, a Detroit organizer for the Workers World Party and editor in chief of the Pan-African Newswire, is Leid Stories’ correspondent on Detroit’s forced bankruptcy and its aftermath; he reports on the city’s continuing water crisis.

Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. Refutes Obama’s State of the Union AddressLeid Stories commemorates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a prescient speech he made 49 years ago that anticipates—and refutes—President Barack Obama’s recent pronouncement that “the state of the union is strong.”

Call It As You See It! Free Your Mind!Join the conversation about the week’s news and events, or any subject worthy of further discussion and debate, on “Free Your Mind Friday.” The best open forum on the planet, it’s where you call it as you see it. Call in (888-874-4888) and give us your take.

Fade to Blacks: Clinton, Sanders Troll for Black Votes in Early PrimariesAs the 2016 presidential race kicks into gear with early primaries, so does the mad dash for votes. For Republican and Democratic candidates, South Carolina is a critical proving ground. GOP hopefuls will face off in a two-tiered QA session—their sixth so-called “debates”—tonight at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center. The Democrats will have their slugfest, their fourth, in Charleston on the 17th, but they’ve ramped up their presence and are aggressively trolling for votes—black votes, specifically—in this historically Democratic stronghold. Leid Stories expands on a previous commentary on the significance of South Carolina’s black vote.

Forked Tongue: Obama’s ‘The State of the Union is Great’ AddressBorrowing the oratorical framework of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address, in which he outlined four fundamental freedoms that should embody a global bill of rights (freedom of speech and worship, and freedom from want and fear) President Barack Obama in his final address to the nation yesterday outlined “four big questions” America must grapple with: How do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy; how do we make technology work for us, and not against us, especially when it comes to solving urgent challenges like climate change; how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy; and how do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policeman."Leid Stories examines Obama’s contention that, with respect to his administration’s performance on these questions “the state of the union is great.”

Justice on Hold: Maryland Court Delays Cop’s Trial in Freddie Gray Case“Attorney at War” Alton H. Maddox Jr., dissects yesterday’s ruling by Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals postponing the trial of a Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray. Officer Caesar J. Goodson Jr., the driver of a police transport van in which Freddie Gray suffered neck and spinal-cord injuries that killed him on April 19, 2015, was scheduled to go on trial yesterday. But the appeals court halted the trial, saying it needed time to review the hearing judge’s decision to allow prosecutors to call as a witness against Goodson fellow officer William Porter. Porter, the first of six officers indicted in Freddie Gray’s death, was the first to go on trial; a mistrial was declared when the jury could not reach a verdict. Maddox had predicted the outcome of Porter’s trial. He explains the “legal back door” that the prosecutors’ failing legal strategy has left open in this controversial case.

In Ferguson, Detroit and Baltimore, the Ongoing Battle for JusticeLeid Stories focuses on three developing stories with something in common: a quest for justice. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri today files a lawsuit against the Ferguson-Florissant School District’s at-large electoral system, saying it dilutes the voting strength of African Americans in the district and violates federal law. In Detroit, about 60 public schools are closed today, the result of a sickout by teachers over pay, working conditions and substandard support for the state’s largest school district.

It’s the First ‘Free Your Mind Friday’ for the New Year!Here we are, at the end of the first broadcast week for the new year, and already inundated with things to talk about in our “Free Your Mind Friday” open forum. Call in (888-874-4888) and share your thoughts, opinions and analysis of current events—or other significant news and issues worthy of further discussion and debate.