Charleston Currents

Views

Gov. Nikki Haley, center, flanked by Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, on left, and Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster.

BRACK: Haley reflects on accomplishments, but downplays flag

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Gov. Nikki Haley took a victory lap around a legislature Wednesday with which she didn’t always get along.

“When I was first elected, I heard over and again from governors around the country that this would be the best job I would ever have,” she said in her final State of the State address prior to expected confirmation soon as the new ambassador to the United Nations. “I didn’t understand what they meant back then – and if I’m honest, some days, especially during the legislative session, I didn’t agree with them.”

by Andy Brack · 01/16/2017 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

FANNING: How you can always be confident even without the answers

By Ben Fanning, contributing editor | I was so confident my shirt was about to bust open. My chest was out with head held high.

Then I boldly marched to the front of the room and grabbed the laser pointer. In the moment, I was cloaked in so much confidence I swatted down arguments with ease and led the group to an excellent outcome. People even thanked me afterwards for stepping up. Why was I so confident?

I had the answers.

by Ben Fanning · 01/16/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Careers, Views

In this White House photo taken in July 2016, President Barack Obama hugged Eliana Pinckney and her younger sister Malana Pinckney, daughters of the late Rev. and Sen. Clementa Pinckney, who was one of nine slain in murders at Emanuel AME Church. The girls’ mother, Jennifer Pinckney, looks on. She testified this week in the trial of the man convicted of the murders.

BRACK: Obama deserves more credit than he gets

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | I’m going to miss President Barack Obama in the White House. There. I’ve said it. Before half of you spit out your coffee or explode into a hysterical frenzy, consider that you still have your guns. He didn’t take them away, as many misled by the gun lobby feared.

Despite doom and gloom prophecies, Obama didn’t ruin America’s economy. Rather, after inheriting the worst recession in 75 years, Obama steered Congress to take measured, decisive actions to shore up the faltering automobile sector, deal with some of the power of the big banks and use $800 billion in a stimulus package for tax relief, education initiatives and much-needed investments in research and infrastructure. The strategy worked and kept a real depression at bay.

by Andy Brack · 01/09/2017 · 4 comments · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Tips for how elected officials can be better, more effective

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | It’s no surprise that politicians in our state have credibility problems thanks to distant and recent scandals that continue to tar the whole Statehouse. Confidence in government, to put it mildly, ain’t all that strong.

In the 1990s, several South Carolina legislators went to jail after a Statehouse sting. A generation later despite ethics reforms, corruption allegations led to resignations of a lieutenant governor and powerful House speaker. And then December brought a 30-count corruption indictment for one House member and a felony domestic assault charge against another.

by Andy Brack · 01/02/2017 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

MORRIS: Let’s toot our horn

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor | 2016 spoke loudly of the desire for change. The message is real. Unfortunately, the answers are being overlooked.

The answers do not reside in the divisive behavior and climate that sells media and creates emotional drama. The answers can be found by looking at what positive things exist in the communities around us. There is concrete evidence that positive change can happen – is happening. I have witnessed innovative ideas that are making a difference in Nashville, Tenn., Greenville, S.C., Raleigh, N.C., Indianapolis, Ind., San Antonio, Texas, and right here in Charleston. It often is a choice we have to make to see the good over the bad.

by Kyra Morris · 01/02/2017 · 5 comments · Money, Views

BRACK: Mabus winds up service as leader of America’s away team

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | For U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, presence matters for “America’s away team” – the almost 900,000 sailors and Marines who comprise the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps under his leadership.

You see #presencematters in tweets and on Facebook and Instagram. You hear about it in the hundreds of talks given by Mabus as he has traveled 1.35 million miles around the world. Since 2009 when he took office, Mabus has been to more than 150 countries and all 50 states to meet the men and women serving in the Navy and Marines and help the country reconnect with their service around the world.

by Andy Brack · 12/19/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

FANNING: The power of minding your own business

By Ben Fanning, contributing editor | I heard someone say, “It’s probably something tantric,” as I walked with my family into a tightly-packed pizza restaurant in San Francisco.

There was a couple sitting right next to us involved in a kiss that was so long I was concerned they might suffocate. The longer the kiss went on, the more people around the restaurant stared. Minutes passed and tension built. Is this even sanitary?

by Ben Fanning · 12/19/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Careers, Focus, Views

GILLESPIE: Dylann Roof “and justice for all”

By J. David Gillespie, special to Statehouse Report | The verdict came in around mid-afternoon Thursday, just a couple of hours after the lawyers completed their closing statements and the judge gave his charge to the jury. U.S. v. Dylann Storm Roof: Guilty on all charges. Given the complexity of the indictment—33 counts, many of them alleging hate crimes—the brief time it took was remarkable. The verdict itself was anything but surprising.

by Charleston Currents · 12/19/2016 · 3 comments · My Turn, Views

WEATHERFORD: Five things Donald Trump can learn from Genghis Khan

By Jack Weatherford, republished with permission | In stark contrast to the United States, with its scattered mini-wars around the globe, Genghis Khan always fought with one single, clear goal: victory. Total victory, not a qualified, partial, negotiated or hyphenated victory.

by Charleston Currents · 12/11/2016 · Comments are Disabled · My Turn, Views

BRACK: What is justice?

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | In pictures and words in Western society, we understand justice to be blind, meted without favor to rich or poor, powerful or powerless, famous or average Joe.

“Justice for all,” we recite in the Pledge of Allegiance. The concept of equal justice is a foundation of American jurisprudence. Everyone is supposed to be treated the same in the eyes of the law if they run afoul of it.

by Andy Brack · 12/11/2016 · 2 comments · Andy Brack, Views