Forty years ago, when she was a teenager, Miriam Aikens had an abortion. Then she had another. “I was young,” she says. “I was uninformed.” She was raised a devout Christian, and still “in the church” when she terminated the two unwanted pregnancies. Describing the aftermath, she mostly avoids the first-person pronoun. But the pain […]
Barry Yeoman
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Republican National Convention, Day 1: red meat at the tea party
Volunteers wearing plastic rain ponchos steered drivers into the sprawling parking lot of River Ministries International, a campus on the outskirts of Tampa that includes an evangelical church, a worship school, and a “Holy Ghost training center.” There were food trucks and merchandise tables, including one man selling “Anybody but Obama” sticky notes. (He gave […]
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The morning after Amendment 1: Your world. And mine.
If you didn’t peek at the numbers on the TV insidewhere Amendment 1 was racking up a 22-point margin of victoryyou might have imagined the scene outside Fullsteam brewery in Durham was a celebration Tuesday night. The air was thick with grilled cheese and Korean tacos, punctuated by cheers from Motorco Music Hall across the […]
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Elizabeth Edwards, in her own words
In these audio excerpts, Edwards discusses how her experiences from childhoodat the U.S. Army’s Camp Zama in Japanand early adulthood shaped her political attitudes toward war and women’s equality. Barry Yeoman, the Independent‘s former senior staff writer, interviewed Elizabeth Edwards twice in April 2007 for a profile that was published in O, The Oprah Magazine. […]
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“We’ve got a president who looks like us”
On Election Day morning, John Verdejo tucked a rosary under his shirt, laying it on top of the cross he usually wears. He put on a blazer to get ready for his job at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. And he prayed. “Dear God, we’ve done all that we can do,” said […]
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Dole ad: “Godless American” actually a retired Bible teacher
Imagine retired Bible teacher Rick Stone’s surprise to find himself depicted as a “Godless American.” This week, Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole began running a statewide 30-second TV ad linking her opponent, Kay Hagan, to a political action committee that supports equal rights for atheists and the separation of church and state. “A leader of […]
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Watching the presidential debate with N.C. Republicans
There was never any question, among the denizens of Raleighs Velvet Cloak Inn, about who would win the first presidential debate Friday night. Inside the hotels lounge hung a McCain-Palin placard considerably larger than the wide-screen TV tuned to Fox News. About 50 GOP activists had gathered for an informal debate-watching party at the hotel, […]
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The Republican National Convention
The veterans marched in lockstep as they approached the Minneapolis State Capitol, which sits on a hill overlooking downtown St. Paul. Some wore Army greens. Others wore camouflage or pressed black T-shirts. “It’s all right, it’s OK,” they chanted in a call-and-response. “Remember MLK/ tried to lead the way/ but he was shot one day/ […]
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Palin, creationism and other red meat
Editor’s Note: Due to mysterious forces beyond our knowledge, in the original post, part of the story was cut off at the end; the story is now complete. As the owner of a friendly pit-bull mix, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s off-script line last night at the Republican […]
Posted inElections
Young, but not for Obama
This week, as Nick Ochsner attends the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., the Elon University sophomore can’t listen to all the pro-military speeches without thinking about his father. Sgt. 1st Class Jim Ochsner, a special forces intelligence specialist stationed at Fort Bragg, died in November 2005 in Afghanistan. He was 36, and it […]
