The Smithian

May 14th, 2013

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‘…in today’s China, an author can feel a true sense of freedom if he doesn’t pander to the authorities to have his works published. It requires courage, tolerance of isolation, a strong belief of the future and a deep passion for literature—like a pious religious believer. It requires deep belief that the progress of human society is unstoppable and that China will become a truly democratic, free and open country. Freedom of publishing will come one day sooner or later.’ — Yan Lianke

‘…in today’s China, an author can feel a true sense of freedom if he doesn’t pander to the authorities to have his works published. It requires courage, tolerance of isolation, a strong belief of the future and a deep passion for literature—like a pious religious believer. It requires deep belief that the progress of human society is unstoppable and that China will become a truly democratic, free and open country. Freedom of publishing will come one day sooner or later.’ — Yan Lianke

May 7th, 2013

thesmithian

'...Where is the...call for a renewed examination, across the board, of journalistic ethics and practices during disasters...? When people stop trusting the news, they often stop following it, and such disengagement has serious consequences for maintaining anything resembling a democracy, already in deep peril in our country.' — Susan J. Douglas

May 2nd, 2013

thesmithian

North Carolina is not a banana republic…

Democratic Sen. Josh Stein of Raleigh

in response to this:

The ALEC-sponsored bill to gut North Carolina’s clean energy standard failed last week in one House committee. But as the Charlotte Observer reports, last night it passed a Senate committee over shouted objections to do something most people take for granted in a democracy—counting votes to see which side has more.

April 26th, 2013

thesmithian

All this makes me question if we’re living in my grandmother’s South. Republican lawmakers in North Carolina want to roll back many of this country’s civil rights achievements with a political agenda that is anti-democracy and anti-justice. They attack poor people, women and the LGBTQ and immigrant communities. If you’re not white, male, straight and Christian, you’re not safe with our state Republican lawmakers. Despite their actions…Every day I feel inspired by North Carolina’s rich history and legacy of freedom struggles…You can’t talk about the civil rights movement and freedom struggles in the United States without talking about North Carolina—the Greensboro sit-ins, SNCC, civil rights icon and pioneer Ella Baker and the Wilmington 10. State lawmakers…ought not forget how our grandmothers fought for freedom and taught us to fight for it too…These lawmakers don’t speak for anyone I know. They don’t speak for the social work students whom I teach and study…They don’t speak for my family of friends in North Carolina, who pay taxes here and who have raised children who are commited to building on what their parents and grandparents started.

Crystal Hayes, at North Carolina’s Indy Week

April 10th, 2013

thesmithian

…demonstrates how the American people overwhelmingly view their southern neighbor through the dire lens of poverty, corruption, and violence. However: “Mexico’s real story today is one of fundamental political, economic, and social transformation: from authoritarianism to democracy, from a closed to an open economy, and from a poor society to a middle class nation.”

more.

…demonstrates how the American people overwhelmingly view their southern neighbor through the dire lens of poverty, corruption, and violence. However: “Mexico’s real story today is one of fundamental political, economic, and social transformation: from authoritarianism to democracy, from a closed to an open economy, and from a poor society to a middle class nation.”

more.

April 1st, 2013

thesmithian

'What is certain is that the power of the smaller states is large and growing. Political scientists call it a striking exception to the democratic principle of “one person, one vote.” Indeed, they say, the Senate may be the least democratic legislative chamber in any developed nation.'

March 25th, 2013

thesmithian

'If Lebanon’s President, Michel Suleiman, accepts [Najib] Mikati’s resignation, as he seems likely to do, the country could be entering a protracted political crisis, without a functional government. That kind of power vacuum, in a country as fragile as Lebanon, could lead to sectarian violence. Mikati himself, in his televised statement on Friday, seemed to hint at just such a possibility. “The region is heading toward the unknown,’’ he said. Indeed it is. For all Lebanon’s travails, its democracy has been an example to its neighbors. It would be especially sad if it became a victim.'

March 4th, 2013

thesmithian

'Despite having exacerbated it, Obama is well suited to constructively address white anxiety and will continue to do so in his second term and beyond his presidency. His definition of Americanness...is respectful of our pluralism and ethno-cultural diversity but prioritizes the enhancement of a national cohesion built around democratic ideals, a common if multifaceted history, and a shared fate going forward.'

February 27th, 2013

thesmithian

The Voting Rights Act is one of the most powerful tools Americans have to fight injustice, and its protection is fundamental to our democracy. Since the Act’s enactment in 1965, disciplined, systematic efforts to undermine its safeguards by disenfranchising younger, poorer, minority, and disabled voters—some even more determined today than they were 48 years ago—are reminding us of the fragility of this very precious right. As America becomes younger, more diverse, and more vibrant, our response must be to embrace our common humanity, to widen the circle of opportunity, and to build a country where every American has a voice in the future—a voice that our vote provides and our government must protect. This is not the time to weaken those protections, but rather an opportunity to redouble our efforts to affirm them.

President Bill Clinton, today.

February 24th, 2013

thesmithian

‘What the lapdog press allegation really seems to revolve around is the fact that conservatives are angry that Obama remains popular with the public…’

…Rather than acknowledge that reality, partisans increasingly blame the press and insist if only reporters and pundits would tell ‘the truth’ about Obama, then voters would truly understand how he’s out to destroy liberty and freedom and capitalism. Sorry, but that’s not what constitutes a lapdog press corps. And to confuse chronic partisan whining with authentic media criticism is a mistake…Studies have shown that during long stretches of his first term, Obama was hammered with “unrelentingly negative” press coverage. By contrast, the lapdog era of the Bush years represented nothing short of an institutional collapse of the American newsroom. And it was one that, given the media’s integral role in helping to sell the Iraq War, did grave damage to our democracy.

more.

February 11th, 2013

thesmithian

‘The country is at a hard place…’

…Is it going to be governable? The great challenge of returning to a workable government is to create parties that can sort out our differences without threat from extremes that weaken the democratic system. People in despair over politics in Washington might be well advised to start paying more attention to who gets elected to their state capitals.

bold, ours. lots more, here.

February 11th, 2013

thesmithian

'Race will always be a complex issue in America. There is no total cleansing of an original sin. But the old polarizing politics is a spent force. The image of the "angry black man" still purveyed by sensationalists such as Ann Coulter and Dinesh D'Souza is anachronistic today, when blacks and even Muslims, the most conspicuous of "outsider" groups, profess optimism about America and their place in it. A politics of frustration and rage remains, but it is most evident within the GOP's dwindling base—its insurgents and anti-government crusaders, its "middle-aged white guys." They now form the party's one solid bloc, its agitated concurrent voice, struggling not only against the facts of demography, but also with the country's developing ideas of democracy and governance.'

February 7th, 2013

thesmithian

'...If secession had caused the war...it was the sharpening conflict over slavery that had caused secession.” Nor were “northern” concerns centered only on whether slavery would be allowed to expand to new territories. It had become a threat to democracy throughout the United States. Slaveholders came down hard on any Southern whites who criticized slavery—those who did were driven from pulpits, classrooms, and newsrooms—but they also worked to ban both the distribution of abolitionist materials by the U.S. Postal Service and speaking against slavery in the U.S House. Slavery was coming to threaten liberties of free people in the free states.'

February 1st, 2013

thesmithian

Today, we are confronting what we could credibly call a ‘crisis.’ An identity crisis, a socioeconomic crisis, and most of all, a daily, practical crisis. Someone once told me that freedom lies in being bold. Let us be bold in acknowledging our weaknesses, and then let us be bold in assessing what we need to do to help make these weaknesses into strengths. We need education, and I cannot emphasize this enough. The whole educational system, from primary school to post-doctoral levels, must be reformed. We need employment. Sustainable energy is a great start that has the potential to generate jobs by the thousands. Most than anything else, however, we need to think before we act and be cognizant of the direction our dear country is heading in. If nothing is done, we might as well kiss our dream of democracy goodbye.

Wafa Ben Hassine, on Tunisia, at Nawaat