Sam Smith – One problem I have with the current Trump controversies is that we have lawyers in charge. Communities, churches, politics, and social values seem to have no say which is too bad because if you want someone to live a good life going to lawyers is not often the best solution. Lawyers are … Continue reading The Trump legal problem
Author: prorevwp
The real danger
Sam Smith – My father was a New Deal official and I first covered Washington for a DC radio station 67 years ago so I have some background for saying that we are in the worst political period of my lifetime. And it’s not just Trump. Trump is clearly a major beneficiary of the collapse … Continue reading The real danger
My first political lessons
From our overstocked archivesSam Smith, 2011- For some four decades I argued for an elected district attorney and comptroller in my hometown of Washington DC. This wasn't just an intellectual argument. When I was 12 I took part in my first political campaign, a successful effort to end 69 years of Republican rule in Philadelphia … Continue reading My first political lessons
How television changed our politics
From our archives Sam Smith, 2012 - A lot of the trouble began when television and politics discovered each other. It was about 1960. Now politics no longer had to be a product of long history, varied communities, conflicting policies, favors, friends and funds. Now it could be reduced to two dimensions, measured in minutes … Continue reading How television changed our politics
The collapse of civil America
Sam Smith – As I cover the horrors of Trumpism I’m repeatedly struck but how such terrible things are not remotely connected to the small village we where we live in Maine. One is surrounded here by respect, decency, kindness and understanding. But it’s hard today to hear about the life style of small town … Continue reading The collapse of civil America
60 years on the case
Sam Smith – In September, it will be sixty years since your editor first published a journal belonging to what became known as the “underground press.” This journal, The Idler, was joining lonely territory mainly occupied by the NYC’s Village Voice. But two years later, in 1966 the Underground Press Syndicate was formed with the … Continue reading 60 years on the case
How to make the charges against Trump clearer
Sam Smith – Although we know Trump has been charged with 91 federal felonies, we don’t know how many Americans actually know what a felony is. To make this issue clearer, it would help if the legal commentators would compute the number of times Trump is accused of lying in violation of federal law. Everyone … Continue reading How to make the charges against Trump clearer
Facing old age
Sam Smith – The current battle for the White House has taken a turn that impacts my personal life, thanks to the debate over the proper age of a president. I have managed with little difficulty to ignore my age as I go through my daily doings but I now find, being five years older … Continue reading Facing old age
Why so many support Trump
Sam Smith – When a con artist as despicable as Donald Trump attracts so much support, it is time to look at what has happened to our collective society to permit this. Quite independent of Trump, I’ve been thinking about this for sometime. When I moved fulltime from my hometown of Washington DC to my … Continue reading Why so many support Trump
Two confusing historic crises
Sam Smith - Lately, I've been struggling with two confusing historic crises: the age of our presidential candidates and the Colorado court case. I know where, as a progressive, I presumably should stand, but I keep asking myself difficult questions. For example, allowing the Colorado case to stand would certainly seem a fair decision but … Continue reading Two confusing historic crises
What’s missing in the fight for progress
Sam Smith - As the son of a Roosevelt administration official and as a guy who got involved in political action in the 1960s I've been feeling for some time a growing lack of enthusiasm for positive change of late among those who used to be its leaders. Some of the numbers back this up. … Continue reading What’s missing in the fight for progress
Trump is not the only problem
Sam Smith – Donald Trump is not the only problem. In fact he is the beneficiary of problems at least as much as he’s their creator. Consider these factors: Civic and moral values have increasingly been defined by lawyers and courts. If you follow such cases involving someone like Trump one thing becomes apparent: The … Continue reading Trump is not the only problem
Bayard Rustin and our Friends
Sam Smith – Adam Gopnik’s excellent New Yorker article on civil rights activist Bayard Rustin revealed something I had never imagined we had in common: we are both raised in part by Quakers. As Gopnik notes: "Rustin was born in 1912 and raised by his grandmother in the Black Quaker belt not far from Philadelphia. … Continue reading Bayard Rustin and our Friends
Some thoughts on turning 86
Sam Smith - In a few days, I will turn 86 years old. As of a few months ago, I had already lived longer than at least three generations of males in my family. This also will make me nine years older than Donald Trump and six years older than Joe Biden, It is however … Continue reading Some thoughts on turning 86
Marion Barry and me
Next Saturday they're renaming a street in Washington DC for former mayor Marion Barry. Here's something I wrote about Barry some years ago. Sam Smith, 2006 - Marion Barry and I split over a quarter century ago. I can't remember the exact issue, but it was one time too many that Marion had promised one … Continue reading Marion Barry and me