Roger Kimmel Smith
Roger Kimmel Smith is a freelance wordsmith based in Ithaca, New York. He has written for The Progressive, Ithaca Times, National Geographic, Propaganda Review, Disarmament Times, Syncopated Times, Common Dreams, and Global Issues in Context.
Articles by this author
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Views Thursday, April 25, 2019 With Biden Now Officially in the Running, A Look at the Democrats' Do-Si-Do The entrance of Joe Biden into the arena ushers the 2020 Democratic primary contest into a new phase. It ends the opening round, or what seasoned politicos call the "money primary," in which the aspirants introduce themselves to the public and lay out their campaign themes while courting donors... Read more |
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Views Thursday, October 06, 2011 Utopian, Practical: What DREAM Is Our One Demand? Is the flower of revolution budding on our lawn? Paris ’68 has journeyed by way of Seattle ’99 and made it to New York 2011 as the #occupation of Wall Street appears to have legs. Read more |
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Views Sunday, January 16, 2011 Decent Poverty Report: Poverty and Misery In 1964, Lyndon Johnson launched his War on Poverty, a phrase attributed specifically to the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act and more broadly to his administration's efforts to expand the social safety net and improve education, housing, job training, and health care. The writer and social gadfly Paul Goodman was at the height of his popularity in 1964. Read more |
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Views Sunday, October 24, 2010 I Am Become Death One of the most brilliant quips from the social critic Paul Goodman is that "technology is a branch of moral philosophy, not of science." Goodman was astute enough to recognize that technological "progress" was not a monolithic process but the consequence of many decisions made by individuals and institutions. Any specific technology will bring about changes, sometimes unexpected ones, for good or ill, often both. Read more |
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Views Thursday, October 15, 2009 Barack and Alyn Since President Obama was named this year's Nobel Peace Laureate, there's been a fruitful debate about the degree to which the award was deserved or strategically useful. It's worth noting that the president's strong support for the cause of nuclear disarmament was a key reason he got the nod from Oslo. This support has not only come in speeches, but also in a very interesting U.N. Security Council resolution that he cared enough about to deliver to the council personally and even chair the session in which it was adopted, an unprecedented move for a world leader. Read more |
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Views Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Some Voters Are Bitter, but More Voters Are Sweet All this razzmatazz over Barack Obama's remarks about "bitter" voters is revealing just how Hillary Clinton is playing for time. The strategy seems to be for Hillary to tap into talk radio, grasping at soundbites like straws, trying to mobilize right-wing culture warriors in a rear-guard action to... Read more |
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Views Sunday, January 15, 2006 My 'I Have a Dream' Speech I do have a dream today. I dream of a nation awakening from a dream. I am dreaming of an American people awakened to action to restore a republic. A people awakened to the danger of an alien empire that has captured the United States government -- that was not a dream after all. I dream of us... Read more |
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Views Monday, August 30, 2004 Senator Kerry, Prepare for your Moment of Truth Memo to Senator John Kerry: whether you like it or not, the moment of truth in this campaign has arrived. You chose a flawed, phony script in Boston and beforehand. You left a glaring omission in the biography you presented to the electorate. Treating it as ballot-box poison, you forbade all of... Read more |
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Views Tuesday, April 20, 2004 Perils of the Dead Center It’s traditional in presidential politics for Democratic candidates to tack toward the center once they’ve secured the party’s nomination. In the current election year, however, this conventional strategy may prove unwise or even disastrous for Senator John Kerry. Having dispatched his rivals... Read more |