THE UPSTATE AMERICAN

Murals tell a story that must be preserved

In the face of Trump's reign of destruction, we have a responsibility to save

Nov 22 • 

REX SMITH

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What we didn't learn from the 20th president

Imagine if Donald Trump had taken different lessons from Mark Twain

Nov 15 • 

REX SMITH

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Giant skeletons and fake balls of string

What do our consumption habits say about America's values these days?

Nov 8 • 

REX SMITH

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On a flight toward failure, or another chance?

Our democracy is imperiled, but capitulation to decline is not inevitable

Nov 1 • 

REX SMITH

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October 2025

A sign for our times, and a call to action

What a birthday present from an artist friend said to me

Oct 25 • 

REX SMITH

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How to save America's golden age

Athens and Rome once led the world, but their time passed. Has ours, too?

Oct 18 • 

REX SMITH

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Farmers keep going. So do soldiers. And us?

Lessons of the fall in a time of national distress.

Oct 11 • 

REX SMITH

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Lessons of Argyll in facing today's tyrant

An ancestor's steadfastness offers inspiration. Maybe it is even passed down to us.

Oct 4 • 

REX SMITH

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September 2025

Violence is not our inevitable future

The next step after Charlie Kirk's assassination may depend upon our expectations

Sep 13 • 

REX SMITH

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Seven words for the resistance

Like learning to discern a wine's flavor, we must understand how we describe our objectives in order to confront Donald Trump's authoritarian rule

Sep 6 • 

REX SMITH

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August 2025

On county fairs and mistreated workers

Labor Day Weekend evokes both memories and thoughts of those mistreated by Trump's purge

Aug 30 • 

REX SMITH

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Buttering up the Boss of America

Donald Trump loves flattery, but those of us who aren't so inclined have other tools at our disposal

Aug 23 • 

REX SMITH

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