Free Republic

Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei, a famed artist and activist, warned Americans during an interview that aired late last week that they are already under the control of an authoritarian state, they just don’t realize it yet. Weiwei said that the situation in China has become “more extreme, in terms of censorship, in terms of their tolerance to dissidents.” He later added that he was not hopeful for China’s future given the direction that China is going. Later, when asked about authoritarianism in the U.S., Weiwei said “certainly, in the United States, with today’s condition, you can easily have an authoritarian.”...

‘Refugees are welcome’ is a completely safe political statement for people in my uncle’s ritzy neighborhood to make, because they know it isn’t something they’ll ever have to deal with. I was up in the Berkshires a few weeks ago to visit my uncle. Every day, we’d go into the main town closest to him, Great Barrington, to eat breakfast. The place is loaded with rich folk of a particular caste: “It’s more Volvos and Subarus than Mercedeses and Porsches up here.”You know, weekend warriors. Hedge fund managers decked head-to-toe in North Face gear, ready to hike the Appalachian Trail...

One of China’s official newspapers has offered their opinion of international support for missing artist Ai Weiwei. But editorial boards around the world are continuing their support to Ai and calling for his release. From the Globe and Mail: …He is an inconvenient patriot, the kind who demands better of his country. And so Mr. Ai denounced the stadium before the Games even began, rightly anticipating that the regime would suppress dissent in spite of the Games. His art celebrates, but it also laments, most notably in a memorial mural, made of thousands of children’s backpacks, to those killed in...