A Stitch in Haste

Al Smith, the pre-New-Deal progressive governor of New York, had a famous campaign slogan, borrowed from H.L. Mencken:

The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
China's Communists beg to differ:

China issued its first white paper on democracy on Wednesday, but included no initiatives for political change and left little doubt of the Communist Party's determination to maintain its grip on power.

The report, "Building of Political Democracy in China," emphasizes the importance of economic development and social stability in establishing a democracy. It says the continued rule of the Communist Party is "the most important and fundamental principle for developing socialist political democracy in China."
...
It makes clear that the Communist Party has no plans to relinquish power and deems its grip on power essential to China's development.

That's a mighty bizarre concept of democracy: "Any government you want, so long as it's ours; any candidates you want, so long as they're ours; all the rights that we decide you need; all the prosperity that we don't keep for ourselves." How exactly is this a "new and improved" form of Communism?

And remind me again why...oh, right: skyscrapers. I keep forgetting that a pretty skyline makes up for all the rest.