[lbo-talk] FW: Mencken was right

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

> > >Here is H.L. Mencken from the Baltimore
> > >Evening Sun, July 26, 1920:
> > >
> > >" ... when a candidate for public office faces the
> > voters he does not face
> > >men
> > >of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief
> > distinguishing mark is the fact
> > >that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or
> > even of comprehending
> > >any
> > >save the most elemental--men whose whole thinking
> > is done in terms of
> > >emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of
> > what they cannot
> > >understand.
> > >So confronted, the candidate must either bark with
> > the pack or be lost.
> > >
> > >" ... all the odds are on the man who is,
> > intrinsically, the most devious
> > >and
> > >mediocre--the man who can most adeptly disperse the
> > notion that his mind is
> > >a virtual vacuum.
> > >
> > >"The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such
> > men. As democracy is
> > >perfected, the office represents, more and more
> > closely, the inner soul of
> > >the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some
> > great and glorious day
> > >the
> > >plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
> > desire at last, and the
> > >White House will be adorned by a downright moron."