The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.
H. L. Mencken
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The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.
H. L. Mencken
Not necessarily. The huge liar LBJ did not run for election as he knew he was toast over the lies of Vietnam. On the other hand, Reagan is admired as one of our best. Likewise, Churchill is now admired more than ever, and the Lime-suckers are now pining for Thatcher.
Mencken was a bit of a cynic. But he has some great quotes.
You got that right. One of my faves of his is: “The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office. Their principal device to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something they can’t get and to promise to give it to them. Nine times out of ten that promise is worth nothing. The tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B. In other… Read more »
Yes, that one is very true. But my favorite is the one that Ace of Spades HQ has attached to its masthead, “Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”
True. I do believe that by being such a “humane” military, we have lost some of the intimidation factor. An army is better feared (and that is the purpose of an army, to instill fear into the minds of the enemy), when they regularly drink from the skulls of their enemies. That is why so many Iraqis surrendered. They feared fighting the US military. The Japanese had a lively fear of US Marines in WWII. They were told it was better to die fighting than to allow themselves to be captured and eaten by American Marines. That Marines were primarily… Read more »
I have great respect for our armed forces. But our civilian leaders have been shown irresponsible with the lives of these brave young men. And the recent changes in the make up of the combat troops to include women is insanity.
But I think Mencken is talking about going rogue against our civilian leaders. And on my worst days I think he might be right.
I elevated your comments to a post. Never waste good content!