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H.L. Mencken: Misfit In 21st-Century America
WorldNet Daily ^ | July 2, 2020 | ILANA MERCER

Posted on 07/03/2020 1:29:58 AM PDT by Viking2002

H.L. Mencken, a contrarian polemicist and the consummate critic, who wrote prolifically and prodigiously from 1899 until 1948, may no longer seem relevant, but the fault would not be his.

Mencken was a well-read bon vivant with a taste for Teutonic philosophy and a fidelity to immutable truth. He was also a brilliant satirist and a writer whose facility with the English idiom and grasp of intellectual history are unsurpassed.

How can a phenom like Mencken appeal in our age, The Age of the Idiot?

He can’t: He should, but he can’t.

Henry Louis Mencken cannot appeal to the bumper crops of humorless, dour “dunderheads” America is now siring. He cannot resonate with those who are afraid to question received opinion, who cannot conjugate a verb correctly, use tenses, prepositions and adjectives grammatically and creatively, or appreciate a clever turn-of-phrase.

(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature; History; Humor; Society
KEYWORDS: america; culture; mencken; morons; society
For those unaware of my admiration for The Sage of Baltimore, this is a good read. For further consideration, see my profile. Everyone, left and right, can find fault with his singular dogma. Which makes him all the more fascinating.
1 posted on 07/03/2020 1:29:58 AM PDT by Viking2002
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To: Viking2002

I would almost mandate all of the 30-plus books that he wrote...be read by first-year college students. Absolute skeptic on any good will or achievements ever coming out of Washington DC. Graduated high school at 15. Just all-round knowledge in everything.


2 posted on 07/03/2020 2:27:50 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: pepsionice
There was no political correctness in his day. He spoke unvarnished truths from a first person perspective. As I said, he could wordsmith an observation that could piss off so many across the universal spectrum, you would walk away wondering if you were libertarian hermit from another planet. But he makes you think for yourself. That is a human trait we are sorely lacking in 2020. He was considered a 'conservative' in his time, but not what we identify with in many facets.
3 posted on 07/03/2020 2:50:34 AM PDT by Viking2002 ("If a really stupid person becomes senile......how can you tell?" - George Carlin)
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To: Viking2002
Great to meet with another FRiend of Mencken!

One can spend years of enjoyment reading Mencken. Imagine a journalist and commentator who cannot be bought, a brilliant researcher and analyst of politics, psychology, and was also in his heyday both America's most read pundit and leading literary critic.

I have two Mencken collections in my library:

• The Impossible H. L. Mencken, edited by Marion E. Rodgers

• H. L. Mencken's Smart Set Criticism, edited by William H. Nolte

Two days ago I commented on a remarkable piece of Menken analysis on the kind of person who runs for the Presidency.

And just now I read your FR profile where you pinpointed the very same essay :- )

4 posted on 07/03/2020 3:14:51 AM PDT by poconopundit (Iron fist in an Irish velvet glove: Kayleigh "Shillelagh" McEnany we salute your work!)
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To: Viking2002

Here’s the Presidency essay of Mencken in abridged form.

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3860562/posts?page=28#28


5 posted on 07/03/2020 3:21:33 AM PDT by poconopundit (Iron fist in an Irish velvet glove: Kayleigh "Shillelagh" McEnany we salute your work!)
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To: Viking2002

“The Age of the Idiot? ...the bumper crops of humorless, dour “dunderheads” America is now siring”

The writer is perfectly describing the current set of journalist in the media today. Think CNN, MSNBC, New York Times. Imbeciles.


6 posted on 07/03/2020 4:15:42 AM PDT by Flavious_Maximus
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To: Viking2002
A lot of conservatives despise Mencken for his irreverent attitude towards religion (most famously, his reporting on the Scopes Monkey Trial). A lot of liberals despise him for his equally irreverent attitude towards their sacred cows, from his Nietzsche-inspired contempt towards "equality" to his skepticism towards New Deal economics.

If he'd be around today, he certainly would be detested by the establishments of both political parties and probably would be reluctant to support any politician. It's refreshing to have people who think for themselves rather than falling into groupthink, whether you agree with them on any particular issue or not.

We don't seem to have very many such people in public life. Who in your opinion comes closest to filling this contrarian niche today?

7 posted on 07/03/2020 4:49:23 AM PDT by ek_hornbeck
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To: Viking2002

BUMP


8 posted on 07/03/2020 9:34:16 AM PDT by Rumplemeyer (The GOP should stand its ground - and fix Bayonets)
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To: Viking2002

One of those rare gems that comes once in a lifetime, maybe a century.


9 posted on 07/03/2020 12:48:06 PM PDT by Hiddigeigei ("Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish," said Dionysus - Euripides)
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