Thanks for your message.
It's always good to hear from you.
Sadly, I bring disappointing news: Mencken did not say what your email alleges.
Here is what Mencken did say: “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. 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.” http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/04/hl-mencken-on-white-house.html
This correct quotation -- widely (and appropriately) circulated when Smirk was president -- does not use the words "fool" or "narcissistic."
But since "narcissistic" is "code" for Obama, the author of your forwarded email -- impervious to the need for accurate quotation -- inserted his own words in pursuit political advantage. (Never mind that deliberate falsification creates alliance with The Prince of Darkness.)
Similarly, the word "adorned" in Mencken's original has been replaced by the word "occupied."
Evidently, the person who manipulated Mencken's text wanted to ensure that his intent wcould be understood by "the inner soul of the people" which Mencken equates with the soul of a moron.
Evidently, the person who manipulated Mencken's text wanted to ensure that his intent wcould be understood by "the inner soul of the people" which Mencken equates with the soul of a moron.
For most Americans, the word "adorn" conjures Christmas ornaments... a circumstance which recalls the Mencken quote at the top of this post.
***
Consider:
A 2010 Siena poll of 238 Presidential scholars found that former president George W. Bush was ranked 39th out of 43, with poor ratings in handling of the economy, communication, ability to compromise, foreign policy accomplishments, and intelligence. Meanwhile, the current president, Barack Obama was ranked 15th out of 43, with high ratings for imagination, communication ability and intelligence and a low rating for background (family, education and experience).[13][14]
The C-SPAN Survey of Presidential Leadership consists of rankings from a group of presidential historians and "professional observers of the presidency"[15] who ranked presidents in a number of categories initially in 2000 and more recently in 2009.[16][17] With some minor variation, both surveys found that historians consider Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin D. Roosevelt the three best presidents by a wide margin and William Henry Harrison (to a lesser extent), Warren G. Harding, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, George W. Bush and James Buchanan the worst.
In 2008, The Times newspaper asked eight of its own "top international and political commentators" to rank all 42 US presidents "...in order of greatness".[18]
In 2011, through the agency of its United States Presidency Centre (USPC), the Institute for the Study of the Americas (located in the University of London’s School of Advanced Study) released the first ever U.K. academic survey to rate U.S. presidents. This polled the opinion of British specialists in American history and politics to assess presidential performance. They also gave an interim assessment of Barack Obama, but his unfinished presidency was not included in the survey (had he been included, he would have attained eighth place overall).[19]
In 2012, Newsweek magazine asked a panel of historians to rank the ten best presidents since 1900. The results showed that historians had ranked Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama as the best since that year.[20]
A 2013 History News Network poll of 203 American historians, when asked to rate Barack Obama's presidency on an A–F scale, gave him a B- grade. Obama, whom historians graded using 15 separate measures plus an overall grade, was rated most highly in the categories of communication ability, integrity, and crisis management, and most poorly for his relationship with Congress and transparency and accountability.[21]
Other findings in "Historial Rankings Of The Presidents Of The United States" can be viewed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States
***
We might also compare the ranking of Joe Biden and Dick Cheney, but that's for another day.
Until then, remember this sage advice: "Dick Cheney before he dicks you."
***
History is not a shouting match in which the loudest and most ideologically-driven "win."
Admittedly, history is not a precise science but, in general, truth is revealed - at least in broad outline.
Hitler was God-awful.
Dubyah was terrible.
Obama has been pretty good.
***
Elsewhere...
Not only are individual words important, even punctuation can be linchpin.
You may know of the rapist who used the following defense:
"Your honor, I swear to God she said "Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't stop!"
In fact, his victim said: "Don't! Stop! Don't! Stop! Don't! Stop!"
When Smirk was president, clear-sighted Americans kept saying: "Don't! Stop! Don't! Stop! Don't! Stop!"
Smirk's reply?
Here's the videotape of Dubyah's "victory salute" to the American people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0IJkD0znCQ
Pass the K-Y and spread those cheeks.
***
PS Perhaps Mencken's best know quotation is his epitomization of the conservative psyche: "Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a well-known solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong."
On Thu, Jun 5, 2014 at 5:08 PM, GC wrote:
----- Original Message -----
From:To:Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2014 8:41 AMSubject: Fwd: The Wisdom of Yesteryear
IT ACTUALLY CAME TRUE !!! WHO COULD HAVE GUESSED ???
The Wisdom of Yesteryear
94 Year Old ProphecyH.L. Mencken (born 1880 - died 1956) was a journalist, satirist, critic, and a registered Democrat.He wrote the editorial..."As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people.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 occupied by a downright fool and complete narcissistic moron."-- H.L. Mencken, the Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920So it was written, and so it has come to pass ...
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