I still can’t really talk too much about the stuff happening in Washington without vapor-locking anymore, but I can still bring up some great quotes that remain pretty darn relevant to this day.

H.L. Mencken was an insufferable curmudgeon, a crotchety old blowhard, and one of the smartest Americans to put pen to paper in the last century. He was one of the country’s greatest journalists and satirists since Mark Twain, and has a fair number of brilliant quips that hold great truth to this day. He’s best known for the observation that “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” That’s hardly his most insightful statement. Here’s some more of the wisdom of Mencken we should all think a while about.

• “All government, of course, is against liberty.” (Most notably this one)
• “An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.” (Perhaps we should consider Iraq a rose stew, rather than a quagmire)
• “A Sunday school is a prison in which children do penance for the evil conscience of their parents.” (The more evil the conscience, the more it seems they want to cram Sunday school into every day and everil building)
• “Each party steals so many articles of faith from the other, and the candidates spend so much time making each other’s speeches, that by the time election day is past there is nothing much to do save turn the sitting rascals out and let a new gang in.” (George Allen, I’m looking at you)
• “For centuries, theologians have been explaining the unknowable in terms of the-not-worth-knowing.” (Intelligently designed cynicism!)
• “Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” (Unfortunately, those most tempted are currently running our government)
• “I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.” (Notice how he doesn’t say anything about it being better to live under an authoritarian boot out of fear of “terrorist attack”)
• “It is impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf.” (Maybe “someone you could have a beer with” isn’t the best characteristic in a great mind)
• “Morality is the theory that every human act must be either right or wrong, and that 99 % of them are wrong” (Moral majority!)
• “The worst government is often the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression.”
  

Really, nothing more need be said.

Interesting. Sure it’s mostly the more westernized things, but check out this page about what Iran looks like these days. A little preview:

Yeah there’s a country that needs liberated, huh? Damn crazy regimes.

[tags]iran, middle east[/tags]