H. L. Mencken

Here are some H. L. Mencken [1880-1956] quotes that are good to remember when thinking about politicians in general:

A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.

Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.

I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.

All government, of course, is against liberty.

Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.

Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes as he formerly got in wages.

And some that are relevant to Progressives in particular:

The theory seems to be that as long as a man is a failure he is one of God's children, but that as soon as he succeeds he is taken over by the Devil.

The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

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.

It is not materialism that is the chief curse of the world, as pastors teach, but idealism. Men get into trouble by taking their visions and hallucinations too seriously.

It is also good to remember that Mencken himself both believed in and helped to shape the Progressive agenda. He was simply too experienced and too cynical to accept it for himself or to believe that he himself was a "common man". And he detested most politicians, with a special distrust of Franklin Roosevelt.

Here is a Mencken quote on Political Correctness that is lost on today's liberals:

We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.

And some acrid observations on democracy [which are shared by almost all politicians, but never in public]:

No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.

Most people want security in this world, not liberty.

The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety.

Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.

Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.

Democracy is only a dream: it should be put in the same category as Arcadia, Santa Claus, and Heaven.

Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.

And a great quote on politics and human nature:

Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.

And a good quote to remember whenever any politician or advocate or pundit is speaking [or writing emails]:

There is always an easy solution to every problem - neat, plausible, and wrong.