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November 02, 2008
Political Wisdom from The Bard
Don Boudreaux
Here's a letter of mine published in today's New York Post:
Although Kirsten Powers recognizes that Democrats howled in protest against Bush's presidency, she's shocked that Republicans now howl in protest against the prospect of an Obama presidency ("Deranged by O," PostOpinion, Oct. 29).
In politics, such histrionics are inevitable.
As H.L. Mencken observed, "Under democracy, one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right."
Donald J. Boudreaux,
Fairfax, Va.
This Mencken quotation is from H.L. Mencken, Minority Report (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997 [1956]), p. 222.
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Comments
The Bard typically refers to Shakespeare, not Mencken. Fix the headline.
Posted by: A | Nov 2, 2008 7:43:10 AM
Mencken is popularly known as the Bard of Baltimore. The headline needs no fixing.
Posted by: Don Boudreaux | Nov 2, 2008 8:20:24 AM
It's one of the baffling aspects of the human mind, especially related to partisan politics -- one side can rail endlessly against the evil of the other then become indignant and morally outraged when their party is attacked.
Perhaps we need, if there is not already one in existence, a psychological diagnosis for partisanism.
Posted by: mike farmer | Nov 2, 2008 9:19:51 AM
FYI, Wikipedia says he's the "Sage of Baltimore."
Posted by: Thomas | Nov 2, 2008 3:37:28 PM
"bard of Baltimore" has a much nicer ring to it.
Posted by: ps | Nov 2, 2008 8:58:56 PM
The Bush administration ordered Americans to torture.
It is disgraceful to apologize for the Bush administration.
Posted by: T L Holaday | Nov 2, 2008 11:12:57 PM
Miss the point, T L.
I'm looking hard for that "apology", maybe you could point it out to us.
Posted by: Sam Grove | Nov 2, 2008 11:58:41 PM
T.L. Holaday is ordered by his dementia to inflict his mewlings upon innocent Cafe patrons.
It is difficult to apologize for looney leftys.
Posted by: vidyohs | Nov 3, 2008 6:13:08 AM
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