by Chuck Rogér

What can we expect when a majority of Americans finally comes to terms with a disgusting reality that H.L. Mencken exposed 71 years ago? In an article titled “The Suicide of Democracy,”¹ Mencken wrote:

In an ideal democracy, [the citizen] learns, property is at the disposal, not of its owners, but of politicians, and the chief business of politicians is to collar it by fair means or foul, and redistribute it to those whose votes have put them in office.

The Fathers of the Republic, who seem to have been men of suspicious minds, apparently foresaw that the theory of democracy might develop along such lines, and they went to some trouble to prevent it. Their chief device to that end was the scheme of limited powers. Rejecting the old concept of government as a kind of primal entity, they tried to make it a mere creature of the people. So far it could go, but no further. Within its proper province it had all the prerogotives that were necessary to its existence, but beyond that province it had none at all. It could do what it was specifically authorized to do, but nothing else. The Constitution was simply a record specifying its bounds. The Fathers, taught by their own long debates, knew that efforts would be made, from time to time, to change the Constitution as they had framed it, so they made the process as difficult as possible, and hoped that they had prevented frequent resort to it. Unhappily, they did not foresee the possibility of making changes, not by formal act, but by mere political intimidation — not by recasting its terms, but by distorting their meaning. If they were alive today, they would be painfully aware of their oversight. The formal revisions of the Constitution have been relatively few, but at this moment it is completely at the mercy of a gang of demagogues consecrated to reading into it governmental powers that are not only wholly foreign to its spirit, but categorically repugnant to its terms.

Dishonest, manipulative, agenda-consumed politicians who hold power will not easily surrender that power. Today, an overwhelmingly “progressive” mainstream media feed progressive politicians’ lies as truth directly to the people, thereby reinforcing the lies, giving the lies credibility in the minds of a mostly gullible electorate. The education establishment distorts school curricula and softens the brains of the young, creating sponges eager to soak up the media-reinforced political untruths.

But when the growing awareness of this nastiness reaches a critical mass, just what kind of ugly revolt will America be in for? Just what will happen when the cries of ”Stop!” reach deafening levels but the ruling class elites ignore the calls?
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¹ H.L. Mencken, A Second Mencken Chrestomathy ^[1], Vintage Books, 1994, p. 49.