H. L. Mencken enjoys a local resurgence.

It is with a palpable sense of amusement that longtime aficionados of H. L. Mencken look on as the Sage of Baltimore is embraced by those who would have you believe, mistakenly, that a solitary quotation does justice to the canon of curmudgeonly feistiness left behind by this unparalleled master of the art of the polemic.

As a mental exercise, a proper appreciation of Mencken is neither simple, nor easy. Recognition of Mencken’s worldview as a whole is essential, lest one be lulled into the enthusiastic embrace of one or another of his colorful quotes without noticing that he’s picked your philosophical pocket in the meantime.

For instance, take this oft-quoted Mencken chestnut as an example:

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

Before embracing this sentiment as the call to arms for an assault on whichever politician currently has one’s goat, remember that Mencken was one of the earliest advocates of unrestricted bile as a means of equal opportunity, and while he may be mistrustful of elected officials as a class, he will provide absolutely no succor for those contending that the solution to the problem of bad politicians is more comprehensive democracy (small “d”) – especially if this democracy is to be cultivated by the “common man”:

All professional philosophers tend to assume that common sense means the mental habit of the common man. Nothing could be further from the mark. The common man is chiefly to be distinguished by his plentiful lack of common sense: he believes things on evidence that is too scanty, or that distorts the plain facts, or that is full of non-sequiturs. Common sense really involves making full use of all the demonstrable evidence and of nothing but the demonstrable evidence.

And, as we know, common sense is remarkably uncommon.

For what it’s worth, I believe a case can be made that a corrupt politician is potentially of more use to society than an honest one, if the bad one’s graft can be measured and incorporated in the cost of doing business, and if the latter insists on pursuing policies that are designed to thwart progress and bring society down to his or her level of honest, uncreative poverty rather than to lift people up toward better things.

But that’s for another time.

Here is Mencken's Creed, which I cannot currently verify as to point of origin, but nonetheless seems to be an accurate reflection of his point of view.

I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind - that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.

I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.

I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty...

I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.

I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech ...

I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.

I believe in the reality of progress.

I - But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.

http://www.io.com/~gibbonsb/mencken.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.L._Mencken