Appealing to the values of an ignorant majority is quite an ironic position to take when defending Mencken. More pragmatically, he was a misanthrope, which, wh

Appealing to the values of an ignorant majority is quite an ironic position to take when defending Mencken. More pragmatically, he was a misanthrope, which, whatever its other charms, rarely serves one well in seeing past ingrained bigotry and bias.