93 Year Old Prediction Comes True

[FaninAma]

93 Year Old Prophecy Comes To Pass...
H.L. Mencken (born 1880 - died 1956) was a journalist, satirist, critic and Democrat. He wrote this editorial while working for the Baltimore Evening Sun, which appeared in the July 26, 1920, edition:
"As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents more and more closely the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and complete narcissistic moron."
---H.L. Mencken, The Baltimore Evening Sun.

[olevetonahill]

Heh.

[KantoSooner]

I think we got there less than two decades after that was written.

[REDREX]

Obama is very weak and a poor leader

[FaninAma]

I think we got there less than two decades after that was written.
Probably. I think it is only getting worse.

FDR: definitely a narcissist but not a fool.
Truman: Neither although I do question his intelligence on some decisions.
Ike: Neither
JFK: Neither
LBJ: Psychotic and evil but not a narcissist and not a fool.
Nixon: Paranoid Narcissist. Not a fool.
Carter: idiot. Not a narcissist.
Reagan: Neither
Bush I: Neither.
Clinton: Smart guy but total narcissist
Bush II: Nice Guy but total idiot.
Obama: Bingo. Total narcissist and totally incompetent.

[KantoSooner]

I'd have been harsher on FDR. "Rescued" by the Second World War.

[TAFBSooner]

I'd have been harsher on FDR. "Rescued" by the Second World War.

Are you referring to the 1940-1945 ginormous government jobs program (paid for on the cuff) that replaced the very large but not big enough government jobs programs (paid for on the cuff) of the WPA, CCC, etc?

[Curly Bill]

I might have to throw LBJ into the narcissist camp!

[KantoSooner]

Are you referring to the 1940-1945 ginormous government jobs program (paid for on the cuff) that replaced the very large but not big enough government jobs programs (paid for on the cuff) of the WPA, CCC, etc?

More thinking that, whatever the motivation, we were going to spend and hire a lot in fighting a war and then VOILA, discover after it was all done that all our international competition had been bombed flat. Yippee! No competitors for twenty years! Yay!

[TAFBSooner]

More thinking that, whatever the motivation, we were going to spend and hire a lot in fighting a war and then VOILA, discover after it was all done that all our international competition had been bombed flat. Yippee! No competitors for twenty years! Yay!

From the POV of employment, FDR was "rescued" by sometime in 1942 - due to federal deficit spending, not due to the, err, enhanced competitive arena.

Would the CCC and WPA have kick-started the economy, without a war, before the debt became paralyzing, if they were large enough and lasted long enough? Keynes thought so, the U of Chicago boys claimed that they wouldn't, but that experiment hasn't been run.