[As Proves]: Nostalgia ain't what it used to be. Except: H. L. Mencken, Genius even in 1927.

Philip Cohen
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Nov 13, 2018 · 77 min read

The P.T. Barnum of our age …
“Some men can learn almost indefinitely; their capacity goes on increasing until their bodies begin to wear out. Others stop in childhood, even in infancy. They reach, say, the mental age of ten or twelve, and then they develop no more. Physically, they become men, and sprout beards, political delusions, and the desire to propagate their kind. But mentally they remain on the level of schoolboys.” — H.L. Mencken, “Notes on Democracy,” (1927) — Sound like anyone we all know?
Trump (“IQ45”) is the epitome of the “Dunning–Kruger Effect” (http://bit.ly/2pOc7az) He’s an oaf — a dangerous, ignorant, clueless, coprocephalic oaf. But for his having been born into great wealth he’d likely now be selling broken-pack cigarettes on a street corner and sleeping under a bridge somewhere. Video https://youtu.be/AOPyzgIwy9U

George F. Will best described Trump in 2012: “bloviating ignoramus” http://bit.ly/2Gc2pRa (1:08)