As for his anti-Semitism, Mencken routinely identified his peers as “clever” Jews or “highly dubious” Jews or, in the case of the Annenbergs in Philadelphia, “low-grade Jews.”
Clever Highly dubious Low-grade
Carson Vaughan is overplaying the anti-Semitic card
Have you heard the descriptions of Bibi Netanyahu?
"I did not forgive Mencken. I did accept him. And in acknowledging his many flaws, I was able to move past them, stirred by a bigot to rejoin the movement against bigotry." Utterly nauseating statement
"This should have been the end, but then, in January of last year, two masked gunmen forced their way into the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly often accused of bigotry itself, and opened fire in the name of Allah. Twelve deaths. Eleven injuries. Because Charlie Hebdo relentlessly satirized the prophet Muhammad, because the magazine routinely practiced its right to offend, and because both shooters were Islamists, the first wave of pundits called the massacre an attack on free speech. The second wave agreed, though less resolutely, questioning the moral efficacy of a publication that would intentionally print sacrilege in the age of extremism. Regardless, millions worldwide raised their pencils in solidarity. Je suis Charlie."
Author spends more time criticizing Charlie Hebdo for being offensive, makes zero judgment about the 2 masked gunmen Islamists. Quite a stark contrast from a few paragraphs when he discusses Michael Brown and Ferguson. How do you say Hands up, don't shoot in French?
"But those who question the efficacy of satire often do so on the grounds that its target will invariably miss the point in a way that reinforces existing stereotypes."
Stereotypes exist for a reason because most stereotypes are true and rarely become outdated.
"More than once, Charlie Hebdo and H. L. Mencken have missed the mark." Poor choice of words, the irony! And he is blaming the victims. Adding insult to injury to homicide.
In Menken’s view, democracy was nothing if not a performance art.
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