Wrong? By a little bit, but, yes.

More people voted for Hillary but Mencken could not have foreseen Russia helping put Trump in office.

Mencken was on the right track.

He was an unregenerate racist and anti-semite, period.

But his moral shortcomings do not contradict the truth of the quoted statement. In fact, recent American history kind of proves it. To whit: 63,000,000 grown men and women voted in 2016 for a barely literate, misogynistic rapist, racist, xenophobic greedy incompetent wannabe billionaire con-man. All of those negative traits were made blindingly clear before the election. Worse, about 40,000,000 of those turkeys, it has been estimated, would vote for the man again tomorrow, regardless of (for some, because of) his obvious alliances with dictators, his snuggling up to Russia, his corruptions that have been exposed as such by the courts.

Why support such a venal, horrible person? Because he is the personification of leadership and the savior of America in their sorry little minds.

Donald's popularity continues in some cases because of his failings as a man and in some cases in spite of those failings -- because people like what his handlers (Fox news included) present him to be. I saw a brief video on the news of an interview with midwestern farmers who's livelihoods were threatened by Donald's "trade" policies. Asked if they would continue to support the man even if they lost their farms, these men said yes, they would, with one going so far as to say "Yes, to the death!" and the others nodding in assent. That interview sadly represents the epitome of Mencken's view of "democracy."

63,000,000 people liked what he was telling them. 40,000,000 still think he's wonderful. And it is not impossible that that number will increase -- even without Russian help -- in time for Donald to win re-election in 2020

Else you're going to be either very, very bored or very, very disillusioned.

I remember people bringing the quote up under W as well, and I didn't remember narcissist in there, either.

(they probably brought it up under Reagan as well, but that was before the internet)

I don't remember who this was attributed to, but this person said, "people basically get the government they deserve." I believe that's correct. There are always those who are stupid and will vote against their own basic monetary and security self-interest, because they are willing dupes, led through their noses by demagogues spouting what they feel in their innermost heart of hearts. Then their are those who will sit on their collective asses, because they just "aren't inspired" enough to get out and vote, whether their hearts in the action or not. Others are so oblivious that they don't even realize that there's an election to care about. Unfortunately, in 2018 the United States reached a critical point, and non-participants, along with those who felt piqued enough to vote for candidates who didn't have a prayer of winning the race, because they wanted to protest. Well, they along with the other idiots, swung the insertion of Russia's favorite useful idiot into the most powerful position on the dying planet.

I don't believe I deserved this demagogue fool, but those who allowed it to happen sure did. Unfortunately, we all - along with planet Earth - are suffering for it.

Sinclair Lewis on his novel "It Can't Happen Here!", written in 1935 also predicted the rise of a narcissistic fool, but as always, people always think that it can't happen in their country, it is a common reaction, that human instinct of becoming ostriches (hiding our heads in the sand) just to avoid thinking and accepting that the worst CAN happen here. The biggest problem with that is, like with the ostrich, we don't see the machete coming, and suddenly it is too late, the fight becomes something more monumental than having had the guts to accept that we are also vulnerable, and also accept that elections do have consequences.

On "elections do have consequences" I was hoping that after the G.W. Bush fiasco we would have learned our lesson, but no, the ignorance remains the same. That after eight good years of Obama's presidency we would also understand that we needed to continue the same path of progress, but no, ignorance won once again.

We have to fight for education, an educated country will not fall for the evil stupidity that republicans spew on a daily basis, that is why Scandinavian countries are doing so well, free education makes sure that people learn to analyze, to expand their minds and see humans as humans, see past the color of their skin, and understand that we are all working for each other.

as glorious as our educations have led us to believe.

having said that, I never thought I'd be alive to see that day this prediction came true. yet here we are.