Hoisting the Black Flag

 

The "black flag" referred to by the Sage of Baltimore, H.L. Mencken, in the quote at the head of this post likely is the flag associated with piracy.  It would sometimes be adorned with a skull and bones, crossed, and be called the "Jolly Roger."  The black flag may be contrasted with the white flag which signals surrender.  Black symbolizes defiance and anger; fury and rage, in fact.  No quarter given or expected.  Violence.  Thus the reference to slitting throats.

We can take comfort in the use of the word "tempted" here.  No claim is made by Mencken that a normal person must or would or should actually slit throats.  Nor do I make any such claim.  That's something no aspiring Stoic could do.  But the times are such that a person may be tempted to hoist the Black Flag, metaphorically speaking at least.

I don't recall a time during my sadly rather lengthy lifetime (relatively speaking) when our politics and society have been so clearly corrupt.  The corruption of our politics is exacerbated by the incompetence and venality of our politicians.  Worse is the abject, cringing manner in which they carry out the commands of their paymasters and the morally if not yet physically scabrous figure lurking in White House.

If we look to humanity's long history we'll find instances in which governments have been as wretched and even more wretched than that which now abides.  But I doubt we'll be able to identify one which held the history and ideals of the nation and people it governed in contempt.  Yet that's characteristic of this government.  It flaunts it's contempt for freedom of thought and expression.  It demands that private institutions act as it deems fit; it actively hinders efforts to assist the poor and needy; it's intolerant of views which differ from those it relentlessly promotes.  In these respects and its hatred for the rule of law it's decidedly against the idea of American exceptionalism.

It's this determined effort to subvert constitutional rights and the Constitution itself that renders our so-called leaders despicable. Their smugness and self-righteousness while going about this subversion adds to the temptation referred to by Mencken.  It's difficult to believe our Great Republic has devolved so entirely, so quickly.