H.L. Mencken Club vs. H.L. Mencken

Columnist Mike Moran wishes a group some have called racist would find a new name.

By Mike Moran (North Baltimore Patch, 11/8/2012)

On Nov. 9 of this year, the fifth annual conference of the H.L. Mencken Club will be kicking off, just outside of Baltimore in BWI’s hotel district. How honored we Baltimoreans must be for this elite society to have christened itself with the name of one of our most beloved citizens, the great early 20th century writer, skeptic, and old-timey smart-ass, H.L. Mencken. With this year’s topic of “Challenging the Historical Consensus,” the H.L. Mencken Club will, no doubt, celebrate its namesake’s legacy of skepticism, witty intellect and of course white supremacy

…wait, what?

Well, here’s the thing, the group known as The H.L. Mencken Club is part of the “paleoconservative” movement, a political ideology that stresses the strict preservation of Western culture to such a degree that they’ve been referred to by some as “suit and tie Nazis” and “uptown Klan.”

The small but growing society, keeps distant from the usual “white power” suspects as these fellows (and there aren’t many women) are armed with masters degrees, articulation, and enough sense to keep things low-key. There won’t be any cross burnings, sieg-heilings, or adorably groomed Hitler-staches here.

It’s difficult to nail down the exact views of the HL Mencken club members. A casual foray into theirwebsitepodcasts and the various writings of the club’s all-star players, presents a bizarre mixed bag of political philosophies. Antipathy toward the immigration of non-whites to the U.S. seems to be the one thing the group agrees on. The rest is a strange blend of relatively innocent ideas akin to “small r” republicanism and isolationism, mixed with disturbingly academic versions of social Darwinism,racial eugenics, and the preservation of white-Christian heritage.

Continue reading “H.L. Mencken Club vs. H.L. Mencken” at North Baltimore Patch.

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