No time to go into to anything much right now, but there are tons of links to online writings by Mencken.
This is from the front page:
Mencken's Creed
I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind - that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.
I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.
I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty...
I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.
I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech...
I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.
I believe in the reality of progress.
I - But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.
I came to it starting with Wendy Kaminer's Opinion Journal article, The American Liberal Liberties Union: The ACLU is becoming very selective about what it considers "free" speech, which led to The Free For All blog - particularly this post by Harvey Silverglate, and a link to Mencken's obit of William Jennings Bryan. That led me to google Mencken and find that great treasure trove.
That obit is entitled, "To Expose a Fool." Pretty good intro to Mencken. It doesn't quite refute the mischaracterization of him presented by Hollywood in the movie Inherit the Wind, but I think the credo I posted above covers that.
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