CITY JOURNAL
A Demagogic Bully
by Mark Pulliam
July 27, 2017

H.L. Mencken described the secret of successful demagoguery as keep[ing] the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary; Mencken was referring to practical politics, but his insight is equally applicable to public relations and fundraising campaigns trafficking in extravagant claims. For the past 40 years, a self-styled watchdog group, the Southern Poverty Law Center, has excelled in promoting such unwarranted alarm, with a politicized series of hobgoblins, in the process amassing a fortune from its credulous donors. READ MORE