On this day in 1931, the Arkansas state legislature passed a motion to pray for the soul of H. L. Mencken. One of Mencken's Laws was "Nature abhors a moron," and one of his favorite pastimes was to attack the South for being especially ruled by the "booboisie"; upon finding itself elevated to "the apex of moronia," Arkansas had apparently had enough. Mencken had drawn international attention with his mocking reports on the Scopes Evolution Trial in 1925, but he had long-attacked the South for its devolution from "a civilization of manifold excellences" to a Home Sweet Home for "Ku Kluxery," "Bible Belt barbarism," "poor white trash ... FULL STORY »
