[perfect stranger]

Printed in The Wall Street Journal Editorial page - December 24, 1998 H.L. Mencken (1880-1956), the legendary Baltimore newspaperman, wrote the following story, originally entitled "Stare Decisis," for the New Yorker. It was published as a book in 1948. To mark the book's 50th anniversary, we present Journal readers with a slightly abbreviated version of Mencken's classic tale.

[Clemenza]

Not my favorite Mencken piece, but anything by Mencken still makes 95% of today's commentator's look like they should be writing for Highlights.

[21stCenturion]

...

[perfect stranger]

Here.