A great quote, but even better when the full quote is used:
"The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office. Their principal device to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something they can't get and to promise to give it to them. Nine times out of ten that promise is worth nothing. The tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B. In other words, government is a broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods."
I'm not a big Mencken fan, but in this case do the additional sentences nail it, or what?
Excellent quote. He really could put words together, and sometimes had a terrific insight. I'm much more of an Ambrose Bierce fan, though.
He was right about government.