All of the American's foreign wars have been fought with foes either too weak to resist them or too heavily engaged elsewhere to make more than a half-hearted attempt. The combats with Mexico and Spain were not wars; they were simply lynchings.
Interpretation
This quote criticizes America's foreign wars as being fought against weak opponents or under unfair conditions.
H. L. Mencken's quote reflects a cynical view of American foreign policy, suggesting that the nation's military engagements have often been against adversaries that could not genuinely resist, rendering them more akin to acts of aggression than honorable warfare. He implies that wars against nations like Mexico and Spain lacked the characteristics of true conflict, instead characterizing them as acts of violence against the defenseless.
In practice
This quote would be impactful in a debate about the ethics of war in a public forum.
I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any value in school. All that schoolmasters managed to accomplish with them was to test and determine the amount of knowledge that they had already acquired independently-and not infrequently the determination was made clumsily and inaccurately.
It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the idea that after all God will not help him
It is the theory of all modern civilized governments that they protect and foster the liberty of the citizen; it is the practice of all of them to limit its exercise, and sometimes very narrowly.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
It is my conviction that no normal man ever fell in love, within the ordinary meaning of the term, after the age of thirty.
Face the truth squarely. In politics that is always the best and the only correct attitude.
A rigid economy of the public contributions and absolute interdiction of all useless expenses will go far towards keeping the government honest and unoppressive.
We are in a period when old questions are settled and the new are not yet brought forward. Extreme party action, if continued in such a time, would ruin the party. Moderation is its only chance. The party out of power gains by all partisan conduct of those in power
If you care about women's rights, you can't not vote.
Populism has had as many incarnations as it has had provocations, but its constant ingredient has been resentment, and hence whininess. Populism does not wax in tranquil times; it is a cathartic response to serious problems. But it always wanes because it never seems serious as a solution.
Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary.
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