Thank the Maker!

. . . for Ambrose Bierce! Yet Another Must-Read Author (YAMRA). Some choice quotes:

• War is God's way of teaching Americans geography.
• Christian, n. One who follows the teachings of Christ insofar as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.
• Politics: The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.

Now there's a man who's not just a cynic, but a cynic for the ages. Makes you realize the curent disgusting tumult and slime tossing in the public arena is merely a recycling -- perhaps, more accurately, a regurgitation -- of that which came before: and only more sophisticated in having a slightly broadened scope, an ever-accelerating speed, and an exchange of coherence for cacophony.