#like...there are ways to defend Roman but diluting Mencken isn't one of them

[sunflowerdigs]

Just a few things about Mencken. I really loved that Succession made his language so coded because that's how fascists operate, with dog whistles and euphemisms. It's also, interestingly enough, how closeted gay men are forced to speak in order to find each other safely, so I think Succession was doing double-duty there (especially because Roman is indifferent to Mencken until he realizes that they speak the same way). But, anyway:

- the line about "tell me who your enemy is and I'll tell you who you are" comes from an avowed and unrepentant Nazi, Carl Schmitt. I guess right now he's popular with the crowd who feels like you can seperate political philosophy from bigotry when it comes to scholars, which is...maybe possible but needs to be done with a leve of care I doubt the brash Mencken is capable of. The quote represents him really well.

- "40's and boomboxes" is a dog whistle for black people. "Hardworking rural farmers" is a dog whistle for poor whites. So basically what he said is that black people are showing up with our loud music (likely a reference to the murder of Jordan Davis in Florida, though Mencken is taking the side of the white man who shot him for simply playing his music loudly) and rap culture and are taking things that white people have worked hard to build (with the help of the government). It's a popular white nationalist talking point and is, obviously, completely false and based entirely on racist stereotypes.

- Roman asks him who would ideally get to be part of his coalition/party and Mencken says that people trust people who look like them and are more willing to pay taxes to cover services for them. This is sort of true, though it doesn't take into account the prejudice against Ethnic minorities that is rampant in Europe (anti-Polish sentiment in the UK, for example) and was popular in American even as the country justified slavery. Anyway, it's a popular justification for white nationalist views. The problem is, what happens to the people who don't look like you? Assuming that Mencken would support "H"'s solution there (H being, obviously, Hitler) would actually be fair given that he talks about cribbing from the man.

So like...Mencken is straight up evil. We're supposed to think that. I kind of wish Succession had...decoded him a bit somehow. But perhaps the show is planning on having him do something in the finale that shows his true colors? Idk. Anyway, it's pertinent to note that Roman doesn't necessarily agree with his ideas, he just thinks he'd boost ratings. So, Roman isn't a fascist in that he doesn't subscribe to what Mencken is saying. That's not the point. The point is Roman's lack of empathy for the people who will have to deal with the consequences of ATN pushing fascist rhetoric. My suspicion is that the show will punish Roman by pointing out how either he or someone he loves is one of those people.