All of the great patriots now engaged in edging and squirming their way
toward the Presidency of the Republic run true to form. That is to say,
they are all extremely wary, and all more or less palpable frauds. What
they want, primarily, is the job; the necessary equipment of unescapable
issues, immutable principles and soaring ideals can wait until it
becomes more certain which way the mob will be whooping.
-- H. L. Mencken, on the 1920 election campaign
So Richard and I decided to try to catch [the small shark].
With a great deal of strategy and effort and shouting, we managed to
maneuver the shark, over the course of about a half-hour, to a sort of
corner of the lagoon, so that it had no way to escape other than to
flop up onto the land and evolve....
