Related:

• RABBLE, n. In a republic, those who exercise a supreme authority tempered by fraudulent elections.
  The rabble is like the sacred Simurgh, of Arabian fable -- omnipotent on condition that it do nothing....
• ROSTRUM, n. In Latin, the beak of a bird or the prow of a ship.
  In America, a place from which a candidate for office energetically expounds the wisdom, virtue and power of the rabble....
• ORATORY, n. A conspiracy between speech and action to cheat the understanding.
  A tyranny tempered by stenography. -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary...
• EULOGY, n. Praise of a person who has either the advantages of wealth and power, or the consideration to be dead.
  -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary...
• COMPULSION, n. The eloquence of power. -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary
• FIDELITY, n. A virtue peculiar to those who are about to be betrayed.
  -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary...
• PLAUDITS, n. Coins with which the populace pays those who tickle and devour it.
  -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary...
• He laughs best who laughs least. -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary
• BEARD, n. The hair that is commonly cut off by those who justly execrate the absurd Chinese custom of shaving the head.
  -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary...