Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for November 11, 2024

How come he’s not holding a drink, as he usually does?

And it would have really screwed up you’re learning curve

If the candidates actually took the time to apply to Walden, how outstanding could they be?

wonder if they’ll outlaw political satire.

We’ve just seen something that’s only happened once before in American history. Grover Cleveland won the presidency in 1884, lost it in 1888, and won it back again in 1892, becoming President #22 and 24. Donald Trump won in 2016, lost in 2020, and won again in 2024, becoming President #45 and 47. (Cleveland won the popular vote all 3 times, tho; Trump, only the last time.)

Besides that similarity, they share a mutual interest in the federal civil-service system. Thruout most of the 19th Century, every time the White House changed occupants, there was massive turnover in federal offices, as jobs were awarded to members of the incoming president’s party. It didn’t much matter whether the new office-holders had much experience in those jobs, or even basic competence; those weren’t the primary criteria. Party loyalty was all that mattered. This was most noticeable in the favorite political plums of all: postmasterships in every city, village, town, and hamlet in the country, where party activists could be rewarded with a spot on the federal payroll without having to leave home. Of course, it meant the mail was screwed up everywhere for a couple of months thereafter, but hey, to the victor belong the spoils, right? That’s why this approach was called the “spoils system”.

Cleveland didn’t like it. He wanted the public to be served by people who actually knew what they were doing and were good at it, so his administration created job requirements, recruited people who met them, encouraged them to develop detailed expertise, and rewarded good performance and longevity, so it was possible to make a career out of government work and actually establish institutional memory within the various departments and bureaus.

But, as I said, he and Trump share a mutual interest in the civil service. Cleveland created it; Trump wants to destroy it.

Ah, good old preemptive rejection.

Sounds like the way a lot of liberal art colleges are. Just throw you money away.

From Patti Smith: “There are times in our life when we must go underground, NOT in retreat but to self-heal, and build our community in terms of good, not party, not self interest, but as a mobilizing energy propelled by benevolence. This is not rhetorical. It is a plan. I started this morning with my offspring, then slowly with distraught friends. And now with you. Do not feel cornered, hemmed in. Do not let your mental and heart space be dictated by others. Navigate the world around you as best you can, and live in the world of your world.”

Institutionalized “sour grapes”

I remember the Republican Party. In the 1990’s the impeached Clinton for lying about an affair with an intern.

Fast forward to 2016 and they voted for the guy with was on the Access Hollywood tape.

Fast forward again and the voted to re-elect the guy who tried to stay in office after loosing the previous election.

I’d say it’s funny how things change, but actually, it is not.

History is watching.

About Grover Cleveland—-the big argument then was whether America should be on The Gold Standard or the Silver Standard.

Religious fanatic William Jennings Bryan ran for GOP President three times(1896,1900,1908) on the silver ticket.("We shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!:)