Monday, September 02, 2019
Not so strange now
'True' magazine briefly tried a radio program competing with Hix and Ripley. They didn't succeed, and only a couple of episodes remain. This one includes a story about George Francis Train, who was a serial IPO artist. He founded a streetcar line in England which failed because of poor design. He was more successful with pure monetary fraud, founding Credit Mobilier to take advantage of Madman Lincoln's railroad subsidies.
The radio episode features Train's candidacy in the 1872 election. He made hundreds of speeches and whistlestop appearances, then withdrew long before the convention. Turns out he was charging admission to his speeches. He wasn't really running, he was just committing fraud as usual.
In the '30s this approach to politics was bizarre enough to be mentioned in a Hix-type program. Now it's the norm. We have dozens of "candidates" who clearly have no intention of running or serving. They're just making money from the publicity.
From smoke-filled rooms to woke-filled rooms, it's always the same.
¶ 12:57 AM 
