CSotD: While We Wait For The Verdict

Pia Guerra

David Rowe

A pair of rapid responses to last night’s debate: Guerra from the Canadian West Coast, Rowe from Australia, but let’s wait to see what cartoonists who work at a more deliberate pace have to say about it, not that either of these is hasty with their graphics or their thinking.

IMHO, Guerra exaggerates what nearly every observer has concluded, which is that Harris dominated the debate. Even Fox News conceded that point, and Trump wandered down into the media room after the event ended, which is not the move of a confident victor, but rather that of someone hoping to do a little damage control.

But I don’t think it was a knockout, and I prefer Rowe’s take, which is that Harris played him, luring him into some areas to which he should not have gone. There were things that didn’t happen, like a firm statement about how tariffs work, but there were a good many that did, and he was provoked into making a couple of statements so outrageously wrong that the moderators performed some instant fact-checking.

And Rowe tosses in Taylor Swift’s endorsement, which followed the debate and may have more impact on the vote than that of Dick Cheney.

It’s not an issue of who is the more substantial political figure but rather the fact that Swift can turn out fresh young voters, while Cheney’s action is more likely to confirm the views of those already planning to vote for Harris.

And that factor colors my view of the debate: Those who have already made up their minds found confirmation, whichever way they planned to vote, but the undecideds and the wavering will likely wait to see the spin that follows, or at least to hear the discussions this morning at work.

I plan to wait until more cartoonists weigh in, because I operate on the Boss Tweed principle that it matters less what is written than the “damn pictures” and TV chatter that will influence the low-information voters who are likely to swing the election.

So let’s turn to the funny pages while we wait.

I really like where Tahuid Bondia is taking the dyslexia story arc in Crabgrass (AMS).

My experience is of undiagnosed ADHD, which my son also reached adulthood without recognizing, though one of his daughters was diagnosed in elementary school. It’s a changing world.

But Kevin’s notion that his own world is going to change that much may be overly optimistic. He may not be nagged and punished the way we undiagnosed people were, but, if the story reflects reality, the skies are not about to open up into warm, brilliant sunshine.

In my experience, as a student and then a parent, the good teachers have already sensed a need to dig in and work with him, while the not-so-good ones will only respond somewhat mechanically.

Which brings us to Mrs. MacIntosh, the good teacher in Wallace the Brave (AMS). While the same teacher year after year is a standard element in comic strips, there is a suggestion that perhaps Snug Harbor really has a one-room school, as demonstrated in the continuity discussion here.

Whatever the specifics, however, Mrs. MacIntosh is one of those rare teachers that kids will remember fondly all their lives, and Will Henry depicts her lovingly dealing with a class that includes Wallace and Amelia, a pair of mischief-makers, Rose, whose studiousness should be encouraged but whose need for order and discipline may need to be softened a bit, and dear Spud, who may secretly be her favorite.

I had one of those great teachers in the fourth grade, and she passed me on to another fine woman for fifth. But the process reminds me of a tough conversation I had with a teacher at a school which, like ours, had three classrooms in each grade.

The problem, she said, comes when you know the next grade level features a great teacher, an okay teacher and someone toxic, and you need to divide up your flock at the end of the year and assign them to their next classroom.

Do you give the solid kids to the toxic teacher, hoping they have the capacity to survive, or sacrifice the kids who probably aren’t going to get far anyway? Or do you give those struggling kids to the great teacher and hope she can work a few miracles?

She described genuine anguish. I also had a superintendent tell me that every administrator has a list of people who need to retire, and watches that list waiting for the school to become a more healthy place for kids.

I’m anxious to see who Kevin has this year, and hoping against the odds that there is a Mrs. MacIntosh in Crabgrass.

Juxtaposition of the Day

Mr. Boffo

Deflocked — AMS

Pearls Before Swine — AMS

Whoops. Looks like we accidentally circled back to the debate after all. One of the most effective and striking statements Harris made was that Donald Trump is for the uberwealthy while she is trying to improve life for all Americans.

It’s not just about Trump and Harris, but about a chance to choose between those two overall attitudes, and I wish I thought Harris could get into office and wave a magic wand to make great things happen. Our economic system, however, is resistant and entrenched, though she may be able to lead some modifications. Any improvement is welcome.

Meanwhile, too many people are, like Mamet, juggling cards trying to keep their minimum payments within reach and, like the Red Queen, running as fast as they can just to stay in one place, and every late payment jumps the interest rates higher, and every offer to switch to a new card and pay off the old ones just turns into a tarpit that sinks you in deeper.

As said, I don’t expect either candidate to be able to make it all magically change overnight. But I know which one wants to talk about real problems, and which one wants to argue over bathrooms.

Inflation’s come under control, there are jobs available and my IRA has shot back up to previous levels. But we’ve still got powerful folks who think FDR was a commie and would like to go back to the Good Old Days.