The sudden running away of Judd Gregg ("Oops, I made a mistake...") from the Commerce nomination is one of those Washington stories that makes for fun speculation.  I passed the 

evening happily writing my thoughts and will post them tomorrow or soon enough, however what is left over is the puzzle as to what a strange ceremony we have with regard the executive branch.  Congress doesn't make that much sense, but the idea that you get to elect (and reelect) a human to represent a region at least stands up to logic.   Representative government.  But when it comes to the executive branch, what is the thinking of Cabinet posts?  We have to pretend that the secretary is well-educated for the job?  And that his or her appointment demonstrates a thoughtful result?  These are patronage jobs, everyone of them.  Not about civil service, but rather about civil plunder.  Commerce and HHS are the two big plumbs, but Homeland has become a sinkhole of favoritism.  This was less obviously a problem during the Wall Street boom 1988-2008, when the Dow went from 1900 to 13,000, and a civil service job in the hilariously sweaty and traffic-choked District was regarded as a booby prize or, for the homegrown, as going to work at the plant.  But now, with the global downturn, with what I now routinely call the Great Depression, the Remake, the patronage jobs in Washington look miraculous.  Healthcare, vacations, low workload, much opportunity to move to other departments and up, long breaks for retraining and seminars, and opportunity to moonlight and consult either during or after you network to the right budget line.  There will be demands on the jobs.  The layoffs among the elite are just starting.  We are shedding 500k jobs per month and accelerating.  The Wall Street Journal features a bulletin that the economist warlocks who were heretofore projecting recovery in the third quarter are now hedging that there may not be recovery until 2010.  At the present rate, we will be down another four million jobs.  Overmuch?  Let's kitchensink the crisis.  We are accelerating downward at the same rate as in the gritty recession of 1974-75.  That decline stopped suddenly.  We shall see.  Soon.

 

Why those Washington patronage jobs may suddenly be fought for is the news that Thursday was Black Thursday with massive layoffs at many famous firms and lots of medium and 

small firms.  Lawyers and staff.  Sweeping.  And positions are being eliminated for summer interns.  These are the well-educated, the jumbo mortgages, the private school bills and vacation travelers and new car buyers.  Grapes  of Wrath time for them, heaping the kids and the Macbooks into the SUV and heading like the Joads to DC to call on Commerce, HHS, and Homeland.  Maybe bunk in with the brother's family or a rented house.  Job search.  Those Commerce jobs have great healthcare, and there are fewer cars on the road now, no one driving aimlessly, no shopping or hank-panky.  The lawyers in search of a place to hide out during the storm.  Maybe they can try politics (Gregg's job looks easy, just say yes and no goofily and randomly and make statements that you don't believe), I hear there are openings every two years and that the competition is hodge-podge.  The sharpest observation I found today was again posted on the Calculated Risk site, a lawyer watching for the reaper: