How standards have slid...

[jsburbidge]

From an article on the chaos within the White House communications department: "People could be canned, in other words, to set an example for others."

Back in the day, when people at least kept commonplace-books, in default of actual learning[1] this would have been phrased as "... pour encourager les autres".

[1]"What though his head be empty, if his commonplace-book be full", per Jonathan Swift. 

Comments

[graydon]

Getting to it'll take all five good emperors to get back to only as bad as it used to be.

[jsburbidge]

If somebody's keeping Trajan or Marcus Aurelius in reserve somewhere I want to know.

[graydon]

The death throes of traditional media, that it's about the White House communications department, and the phrase "Trajan's column" combine very oddly in my mind.