Auchtoon!

Late last week, a story broke about the the U.S. Department of Education investigating two Michigan universities (the University of Michigan and Grand Valley State University) for allegedly violating the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. The department provided few specifics. At U of M the DOE alleges the issue is with a project that provides mentorship and networking opportunities to business school Ph.D. students from underrepresented backgrounds.

A few days later, the President signed an executive order to shutdown the U.S. Department of Education.

So the obvious question is… if a federal agency is going to be shutdown, what’s the point of complying with their rules?

Yes, sure, I know there’s a lot more to it than that, but it makes for a good cartoon. And I could have just gone with just that. But I think there is a deeper issue, and it disturbs me more that the capricious behavior of Secretary Linda McMahon and the Trump Administration actively dismantling the department: They seem to care more about their ideological victories than they do about the actual students. Much more. If, in fact, they are thinking about students at all.

The situation with the Line 5 oil pipeline that runs through Michigan isn’t the most topical issue I could have picked this week. It’s more of an ongoing issue that (I hope) most Michiganders are familiar with.

The point I’m attempting to make, however, is extremely topical. And that topic is: propaganda works. And now I shall go further into the weeds to provide an example, the 1950 Democratic primary race between incumbent Claude Pepper and challenger George Smathers:

Part of American political lore is the Smathers “redneck speech,” which Smathers reportedly delivered to a poorly educated audience. The alleged comments were recorded in a small magazine, picked up in Time and elsewhere and etched into the public’s memories. Time, during the campaign, claimed that Smathers said this:

“Are you aware that Claude Pepper is known all over Washington as a shameless extrovert? Not only that, but this man is reliably reported to practice nepotism with his sister-in-law, he has a brother who is a known homo sapiens, and he has a sister who was once a thespian in wicked New York. Worst of all, it is an established fact that Mr. Pepper, before his marriage, habitually practiced celibacy.”

Smathers was also able to successfully label Pepper as a communist, “Red Pepper.” Smathers easily won the election.

I remember reading about this incident when I was in high school and thinking, “Dang, people in 1950 sure were easily fooled — that would never happen today.” And maybe in the 1980s it wouldn’t. But the misdirection, lies, and bullying nicknames work better than ever today.

Any Bob’s Burgers fans out there? If you’re not familiar (and you should be), it’s an animated TV sitcom that’s been around for over a dozen years. It’s about a family that operates a small restaurant in a beach town somewhere in America. The patriarch, Bob, is a good guy. He’s not particularly smart or successful, but he loves his wife, loves his three kids, and does his best.

There are times, however, that — between his family, friends, customers, arch-nemesis and fellow restaurateur Jimmy Pesto, among others — life becomes overwhelming. When he reaches a certain point, Bob typically lets out an exasperated, “ohmygod.”

It’s very quick and, more often than not, under his breath. Because he truly tries to be a decent person, it’s typically meant for his ears only, and he certainly doesn’t intend any impiety. Bob is simply indicating that he has reached his limit. The show then generally cuts to the next scene.

So… this Trump tariff lunacy. Ohmygod.

Earlier this week, I was kicking around an idea for a cartoon about the handful of bills passed by the previous Michigan Legislature that haven’t yet been sent to the governor to sign or veto. Presumably, she would sign them because they were bills from a Legislature that had a Democratic majority. Which is why the current Michigan House (a Republican majority) is in no hurry to see those bills signed into law.

The Michigan Constitution does not specify a timetable, so the political parties are interpreting the law entirely by what benefits them most at the moment. Send the bills now (Democrats), send the bills never (Republicans). This, of course, is Mitch McConnell 101.

I liked the idea of getting to draw McConnell, but explaining that whole background seemed a little too inside baseball. But the after listening to Governor Whitmer’s State of the State address (and its many appeals to bipartisanship), I saw my opportunity.

Even as an embittered political cartoonist, I can still find a place in my brain that believes in bipartisanship — at least the concept of it. Will it be successful? I think the question comes down to this: Can Whitmer maintain principles and standards while seeking common ground, or will she crater at key moments and become the next Susan Collins?

Full disclosure: This week’s cartoon is a variation of a cartoon I did almost 10 years ago when I was drawing for MLive newspapers. I have no delusions that anybody besides me would ever notice this. Still, I hesitated because, well, there are plenty of new ideas, so it kinda feels like a slight to those new ideas to use an old one.

But it is interesting what has changed in 10 years. The original was somewhat generic. The doctor and patient weren’t labeled or a representation of any particular person, agency, or party. It was simply a comment of going too far, too fast in making budget cuts — whether those cuts were to government services or a business operation or whatever.

The new one is much more pointed and certainly more relevant. The current slashing of federal agencies and programs by Elon Musk and his DOGE gang may have started out as cutting fat but instantly crossed over into the ideological. Under the dubious guise of fighting corruption and rooting out fraud, it’s become less about improving efficiencies and more about burning down the Reichstag.

So now there are two equally valid takes: Does the doctor chop off the patient’s head to get quick results or was killing the patient his intention from the start?

Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, was a recent guest on The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart podcast. The long time Republican has known the President for 23 years, worked for him, and (as eventually happens to most) was fired by him.

In the course of conversation, Christie offered a number of informed insights. One that caught my attention was about the role of a leader — any leader, but especially for the President of the United States: “Character matters, and it matters more than any particular issue.”

His point: Even for those who align on issues and agree with what the President is doing, there is an underlying problem, which is “…the pettiness, the vindictiveness, the anger, all those things informs much of what he does, and it’s going to lead to big problems, I think, in the country over the long term.”

My point: And in the short term, too.

This week, Mexico and Canada apparently were able to convince our President that things they were mostly already doing were new things, which earned a 30-day reprieve on massive tariffs being applied on trade between them and the United States.

Anybody who knows anything about the automobile industry (so pretty much any Michigander) can tell you that the U.S. automotive industry supply chain is very tightly interwoven with Mexico and Canada. This is a result of decades of trade agreements that facilitated the tight bonds. You may not like this. You may not think it’s a good idea. But it is a fact. And waving a magic tariff wand will not undo it. What it will do is create chaos.

Of course, these sorts of concerns are brushed away by the President’s supporters who say his threats are simply a negotiation tactic. Well, two things about that:

First, it still causes damage. Those who run successful businesses that actually build things and create value need to plan ahead. Logistics, legally binding contracts, paying employees — these are real matters they need to deal with. Unlike the President, declaring bankruptcy and walking away is not a standard option.

Second, people tend to remember when they are treated badly. Countries remember when they are treated badly. There are consequences. Even if the United States gains a short-term advantage by threatening friends and ignoring treaties, we will have to deal with other countries exacting revenge when they no doubt get the opportunity.

So, yeah, it wasn’t the best decision for Jocelyn Benson to announce her candidacy for Michigan governor from the lobby of the the Richard H. Austin Building in Lansing (where she is currently the Secretary of State). It’s hard to argue that it provided her with any sort of significant advantage. But per Michigan election law, use of public resources, including state offices, for political causes is not allowed.

So it was understandable why the Michigan Republican Party would file a complaint. Less understandable was them getting on such a high horse about it. Their press release included this gem: “The integrity of our public office holders must be maintained, and the misuse of taxpayer-funded resources for personal political gain will not be tolerated.” I used that directly in the first panel of the cartoon.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! (More like the deepest part of distant space eternally devoid of all light calling the kettle black.) The Republican Party at this point is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trump, Inc, which is perhaps best known for its lack of integrity when it comes to taxpayer-funded resources and dutifully following election law. But, please, teach us more about high standards for public office holders!

It’s not that I was surprised, shocked, or even offended by the president’s reaction to Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s sermon delivered earlier this week at a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral. In it, Budde made an appeal directly to the president to consider applying certain Christian values when executing his public duties as our elected official.

It totally tracks that he would initially only be annoyed because he found the sermon to be not very entertaining. After apparently somebody explained the context to him, he bleated out what he tends to bleat out in these sorts of situations and a number of sycophants fell in line. Standard procedure.

The one bit that’s worth addressing, though, is him referring to her as “the so-called Bishop.” So-called? Not at all. She’s certified, ordained, and legitimately educated and experienced. It may be unfamiliar to him, but it turns out that the Episcopal Church is very much a real thing. But I wouldn’t expect he’d know that as a so-called Christian.

Actor John Ratzenberger is most famous for his role on the TV sitcom “Cheers” in which he played Cliff Clavin. Initially, there was no such character in the show. Ratzenberger tried out for the role of Norm, but says that his audition was a disaster — totally bombed it.

In an effort to save his ego and dignity, on his way out he asked the producers if they had a character as the bar know-it-all. They asked him what he meant, and he replied that every bar that he had ever been in had at least one horse’s ass who pretends to know everything. Then he went into a bit to demonstrate, got them all laughing, and the role of Cliff was born.

Ah, the good ol’ days when you could just stay out of bars to avoid being subjected to a know-it-all.

Now, however, the Internet has provided the Cliff Clavins of the world with both a community (so they can breed their idiocy) and a megaphone (so we all can’t help but to hear them). Worse, some of the richest ones control much of our media (traditional and social) and are taking autocratic steps to ensure we have to suffer their thoughts and opinions.

Case in point, the misinformation and conspiracy theories about the California wildfires. Yes, of course, mistakes were made by government agencies, public officials, and state politicians. And like any disaster, it will be important to investigate and learn lessons. But Elon et al. going off like frickin’ Cliff Clavins? Nah. Nobody needs that right now.