Auchtoon!

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.

Editorial cartoonists are paying tribute to Ann Telnaes’s principled decision to resign from the Washington Post. The Post would not publish her cartoon criticizing certain billionaires and corporations for bending a knee to the President-elect (a cartoon that is very much in line with what editorial cartoonists are supposed to do and have always done).

I simply added to her original rough sketch. To support Telnaes yourself, subscribe to her Substack. https://anntelnaes.substack.com/…/why-im-quitting-the…#standwithann

Let’s start 2025 on a positive note. It seems the United States is still the big dog on this planet — the largest and most vibrant economy, the largest and most capable military, and an abundant wealth of natural and technological resources. It’s not an exaggeration to say that we are the alpha.

It’s really the best position for a country to be in because there are times (in this dog eat dog world) that it’s necessary to demonstrate dominance to bend circumstances to its favor.

But at a certain point, too much flexing runs the risk of creating resentment and a deficit of goodwill, particularly among our allies. The United States is doing well, but it still needs a pack to run with. Being an alpha is good; being a lone wolf is dangerous.

So the incoming administration’s peculiar first choice for a flex — going after our closest ally, Canada, with threats of a trade war, followed up by the president-elect purposely trying to humiliate them… Well, it’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ’em.

This is the last cartoon of the year, and typically I try to ease off a bit, maybe go with something lighter and more universally appealing. What I came up with, however, is pretty inside politics. Ah, well… it’s a political cartoon, right?

So you kinda have to know that Michigan Speaker of the House Joe Tate, and U.S. Speaker Mike Johnson, have both had less than enjoyable experiences this past year trying to wrangle their very slim majorities into passing legislation. This has culminated in recent days with members of their own party acting out — refusing to work, making threats, and generally s-talking them (behind their backs and openly).

It’s not like I have a lot of sympathy for Tate and Johnson — they’re grownups, they had to know what they signed up for. In fact, I’m mostly heartened by the situation. It’s a good thing for Michigan and a good thing for America when a leader cannot count on their party members to always fall in line and do exactly what they say. Sure, it can be slow and frustrating. But it’s a far sight better than totalitarianism.

Happy Holidays to you and our fragile young republic!

I live outside of the Detroit Metro area, so Mike Duggan announcing his candidacy for Michigan governor probably hit me differently than for those of you who live there. I mean, I’m aware that Duggan is the longtime mayor of Detroit and that he has been very successful.

But the thing is, I don’t think about Detroit very much. And I don’t believe that most Michiganders out here in the hinterlands do either. (The Detroit Lions, sure. But not so much Detroit itself.)

This is different than it used to be. Back in the day, Detroit was pretty much synonymous with Michigan. The daily newspaper that everybody read and the nightly news that everybody watched kept everybody up to date on the goings on in Detroit — whether it was automaking news or political shenanigans or terrible crimes, we all basically were in the loop.

Now, partially because of Detroit’s enormous population loss over the past decades, it is no longer the center of the Michigan universe. But also, Detroit simply isn’t as notorious as it once was. Ironically, much due to Duggan himself, all the good news doesn’t really make its way to where I live. Ask a West Michigander about the renovated Michigan Central Station or the nearly completed Gordie Howe Bridge, and you’re likely to get a blank stare.

My point: Being mayor of Detroit doesn’t quite have the political cache that it once did.

Now if Duggan had only been the one who got Detroit into bankruptcy instead of the getting them out of it, he might stand a better chance. Because, apparently, successfully bankrupting things is a great way to get yourself elected these days.

I was part of an interview this week with friend and fellow editorial cartoonist Angelo Lopez. He lives in the Bay Area in California, and he was curious about the post-election vibe in the Midwest.

Angelo was particularly interested in the apparent trend of the working-class voters shifting from the Democrat to Republican parties. I grew up in Flint, so I know well that back in the day most people, but especially blue collar folks, voted Democrat. Lots and lots of reasons why that was so and lots and lots of reasons why it isn’t so much anymore.

But the best explanation I can think of for shifting voter patterns is that it’s a very different world today and political parties evolve. Back when I was born, if you were a white social conservative living in the South, you’d vote Democrat. And if you were a free-trade, no-tariff capitalist, you’d vote Republican. New opinions are constantly developing to meet a changing world and political parties evolve to meet them.

It made me a bit nostalgic, though. Remember the good ol’ days when holiday dinners were ruined over labor vs. management fights instead of party politics?

Yes, I’m dwelling on the election. I’m aware. And honestly, it’s not the result itself I’m having trouble reconciling or even what lies ahead. It’s the foundational blow to how I understand people are supposed to behave.

Perhaps it’s an overdeveloped sense of fairness or my expectation of kindness or the concept that justice prevails. It’s how I was raised and what I experienced (or thought I experienced) until now.

It’s also a foundational blow to what I expected from my country. Until we reached this point, it was other countries who let unsavory demagogues take the reins. All those third world countries and even some of our peers. We judged them. We looked down on them. How could Italy elect a character like Silvio Berlusconi? Twice? And now we’ve gone and done it.

I guess I thought that in this country we could and would disagree on law and policy and economics. But there would always be general agreement on the type of person to avoid as a leader.

I guess it’s disconcerting to realize that half the people in this country watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” this holiday season would likely vote to put Mr. Potter in office.

In the early 1980s, the band Fun Boy Three had a hit in their native UK, “The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum).” It was a denouncement of the Margaret Thatcher-led Conservative government that had come to power. The title is pretty clear about their particular thoughts on the matter, but you can check out the full lyrics in the iconically 80s video:

Have I lost you? I wouldn’t blame you. Even among Michigan Public listeners, I expect it’s me, my friend Mert, and maybe one other person who has any idea what I’m writing about.

Be that as it may, it’s the song that popped to mind as I’ve witnessed the ongoing parade of unqualified, unvetted characters the incoming presidential administration has nominated for leadership positions. (As I write this, Matt Gaetz has apparently withdrawn his nomination for Attorney General because he didn’t want to be a distraction. Uh-huh. As if the whole point of his political career has been something other than being a distraction.)

How did we get here? Well, we elected Trump, of course. And he told us he intended to follow a course of patronage and fealty in deciding nominees. So no surprise there.

But it’s also in part due to how easily those who oppose him and his policies allow themselves to lose focus. It’s always laudable to consider the feelings of others when choosing your words. But when the lunatics are in fact taking over the asylum, that becomes the priority for focus.

The Michigan Legislature is just now starting into a lame duck session. So for the next month and a half, Democrats will still hold a majority in the House and Senate, with a Democrat as governor. But in January, the new elected House will have a slight Republican majority.

Republicans are already grexing about the legislation Democrats might pass while they still can. Just as the Democrats grexed back in 2018. (In that case, it was the Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer replacing the Republican Governor Rick Snyder, but it was the same net effect for a lame duck session.)

In a way, it’s kind of nice to get back to a standard sort of political bickering. There’s no apocalyptic government action at stake, nothing exponentially outside of norms (like, say, Matt freakin’ Gaetz as a nominee for Attorney General).

So there will be some posturing and some sniping. And a boatload of hypocrisy. But that will set us up nicely for the new year with a divided government. (I will not add a hopeful note here for a divided government perhaps leading us to honest debate and thoughtful compromise.)