Auchtoon!

In the spirit of today’s cartoon, allow me to tell you some things that you already know:

• That brother-in-law prolifically posting those unbelievably inaccurate memes from organizations like “FreedomPatriotAmericaLibertyNews”? Your delightfully clever yet cutting reply in the comments is not going to change his mind.
• That dear church friend who prays right next to you and yet has diametrically opposing political views? Your unsolicited email detailing (with source citations and color-coded charts) the errors in her thinking is not going to change her mind.
• Those co-workers having a conversation in the next cubicle in which they merrily parrot the lies fabricated by those extremist lie fabricators you absolutely detest? Your helpful interruption to set them straight and save them from a life of further ignorance will not change their minds.

Aggravating, isn’t it? It just seems that… I mean if they could only… But, but I’d actually be helping them if… *Sigh* In our heart of hearts we know giving in to those impulses will cause more harm than good. How do we know? Because we hate it when other people do it to us.

But cheer up. After the election, you can move on to the next phase. Unfortunately, that next phase involves not telling these very same people “I told you so” or “I still think you’re wrong” — depending on the election results.

Pointing out the inconsistencies and hypocrisies in politics has always been the go-to source for material for editorial cartooning. But in this year’s bizarro election cycle — oh my goodness! — it’s shooting fish in a barrel!

Of course tea party activist Wendy Day was dismissed from her job as grassroots vice chair of the Michigan Republican Party for leading a grassroots effort against tea party favorite Donald Trump. Naturally party chair Ronna Romney McDaniel justified her decision by emphasizing the supreme importance of party loyalty just as the party presidential nominee “unshackles” himself for a pitched battle with fellow Republicans. This stuff writes itself!

So it only makes sense that this year Democrats — the party heretofore known for their dysfunction — pulled strings behind the scenes to nominate a presidential candidate who (like her or not) actually aligns with the party platform. And Republicans — the party heretofore known for their absolute top-down control — ended up with a presidential candidate who is completely devoid of any virtue they supposedly represent: family values, business integrity, Christian morality, not whining. It’s almost too easy.

Maybe the true bizarro world would be one in which the inconsistencies and hypocrisies are difficult to find. As an editorial cartoonist that would present a challenge. As an American citizen, it’d be wonderful to have such a challenge.

It’s getting to be an archaic reference, so for you kids out there: Back in 1975 when Gerald Ford was president, upon arrival on a trip to Austria he stumbled down the stairway when exiting Air Force One. (Additional note: Back then it was normal to get off a plane and walk down steps to the tarmac, not a walkway connected to the terminal. I know, primitive.) He had some other mishaps caught on video tape — an avid golfer, on a couple of occasions he sent errant shots into galleries. But what really cemented the clumsy reputation was the first season of Saturday Night Live in which breakout star Chevy Chase played Ford as a bumbling, stumbling idiot.

As the woman in my cartoon said, Ford was a little incredulous about all this (he was a college football star at the University of Michigan and probably the most athletic president we’ve ever had), but he handled it with grace and humor. In fact in 1986 he hosted a symposium at his new presidential museum in Grand Rapids titled, “Humor and the Presidency.” Not only did he invite Chase, but he also invited columnists and editorial cartoonists, including Pat Oliphant who had mercilessly drawn Ford throughout his presidency with an oversized cranium and a band-aid or two prominently on the forehead. Ford was nothing but genuinely charming about it all.

So my cartoon isn’t entirely accurate. (One more additional note: Most of them aren’t.) Another shared trait between Gerald Ford and Donald Trump is that they are both flawed. Obviously the nature of the flaws matters a great deal. But maybe what matters even more is what is done with those flaws. When you fall down, do you get back up, learn from your mistake, and move forward with thoughtfulness and graciousness? Or are you Donald Trump?

(By the way, it was not a flaw but an honor that Ford was never actually elected president — he was appointed Vice President when Spiro Agnew resigned and then President when Richard Nixon resigned. Which is also a pretty good reminder that American politics have always been a least a little screwed up.)

So the common question these days is: “How did it come to this — how did we end up with these presidential candidates?” And the simplest answer to that is: “It’s our fault.” Would a curious, engaged, and active electorate have generated the current tickets? Probably not. I think there is a general sense that we could have done better.

But maybe we shouldn’t beat ourselves up too much. This self-governance — it’s a hopelessly human activity with all its brokenness and potential for failure. We are just bound to screw up sometimes, I guess. What’s the lyric from that Gin Blossom’s song, “If you don’t expect too much from me, you might not be let down”? Yep, that’s the one.

The thing is, we are the United States of America. We do need to expect more. Our country was founded on the very concept of expecting more out of its citizens. And for years we have been a beacon of that expectation to the world — certainly not perfect, but at least positive, hopeful.

Alas, we may have turned a corner. Recently I had the pleasure of hearing Kenyan editorial cartoonist Godfrey Mwampembwa speak at a conference. Mr. Mwampembwa goes by the pen name Gado, and he certainly knows a thing or two about having to deal with “big men” political leaders. As part of a panel discussion, he had this insight while discussing some of his cartoons featuring Donald Trump:

“The African people are watching the American election with amusement. They just cannot believe what is happening. Africans have always been lectured that ‘you have these dictators.’ And now we are laughing because you are going to get one of your own. And we can’t wait because we want to hear what you will say to us.”

Yeah, we can definitely do better.