Auchtoon!

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.)

To be honest, I’m still collecting my thoughts on the election. I suspect most of you are. So instead of adding here to the cacophony of articles/posts/pods etc. trying to sort it all out, I’ll just leave it to the cartoon to convey the vibe.

If you have a declared allegiance to a political party, this cartoon isn’t for you.

If you hew closely to a liberal/left or conservative/right ideology, this cartoon isn’t for you.

If you are a single-issue voter (women’s health/abortion, for example), this cartoon isn’t for you.

If you vote transactionally, going for the candidate who you think is most likely to deliver on the political promises that will benefit you, this cartoon isn’t for you.

And if you happen to be a billionaire (you never know who reads these things) trying to puppet-string the world to your personal benefit, this cartoon is not for you.

This is for the undecided voters. And if you are one of these people at this point days before the election (and months into a thoroughly exhausting, all-consuming campaign season), I imagine the only criteria left to make a decision on is character — who is the more relatable, decent, stable human being? I mean, if that’s how you would choose a co-worker, a manager, a neighbor, a friend — shouldn’t that factor into how you would choose a President?

So I don’t want to lead you too much here, but may I suggest voting for the one who is NOT the living embodiment of the seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride)?