Auchtoon!

Typically, when a cartoonist makes a note to apologize for appropriating another cartoonist’s work, it’s for something widely recognized. For example, apologizing to Schultz for a “Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown” setup.

My apology is for something less well known but no less brilliant. In the 1960s Brant Parker and Johnny Hart created a newspaper comic strip called “The Wizard of Id.” And probably their best known gag from that strip had the tyrant king speechifying to a crowd of peasants, doing his best to pacify them by stressing the need for peace and harmony. “Remember the golden rule,” he says. “We must all live by the golden rule.” In the next panel, one of the peasants turns to another and says, “What the heck is the golden rule?” And in the last panel another says, “Whoever has the gold makes the rules.”

Donald Trump came to Michigan this week and delivered a speech that very much had this vibe. And in fact he did say to his subjects, er, the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen of Michigan, the golden age of America is upon us!”

Really? Seriously? Because that’s not what us peasants, er, citizens are experiencing. 

I was on vacation during this week, so I drew this cartoon a week ahead of time. I figured there would likely be additional drama about the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge and, sure enough, there is. Here’s a link to a pretty good summary, but the overarching story is how stupid and unnecessary the drama is.

What should be a joyful celebration of a mutually beneficial expansion of commerce has become a case study in why no country should ever trust the United States to keep its word and honor contracts let alone the “deals” we make. Trump and his administration are not just ruining relationships in the short term but salting the earth to prevent future relationships from growing.

As we approach Election Day for the Michigan primary on August 4, you may have noticed the uptick in negative campaign ads. With the Democratic senate race and Republican gubernatorial race being especially tight, it’s not surprising to see some serious mudslinging going on. Kind of gets us prepped for the exponentially larger flood heading our way come November.

At the same time, Michigan and several other states are dealing with a record surge in cyclospora illnesses (https://www.michiganpublic.org/health/2026-07-14/as-cyclospora-illnesses-surge-to-a-record-michigan-officials-eye-lettuce-as-a-possible-cause), a parasitic infection that causes (and almost every report includes this term) explosive diarrhea. First, yes, this is serious, with more than 4,300 having been infected so far in Michigan. Fortunately, it is not typically life threatening and can be treated with antibiotics.

Still, who among us hears “explosive diarrhea” and doesn’t consider it an accurate description of those awful campaign ads?

It did occur to me to make Elon Musk the guy in the cartoon. After all, the newly minted trillionaire is very much the poster child for an absurd concentration of wealth leading to an absurd concentration of power.

But I thought that would be letting all the other tech-bro billionaires off the hook. And there are plenty of them out there rigging systems, undermining democratic principles, and aligning with political authoritarians to spread fear so they can further concentrate their wealth and power. If you happen to have access to the The Atlantic magazine, they had an article on this recently: The Problem America Refuses to Address: In the age of the trillionaire, inequality remains a defining challenge.

Not exactly light summer reading, I know. But then, these aren’t exactly light times.

I’m hoping that most readers will recognize the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Or at least that it’s some sort of gathering of the Founding Fathers. (Clue: Look at all the White guys!)

Regardless, everybody should be able to recognize our modern-day selves and our aversion to politics being brought up, especially during a summer holiday gathering. But that’s exactly what Independence Day is about — 250 years ago on July 4th a group of leaders got very, very political by signing a document that put their lives and their family’s lives in grave danger. We can see now that it was totally worth it. Back then, it wasn’t so clear.

So for this holiday in particular, we should be actively looking for ways to honor the day by being political. Not with hot takes and fear-mongering, not with political party postering, not with negative campaign ads. But with the politics of how a government that is of the people, by the people, for the people is inexorably intertwined with our lives as citizens.

Let’s resolve to participate. The success of our version of government is predicated on an informed and engaged public. So in that spirit, let’s resolve not to tell our fellow Americans what to think, but encourage them to think.

Happy Birthday, United States of America! Best wishes to our fragile young republic — celebrate by being active participants of this grand experiment.