Auchtoon!

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, March 17, 2008

More Michigan politics. Sadly, not much new here….

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, March 10, 2008

I realize that as a consumer I’ve probably made decisions and participated in behaviors which have driven our economy toward a recession, but I’m getting a bit tired of sanctimonious economists pointing this out on a daily basis….

If you have some extra time today, you should definitely read this article in Salon. It’s a transcript of a couple of speeches given five years ago by Senators Byrd and McCain on the Senate floor hours before the initial attack. It’s fascinating to read — not a hindsight interpretation, but actual thoughts and feelings on the day. Turns out all history lessons don’t have to be ancient history lessons….

Slight Disclaimer: Salon is selling this somewhat as “Byrd was right; McCain was wrong.” Yeah, it’s leading the witness. (That sells web hits.) But the real point of interest, I think, is how eloquently both men plead their concerns for their country, yet have very different views of what should be done. Draw your own conclusions on right and wrong.

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, March 3, 2008

Yes, yes. I realize to understand this comic that you have to be familiar with both the play/movie from the 1950s named “A Streetcar Named Desire” and the latest public transportation planning in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which essentially qualifies about, oh, nobody. But it was a chance to try something new with Photoshop. Alas, I don’t think that part turned out either.

But, hey, if you like cartoons with great literary references and without the murky Photoshop filling, seek the master: Jef Mallett and his strip Frazz.

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, February 25, 2008

Let’s face it — for Michigan and us Michiganians herein, we haven’t had a great millennium so far. I’m not saying we don’t have potential. I’m just saying our track record for being right has not been good and that the smart money isn’t necessarily on us. Which makes it that much more pathetic that the Clinton camp is pushing hard to seat our delegates at the Democratic National Convention this summer.

If you recall, Michigan (and Florida) ticked off the Democratic Party by moving their primaries up in the calendar in hopes of relevancy. The party said, “Do it and we won’t seat your delegates.” They did it anyway. As a result, hardly any Democratic candidates campaigned here. Our Democratic governor Jennifer Granholm (a Clinton supporter) carried the state for Clinton. Now there that the race is again close, there is talk of seating the delegates and possible do-overs and fairness and “who’s going to pay for this?” and lots of assorted posturing.

I suppose the attention is nice, and maybe that lurch at relevancy is actually working out. But honestly, would you really want us on your team right now?

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Family magazine, February 2008

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, February 18, 2008

The drawing of the GM guy in the deep, deep hole? I mean, the drawing of what is supposed to look like a GM guy in a deep, deep hole? Yeah, that’s what happens when you are merrily drawing away at 10:00 filling in the money pile and suddenly realizing you are supposed to be at a meeting downtown at 10:30. I only draw perspective with painstaking trial and error, and even then get middling results.

So, yeah — decent idea, but this one definitely isn’t going in the portfolio….

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, February 11, 2008

I’ve earned my wrinkles and plan to keep them. Besides, they are blending nicely with all the scars from my youth….

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, February 4, 2008

Michigan recently passed a somewhat draconian law regarding non-residents acquiring a drivers license. Like a lot of laws, the idea seemed sound — don’t let illegal aliens (read: terrorists) get drivers licenses, which can lead to them getting other citizenship-type benefits. But in practice it could cause all sorts of callateral damage such as highly valued foreign workers at multinational corporations, universities, and research institutes being denied licenses.

The silly thing is, if a drivers license was simply a drivers license — a card indicating that one has been successfully prepared to operate a motor vehicle in Michigan (which should, by the way, include advanced pothole avoidance maneuvers) — then this wouldn’t be such an issue. It would be in our best interest for any potential driver to have one — to be licensed to drive. Unfortunately, a drivers license functions as so more in its capacity as a picture ID. So now we have this unfortunate law on the books and our Attorney General is enforcing it. Good thing we don’t need no stinkin’ foreign investment here in Michigan….

This cartoon would have been in the Biz Journal next week, but the editors passed on it. So I’m posting it here. Think of this as the reduced price bin….

Here’s what I was trying to get at. The press has seized upon the unique makeup of this year’s presidential candidates, and not without merit. While a pleasingly high percentage of voters have managed to cross race and gender lines to support candidates who don’t happen to look exactly like themselves, there are still quite a few who have been voting strictly within their demographic. Taken to an extreme, that’s a bad idea.

Two others stories are looped into this. The less obvious one — this week Grand Rapids chose two new leaders for its police department, both from within its ranks, both with their own strengths but pretty much equally qualified. The chief is a white man, the deputy is black man. There were many who felt strongly that this should have been reversed. Some based solely on his race. Again, bad idea.

The other story is the ongoing shenanigans of the mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick. Illicit affair. Spend taxpayer money to cover up. Lie. Get caught. Incredibly uncomfortable public apology. Ongoing questions. In summary, an otherwise skilled politician doing breathtakingly stupid things. Sound familiar?