Auchtoon!

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
August 18, 2013

Sorry, not much time to add context this week. Getting kids ready for school! Here’s a link with a bit of backstory on the cartoon and the debate about common core standards.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
August 11, 2013

As a former fast-food worker who did find something better, I feel justified in using this old pet peeve: perfectly capable people on perfectly lovely days idling away in the drive-thru line. It may also have something to do with the fact that I could never hear clearly what people were saying over the lousy speaker system, so I would get their order screwed up.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
August 4, 2013

Dear Michigan,
Yes, Detroit is a mess. It has been for a long time. There are lots and lots of reasons why, and lots and lots of people to blame. We all know this. So, honestly, at this point, we gain no advantage by purging our bile every time the subject comes up. In fact, it may be causing more harm than good. Outside our borders, Detroit and Michigan are largely the same. Okay?

Sincerely,
Michigan

P.S. That Coleman Young sure was an a-hole, huh? Okay, now that’s really it.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
July 28, 2013

I got a bunch of comments back on this one. There were a range of points that readers wanted to make, but the consensus seemed to be “what’s the matter with you” and “you’re not funny.” My short reply is: “lots” and “oftentimes, yes.”

The slightly longer reply is “I think there’s an uncomfortable inconsistency when the law prevents retirement money from being stolen from old ladies on the streets but allows it through the courts” and “I really wasn’t trying to be funny.”

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
July 21, 2013

And then sometimes it just feels right to vent about personal (although I’m sure shared) experiences….

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
July 14, 2013

Last week, a West Michigan lawmaker proposed legislation for a 2014 ballot proposal to eliminate state income tax. You can click here for the particulars, but it really doesn’t get more thought-out than what I wrote. This sort of deep cynicism can only be met with even deeper sarcasm.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
July 7, 2013

So last month a Michigan House Representative, Lisa Lyons, made an unfortunate comment during a debate on school reform. I guess we should give her points for attempting to bring something new and witty to the standard politicking  but what came out was “Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.” Yeah, that wasn’t good. Naturally, some people were offended and parsed the words to be offended as they could possibly be. Naturally, Lyons apologized by way of saying she was offended that people were offended and that, my friends, is what is really offensive. And so it spun. There was a “point/counterpoint” article in the MLive newspapers on this. It was really difficult to read with both sides going to great length about the finer points of pigs, hogs, and swine-related metaphors, and very little about the actual issue, which was… wait, what was the issue? Exactly. So instead of me weighing in on the school reform issue, I thought I’d sooth myself with the only positive I could take from it.

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
June 30, 2013

I don’t typically do cartoons on the same subject two weeks in a row. But the Michigan Senate heading for vacation without choosing to vote on providing Medicaid to Michigan’s working poor seemed to have the right level of audacity. And I did take a different approach. Whereas last week’s cartoon has an academic and somewhat more traditional angle to demonstrate the consequences, this week’s is specific and realistic. More of a punch to the gut. I’m hoping some of our Michigan senators got to read it, and it made their vacations slightly less enjoyable.

Side note for myself: Next time I try to draw coffee pots, I should, I don’t know, maybe practice a little. Yeesh, the ones I drew are bad….

Originally published in the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle, Saginaw News
June 23, 2013

You can go here and here for the full backstory on this on, but the basics are that Republican leadership in the Michigan Senate refused to vote on legislation that would approve providing health insurance through Medicaid to about 300,000 now uninsured folks in Michigan. There were enough votes to pass it, but the leadership wanted a majority of the GOP senators to support it (because, you know, being strict constitutionalists, that’s how it works). Whatever the real reason (ideological purity, pettiness, fear, large collective stick in their bottoms about Obamacare), they decided to do nothing and go on their two month summer vacation. “We have to study it some more.” Uh-huh. And now, Michigan citizens who work and pay taxes but don’t have jobs that provide insurance and cannot afford to pay for their own, continue to exercise and hope it keeps them healthy.

If you call yourself a Michigander (or even a Michiganian, which isn’t nearly as fun), you have got to read this book. “Teardown” is by Gordon Young, a classmate of my sister’s at Flint Powers. Gordie is a writer who lives in San Francisco and of the author of the FlintExpats blog. He is a wonderfully skilled storyteller who does a beautiful job of capturing what it is like to be from Michigan, and specifically Flint. That odd sense of pride and disappointment — of having survived and grateful to be gone, yet still finding yourself caring and still connected to the community. It’s really a terrific summer read — hilarious, melancholy, hopeful.

Gordie is coming to Michigan this week for a book tour. Here’s a link to his site. There are also links there for places to go to buy the book. Make a point of coming out to see him. I plan to be at his Wednesday, June 26th visit to Barnes and Noble at Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids (6:30-7:30PM). Hope to see you there!