Auchter's Art

Already the political operatives of the nation and state are begging us to cut our precious Michigan summer short and sprint ahead toward the fall election. Don't listen to them.

Instead of simply picking the most decent, reasonably intelligent candidate who best aligns with our views, we are encouraged, nay, indoctrinated to think like political operatives: What candidate is most electable? What candidate is going to excite certain key demographics? What candidate is going to deliver exclusively for our side?

I don't want "that's my feeling" to be an excuse for what my governor does.

Please don't let it get you down — you still absolutely need to vote!

We carry around slights, real or manufactured, and refuse to let them go. And then when an event (say, an attempted coup) does need to be deconstructed, there are those who want nothing more than to get past it. "What's done is done — we need to move on!"

Full disclosure: I definitely contribute to the ludicrous amount of money that gets poured into college sports. I like watching games. And not just football and basketball. Volleyball, softball, and even track & field are fun to watch, too.

As we head into a holiday weekend to celebrate the United States of America, all this is a pretty good reminder that while there are many, many wonderful benefits to being participants in this constitutional republic experiment, it can also be deeply frustrating.

The way in which the 10 Republican candidates for Governor of Michigan have run their campaigns can be charitably described as not ideal.

Sometimes an editorial cartoon is simply about expressing a feeling. And in this case, it's exasperation.

As a political financier/string-puller — and a public official as the Secretary of Education for the Trump Administration — Betsy DeVos has given me plenty of opportunities to disagree with her.