Last week I was watching a panel discussion on the current state of editorial cartooning via Zoom. One of my good friends, Angelo Lopez, was one the featured guests. Angelo draws for Philippine News Today, and so much of his work reflects issues related to the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, a murderous despot. As a consequence, Angelo tends to draw a lot of skulls. In the course of his presentation, Angelo casually remarked, "I'm tired of drawing skulls."
Is "I'm tired of drawing skulls" not the most quintessential 2020 thing you've ever heard?
I don't have the skills (or patience) to render skulls the way Angelo does, but I am similarly tired — tired of drawing about preventable death, tired of dealing with leaders putting party and ideology over health, tired of opinion winning over sensible consideration of expert advice.
So after the Michigan Supreme Court issued a decision against Governor Whitmer's executive orders aimed at limiting the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) jumped immediately into the fray to (1) demand the governor negotiate with the Legislature and then (2) assure everyone that he had no intention of negotiating with the governor. Of course. And then he followed it up with his beliefs about the pandemic:
"Things, I don't believe, are an emergency, nor do I believe they're necessarily urgent, but they are important," Shirkey told Crain's Detroit Business. "So I think we've got the time to do that."
Ugh. I couldn't not draw about that. Even if I'm tired of drawing these skulls.
John Auchter is a freelance political cartoonist. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management, or its license holder, the University of Michigan.
