Full disclosure: This week's cartoon is a variation of a cartoon I did almost 10 years ago when I was drawing for MLive newspapers. I have no delusions that anybody besides me would ever notice this. Still, I hesitated because, well, there are plenty of new ideas, so it kinda feels like a slight to those new ideas to use an old one.
But it is interesting what has changed in 10 years. The original was somewhat generic. The doctor and patient weren't labeled or a representation of any particular person, agency, or party. It was simply a comment of going too far, too fast in making budget cuts — whether those cuts were to government services or a business operation or whatever.
The new one is much more pointed and certainly more relevant. The current slashing of federal agencies and programs by Elon Musk and his DOGE gang may have started out as cutting fat but instantly crossed over into the ideological. Under the dubious guise of fighting corruption and rooting out fraud, it's become less about improving efficiencies and more about burning down the Reichstag.
So now there are two equally valid takes: Does the doctor chop off the patient's head to get quick results or was killing the patient his intention from the start?
Editor's note: John Auchter is a freelance political cartoonist. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Public, its management, or its license holder, the University of Michigan.
