It's interesting the effects of even a small amount of passing time.
I had to travel for business this week, so I completed the cartoon on Monday before I left. Way back then, the coronavirus did not appear to have as much potential of achieving "pandemic" status, and the idea of it reaching Michigan was not top of mind. So pointing out that we are, in fact, already grappling with a significant public health threat in PFAS seemed, for lack of a better word, safe.
Now here it is Thursday as I write this, and while I stand by the cartoon and its message, I recognize that the context has certainly changed. Mostly, coronavirus seeming a lot less distant to our Michigan world.
As always, readers are free to interpret the cartoon however they want. I never intend to tell you anything — it's much more a presenting of an idea for your consideration. So I've got no worries about the changing circumstances. Honestly, my immediate concern is having to travel through a major international airport later today. And the fact that Mike Pence is now the point person for a public health crisis — that's a much bigger worry.
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.
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