John Auchter
Contributor, Auchter's ArtSince 1995 John has created Michigan-based editorial cartoons for the Grand Rapids Business Journal, the Grand Rapids Press, and MLive Newspapers. His cartoons are currently featured at MichiganPublic.org and are syndicated to newspapers through the Michigan Press Association. John is an active member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. You can view an archive of his editorial work and other cartoons at Auchtoon.com.
In addition to cartoons and essays for Michigan Radio, John works as a technical communication specialist. He has worked for a variety companies, from startups to large corporations, and has operated his own business. The job basically is the same as cartooning — putting words and images together to communicate. But in this case, John knows enough not to draw funny pictures of his boss or client. (Well, now he does.)
John grew up on the east side of the state near Flint, graduated from Michigan Tech in da UP, and has lived in West Michigan since. He vacations Up North every summer and shovels lots of snow every winter. After his wife, he is the biggest Tigers fan in the family. He drinks Vernors when his tummy hurts.
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The Internet has provided the Cliff Clavins of the world with both a community (so they can breed their idiocy) and a megaphone (so we all can't help but to hear them). Worse, some of the richest ones control much of our media (traditional and social) and are taking autocratic steps to ensure we have to suffer their thoughts and opinions. -
If you are an out-of-state visitor coming to Michigan to attend the Detroit Auto Show that starts this weekend, you may notice that the locals are a notch or two happier than you might expect. -
At a certain point, too much flexing runs the risk of creating resentment and a deficit of goodwill, particularly among our allies. The United States is doing well, but it still needs a pack to run with. Being an alpha is good; being a lone wolf is dangerous. -
This is the last cartoon of the year, and typically I try to ease off a bit, maybe go with something lighter and more universally appealing. What I came up with, however, is pretty inside politics. Ah, well... it's a political cartoon, right? -
Being mayor of Detroit doesn't quite have the political cache that it once did. Now if Duggan had only been the one who got Detroit into bankruptcy instead of the getting them out of it, he might stand a better chance. Because, apparently, successfully bankrupting things is a great way to get yourself elected these days. -
Back when I was born, if you were a white social conservative living in the South, you'd vote Democrat. And if you were a free-trade, no-tariff capitalist, you'd vote Republican. New opinions are constantly developing to meet a changing world and political parties evolve to meet them. -
I guess I thought that in this country we could and would disagree on law and policy and economics. But there would always be general agreement on the type of person to avoid as a leader. -
How did we get here? Well, we elected Trump, of course. And he told us he intended to follow a course of patronage and fealty in deciding nominees. So no surprise there. But it's also in part due to how easily those who oppose him and his policies allow themselves to lose focus. -
Republicans are already grexing about the legislation Democrats might pass while they still can. Just as the Democrats grexed back in 2018. -
To be honest, I'm still collecting my thoughts on the election. I suspect most of you are. So instead of adding here to the cacophony of articles/posts/pods etc. trying to sort it all out, I'll just leave it to the cartoon to convey the vibe.
