Stephen Tuttle | Author

Infecting Everything

July 9, 2022

A contagion of political foolishness and extremism now infects all corners of the country.

Down in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis is using a compliant legislature—some would say downright ovine—to both install his ideology as law and to exact retribution in a way that prob... Read More >>

Protecting What We Have Left

July 2, 2022

We typically celebrate the Fourth of July with cookouts and fireworks, another day off work without much appreciation for why.

The Declaration of Independence, written mostly by Thomas Jefferson over the course of three weeks, isn’t so much an eloquent plea for freedom from ... Read More >>

Traverse City is looking to develop surface parking lots whenever practical or possible. There is no question those surface lots occupy incredibly valuable space that might be more productively used for other purposes. Such a purpose has been found, we’re told, on what is now Lot O ... Read More >>

The Furthest from Reality

June 18, 2022

Let’s check in on some Michigan politics at the top of the ticket.

The Democrat side is pretty much set with Governor Gretchen Whitmer as the candidate. Her road to reelection is likely to be bumpy given all that has happened in her tenure, including much over which she had ... Read More >>

A Lot Worse

June 11, 2022

The supply chain is something most of us hadn’t much considered until the various links started breaking. Now, that same broken chain is impacting almost every product we use or consume. In some instances, that impact can be life threatening for individuals and a national security i... Read More >>

More Important than Life

June 4, 2022

Another day, another massacre of children, another night of parents lying sleepless, eyes wide open, minds racing, hearts irreparably broken.

When not slaughtering children in their classrooms, we slaughter shoppers in a grocery store; or worshipers in a church or mosque or synago... Read More >>

A Conspiracy of Ignorance

May 28, 2022

Some people, especially politicians, search and search until they find, or create, a conspiracy on which to blame their woes. If they’re lucky, it might even generate contributions and votes without the need for any kind of actual policy.

Which brings us to something called ... Read More >>

Would We Be Doing Any Better?

May 21, 2022

The question occurs as we watch Russia’s top-heavy, untested, and bloated military slog to a near standstill in their ill-conceived incursion into Ukraine. What Vladimir Putin no doubt believed would be a quick and decisive victory, bringing Ukraine back into the arms of Mother Russ... Read More >>

Should Have Seen It Coming

May 14, 2022

Pro-choice advocates should have seen it coming; Roe v. Wade has been a goner since Donald Trump nominated three Supreme Court justices.

Roe v. Wade, decided in 1973, was predicated on the notion that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution offers a right to ... Read More >>

Roads and a River

May 7, 2022

Traverse City is in the middle of significant bridge and road rebuilding. Though a trifle inconvenient for those trying to negotiate their way around the bridge work, the projects have gone more smoothly than most assumed when they were announced.

Things have become a bit more com... Read More >>

Too Much Fire, Not Enough Rain

April 30, 2022

We recently celebrated another Earth Day with various festivities around the country complete with bloviating politicians making promises they either won’t or can’t keep. Meanwhile, wildfires, drought, and water shortages are the norm out west.

Wildfires are a normal p... Read More >>

We Should Be Concerned for Our Officials

April 23, 2022

These are not the best of times for those overseeing our elections or our schools.

There are more than 3,000 counties, parishes, boroughs, census areas, and independent cities in the United States. (Michigan has 83 counties.) In most states, the ultimate responsibility for running... Read More >>

Gurus of Flim-flammery

April 16, 2022

People running for office tend to exaggerate their qualifications and ignore their shortcomings. We’ve come to accept at least some of that with each election cycle. But even by those unfortunately loose standards, Perry Johnson is a rather obvious outlier.

One of 12 Rep... Read More >>

Dead Right

April 9, 2022

The unpleasant death throes of winter notwithstanding, the bicycling season is about to start in earnest. Yes, we all know some people cycle year-round, but most of us wait until the snow is off the ground.

The health and economic advantages of biking are now well-known and have b... Read More >>

Puzzling and Bizarre

March 26, 2022

Local politics are an ongoing festival of bizarre actions and puzzling decisions. In what follows, the names have been omitted to protect the guilty.

Traverse City’s City Commission is establishing priorities and laying out their plans for the next year or two. As always, th... Read More >>

Abdicating Our Responsibility

March 19, 2022

Our mental health as a nation isn’t so good, and it doesn’t appear to be getting better.

The National Alliance on Mental Health compiles and curates data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (which is a branch of the U.S. Health and Human ... Read More >>

A Delusional Mistake

March 12, 2022

Ukraine has been in the middle of squabbles between Asia in the East and Europe in the West for centuries. Even their modern history is one of conflict.

Within a year of the Russian revolution of 1917, Ukraine was under constant attack, and the occupation and control of Kyiv, thei... Read More >>

A Florist, a Baker, a Website Maker

March 5, 2022

The United States Census Bureau breaks down religious beliefs into the broad categories of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, unaffiliated, and atheist/agnostic.

Although more people now declare themselves to be unaffiliated with a specific denomination, far more Am... Read More >>

Inviting Death

Feb. 26, 2022

We Americans have been challenging death with some success. Until recently, we didn't knowingly invite it into our homes and businesses, nor did we choose to expose our children to it.

We know, for example, a certain number of people are going to die in ... Read More >>

Party Of None

Feb. 19, 2022

As voters, we like to claim that party affiliation is less important than the quality of the candidates we select. Only seven states, including Michigan, now allow us to vote for every candidate of a single party by filling in just one circle on our ballots. Even so, according to Pew Rese... Read More >>