Opinion
Killing the Death Penalty
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | Oct. 24, 2026
It was going to be quite the spectacle, our first public execution since 500 or so watched a public hanging in Galena, Missouri, in 1937. A few months earlier, nearly 20,000 people had gathered, apparently in a festive mood, to watch another man hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky. After the Missouri barbarism, public executions were outlawed. But our firing squad execution of the man who killed 13 and injured many more in a … Read More >>
Supreme Delight in the Misfortune of Others
Guest Opinion
By Isiah Smith, Jr. | Oct. 24, 2026
Within 24 hours of Katie Zacharia’s firing, Trump’s short-lived press secretary, social media erupted with glee over her spectacular rise and fall from grace (or was it waste?). This glee had all the marks of a collective sigh of relief that someone other than oneself has been publicly degraded and made to look like a fool. Behind all the tomfoolery and AI-assisted mockery online were clear signs of relief that “no matter … Read More >>
In Defense of the Humanities
Guest Opinion
By Richard Fidler | Oct. 24, 2026
A post-secondary education based upon science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is promoted by politicians and government leaders as the best path for students to follow in college and trade schools. As the argument goes, most jobs in the future will require a solid background in those disciplines, at the same time implying that college degrees in English, foreign languages, art and design, the social sciences, and philosophy are a waste of … Read More >>
Grading Our Federal Government
Guest Opinion
By Stewart MacLeod | Oct. 17, 2026
Those of us who have ever held a job are familiar with periodic performance reviews. Even the self-employed such as farmers evaluate how they are doing. Similarly then, it’s appropriate to periodically evaluate our government. To score our federal government, we first need to understand what these officials signed up to with their solemn oath of office. This gives a benchmark to rate them by. This should influence your scoring. All elected, … Read More >>
The Con-Con Doesn’t Pass the Smell Test
Guest Opinion
By Justin Mendoza | Oct. 17, 2026
Do you smell that? That’s the stench of corporate money oozing through Michigan politics. I bet by now you’ve seen dozens, if not hundreds of political ads for candidates the past few weeks. In this year’s general election, we’re not just electing a new U.S. senator, governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and Michigan Supreme Court candidates. Michiganders also have the chance to vote on two proposals this year, and one of … Read More >>
Political Fringes
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | Oct. 17, 2026
The playbook for some political candidates this cycle is calling your opponent a Democratic Socialist. To be fair, there are Democrats running for office calling themselves that, and there is an official organization called the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). They even have a website and, to their detriment, a platform. What do they want and support? They have very big aspirations. Let’s see...they believe housing is a universal human right therefore … Read More >>
Big Data, Weak Holiday
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | Oct. 10, 2026
In a post to his own Truth Social, our president said if you oppose them it will leave your community “backwards and poor.” Then, in his Time Magazine interview, he doubled down saying opponents would “have no money” and “live in crime-infested squalor.” The cherry atop his negativity sundae was that we will be “controlled by China.” Oh, dear. He is talking about data centers, specifically the gigantic hyperscale data centers now … Read More >>
On the Brink, We Must Unite
Guest Opinion
By Walt Wood | Oct. 10, 2026
As an independent voter and confessing Christian, I oppose the following: The degradation of our democratic institutions, including a disempowered Congress and corrupt Supreme Court. The violent, masked, paramilitary force known as ICE. Extrajudicial killings of people in boats. The Epstein criminals. The destruction of USAID, and the catastrophic, ongoing results. The incessant assaults on Gaza and Ukraine. Violent dictators, including our own wannabe dictator, his rapacious incursions into Venezuela and Iran, … Read More >>
Get Them to the Polls
Guest Opinion
By Cathye Williams | Oct. 3, 2026
About a third of Michiganders pick fall as their favorite season, and I’m definitely one of them. Oh sure, I love summer too, but often I’m too busy to get the most out of those sunny days. I will definitely make up for it in the fall. With a few exceptions, anything that you can do in August, you can still do well into October. Sure, the sun is out less, but … Read More >>
Help Wanted
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | Oct. 3, 2026
The United States has an unemployment problem, but not because there are no available jobs. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate as this is being written is 4.1 percent and, according to the state of Michigan’s own data, our unemployment rate at the end of August was 5.0 percent. But there are jobs aplenty currently open. The National Federation of Independent Businesses says fully 35 percent … Read More >>
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