Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, February 7, 2005.

i just made an enemy of someone i don't know
and they are upset about somethin' that i
must have done. it really doesn't make much
sense well i've got no statement in my defense

i know, no matter what, no matter who, no
matter what i do, somebody hates me

and i hate somebody too.

-- Reel Big Fish, "Somebody Hates Me"

Back in college, I took a physical education class called Soccer/Football. You were required to take six credits of PE. (Sigh! Those were the days....) The instructor was one of the Michigan Tech football coaches. I don't remember his name, I don't remember what he looked like, but I do remember he hated me. I don't know why. I didn't go out of my way to provoke him, I didn't screw around in class, I didn't talk back. He just hated me. Other guys in the class would look at me and go, "Dude, what did you do to piss him off?" And I'd say, "Nothing!" It wasn't fair, but there wasn't anything I could do about it.

So I was thinking about this and humming the "Somebody Hates Me" song while coming up with last week's comic. After reading about the build up to Michigan's State of the State address and viewing bits of President Bush's State of the Union address, there just seemed to be an unnaturally high level of personal hate in the air. Was it just me? I don't think so. You would expect some natural animosity between our Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm and the Republican Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, but you get a sense that there is something beyond that. Something deeper. Something that says that even if they were on the same side they'd still be sinking tiny eyeball daggers into each others throats. And Lord knows there's some bone-marrow hate going on between partisans at the national level.

As for the comic itself, Governor Granholm has made some proposals regarding adjusting the Michigan business tax to help out manufacturers. (Insurance companies would get hosed, but that's another story.) Senator Sikkema summarily pooh-poohed the whole idea. That wasn't a surprise. But what was noticeable was the biting way in which it was done. They don't like each other. Which is sad and reassuring all at the same time. Our elected leaders are full of human weaknesses just like us.

I'd like to think I'm above all that. But the truth is, I won't be seeking out Coach What's-his-face or Dick Cheney with dinner party invitations anytime soon....