When national and international attention becomes fixated on Michigan, it's rarely a good thing.
Starting in the '80s, our huge auto job losses caused media to periodically flock to ogle ruin porn in Detroit. Jack Kevorkian's attention-grabbing antics made Michigan the assisted-suicide capital in the '90s (and probably set the cause back decades).
Three years ago, it was Gov. Rick Snyder's decision to sign Right to Work in the birthplace of the UAW (which began to tarnish some of his moderate sheen).
Today, it's Flint — the once-bustling auto mecca that was home to the 1936-37 sit-down strikes at GM.
