Matt Schonert

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, in what appears to be his first public acknowledgment of Aiyana Stanley-Jones’ death, has tweeted his disgust for Al Sharpton, who will say the eulogy at the 7-year-old’s funeral.

Later, the Republican gubernatorial candidate responded to those who took cheap shots at his misspelling of the word “disgusted”:

“Under any spelling, Sharpton is exploiting tragedy.”

In some way, aren’t we all? Detroit Mayor Dave Bing used the tragedy to call for increased gun control. Sharpton used the tragedy to discuss police misconduct and black-on-black violence. Cox is using the tragedy to disparage a liberal icon. I have used the tragedy to question the way that police raids are conducted.

The tragedy has left everyone asking questions, many of them political in nature. But is it exploitation to ask ourselves what went wrong and what can be improved?

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In Michigan’ gubernatorial primary race, competition is heating up between Republican front-runners Mike Cox, Pete Hoekstra, and Rick Snyder.

Last fall, Snyder, an Ann Arbor businessman and former Gateway CEO, called on his Republican primary opponents to refuse campaign funding from PACs and lobbyists. Snyder, who has made significant personal contributions to his own campaign, said in a 2009 editorial that he would reject PAC and lobbyist money.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox issued a terse response. “We’re not about to take a lecture from a millionaire who lives in a gated community,” a spokesman said.

This is a surprisingly populist remark coming from a Republican whose household earned $195,030 last year (2-3 times the median income in the state) and who shares at least $581,499 in assets with his wife Laura, a Wayne County Commissioner. This is according to voluntary financial disclosures Cox submitted for public review this week, when he challenged Hoekstra, Snyder, and Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard to do the same.

What is most striking about Cox’s “millionaire” quip is that while Rick Snyder earned his fortune entirely in the private sector, taxpayers have paid the salaries of Cox and Hoekstra since they both took office—in 2003 and 1993, respectively.

What does Mike Cox find so dishonorable about earning a living in private enterprise? We can’t all be career politicians.

Popularity: 41% [?]

Popularity: 12% [?]