Sorry; I just moved from Chicago to Seoul, so I had to dump all my issues of the New Yorker as they would not all fit in my suitcase. 
I do remember that a lot of political commentary in the NYer portrayed Obama as inexperienced and his following as blind (or at least, that’s the vibe I got), but unfortunately I can’t cite any particular articles.
You couldn’t even take one or two of them?!
I packed only what I thought I needed and I still exceeded the weight limit by a fair amount. There wasn’t enough spare room for a bobby pin by the end. Plus, back issues of the NYer were not high on my ‘to-pack’ list. 
Ive have been subscribed to the NYer for years. I saw that cover, and thought long and hard about it, about its implications and its uses. Decided to cancel my subscription. Its cutting off my nose despite my face becuase I do love the magazine. But I can’t believe they would be so incredibly stupid not to see how this could be used by the right, how it would increase the fear mongering they are trying to stop, and how they have increased the chance that we will have another 4-8 years of Bush aka McCain. I wish there was more I could do than just unsubscribe.
One thing I did find interesting when I called their customer service number; first thing you hear is a recorded explanation for the cover, that it is satire etc etc. There was also an interesting interview with David Remnick (ed of NYER) explaining why he used it (mmm, not sure how to do a link here…stay tuned)
Here it is
Am I the only person who thought of Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal? I suppose that there were people in early 18th Century Ireland who got their panties all in a bunch thinking that Dean Swift actually advocated that the Irish Question could be resolved by turning Irish babies into sausage.
That Little Old Lady from Dubuque line cuts a little close to the bone.
All this broohah proves is that not all of Senator Obama’s people are sophisticates.
Agreed. I am now lobbying for a cover with Laura Bush crashing her car and lifeless bodies everywhere, or maybe W snorting some coke off a co-ed’s boobs. How about John McCain crashing not one but four of our military airplanes, with a silly grin and an “Oops!” caption.
R. Crumb did an amazing satire of racism (link NSFW http :// www . heretical . com /miscella/rcnoa.html ) for his magazine Weirdo. Which was subsequently illegally reproduced by a racist newsletter.
Just as hilarious is “When the goddamn Jews take over America.”
Although this thread seems to indicate how much of the hand-wringing and serious-taking is coming from the New Yorker readers. Which is itself very funny.
Explain to me how this will be used by the right? How is anyone going to put this in a news report without mentioning that it was meant as a satire?
Sorry to hijack on this issue (which is near pointless now), but Hendrik Hertzberg, who usually leads off in the comments section, is an Obama supporter.
Here is what he had to say in a blog entry for when Obama sealed the nomination:
I was just wondering how you got a totally different vibe.
I think that audience was already influenced by it before this was even published.
[nitpick]It’s cutting off my nose to spite my face.[/nitpick]
That’s right up there with “…for all intensive purposes” and “the point is mute”. Probably a good Pit thread.
Lakai, I didn’t mean to imply that everyone working at the NYer is anti-Obama. I just remember that in general, the NYer gave off the vibe that they were more for Hillary than Obama - at least before Obama sealed the nomination.
ETA: I could be remembering wrongly, of course.
It doesn’t come across as the kind of satire I’m familiar with, though of course I am not living within it all, or would even care about it if I was.
It seems like it’s missed a few steps and is trying to be too clever. But then, that may be de rigeur for The New Yorker, I suppose.
I understand.
It’s mute point anyway. 
>Explain to me how this will be used by the right?
I don’t have to explain, it already is happening. The right are holding it up and saying look even the NYer is saying the rumors are true. Yes its satire, and any one who reads the NYer would know that. But too many are too ready to believe those kind of rumors and others are too ready to listen to fear mongers
Re Modest Proposal: the beauty of this piece is that there is a focus to the satire. Even those who knew nothing about the history (I didn’t when I read it as a freshman in college) would get what its saying. In this cover, you have to know what it is satirizing. Yes, its the rumors, but you don’t know that clearly by looking at it. If you know nothing about Obama and have been listening to your church and Faux news, you look at it and say, oh yeah, thats right.
>But then, that may be de rigeur for The New Yorker, I suppose
Its not, thats the troubling thing. I have seen covers that made me laugh out loud as soon as I saw it out of the mailbox. I have read some incredibly well written articles that could run circles around Modest Proposal. So this was really out of character. It was just stupid.
Santo, thanks for the correction. I am well known else forum for my misspellings and miswordings of idioms. “…for all intensive purposes” was another one I used for years till someone on another forum nicely corrected me. I do have a hearing loss and sometimes it affects how I hear idioms. I read and see those phrases, but somehow it doesn’t register in my writing, unless I am very careful. My apologies; Im afraid at this point tho I can change much without such reminders
For ye have the stupid always with you, but Obama ye have not always. Eight years, tops.
I’m enjoying the outrage more than the satire. I thought righteous outrage over cartoons was the exclusive province of backwards Islamic fundamentalists and not sophisticated, nuanced Obama-supporters . . .
Oy, veh… over the last 4 days I have come to find out that 99+% of the population around my workplace have NO IDEA whatsoever that this is parodying the “terrorist fist-bump” news blurb. And one of them wants it blown up to put on her wall, and I quote: *“but that IS how I feel about them!!” * Imean, really…