I kinda want to blow it up for my wall too, but only because Michelle Obama ala Angela Davis is hot.
Here’s what the McCain version would look like.
I’m just not seeing the outrage, beyond what is claimed by the Obama and McCain campaigns, and that’s because they’re obliged to display outrage like that.
In all other cases, the objections have been along the lines of “I see what they were trying to do, but I think it was a bad idea strategically.”
By the way, cite that this is being used by right-wingers as proof that Obama really is a Muslim and really does burn the American flag and really does have a picture of Osama bin Ladin on the wall? And besides, if the American voters really are so stupid that a cartoon of Obama in a robe is going to convince them he’s a terrorist, then he’s finished before he even begun.
And anyway, The New Yorker is not an arm of the Obama campaign. They don’t have an obligation to do everything in their power to elect Obama. If they occasionally run stories that turn out to hurt Obama, well, that’s life in the big city.
A couple of thoughts:
Thank fuck nobody reads the fucking New Yorker. What a piece of shit magazine. Their cartoons make me want to vomit.
Secondly, this is simply irresponsible journalism. Anytime you give an idea time on your magazine / tv show / newspaper / etc you give it validity. No matter how much you might deny this, I sincerely believe this. Anytime someone on the news asked “Does Al Gore have trouble telling the truth?” the damage was already done before the rumors were debunked. It’s psychological and subconscious.
Luckily McCain seems to be getting the brunt of this solely based on his age. Every single McCain joke is about his age. Almost every single night you watch late-night television you’ll see a McCain age joke. And trust me, his “senior moments” aren’t helping.
Obama has a lot of armor against those kinds of jokes. Sure people say them in more private venues, but apparently the question of whether he’s too black / not black enough has been answered.
Really it’s offensive to me because it’s bad comedy. Of course the New Yorker has never been worth a fuck with their horrible cartoons anyway. It’s typical of the other New Yorker cartoons which feel like a joke without a punch-line. It’s like “Oh yeah, that’s sort of funny” but had they given the picture more context, then it would have been actually funny, instead of New Yorker funny.
ETA:
Really I blame it more on the New Yorker’s inability to actually publish something funny. It pisses me off that it hurts Obama. Shit, if they’d have transformed it into a funny joke I wouldn’t feel so angry, but it wasn’t even fucking funny. The fool who causes damage to others is usually the worst kind.
Nope, nope, you’re not the only one who thought that comparison. Yeah, satire, sans fruit… Unfortunately, my sadly vivid memory is of a NC high school English class where A Modest Proposal was read, and discussed, and illuminated in a high school way, and Still, several students just didn’t get beyond “This guy wants us to eat our Babies!!!” It was my first truly :smack: :smack: :smack: moment of realization that some of these things are not like the others. They just did not get the concept of satire. So, that factor exists.
In looking at the cover illustration, yep, it’s timely, and I get it, but, what would make it great would be a sly tiny background code of, Tis Silly , something in the background that would defuse the flat appearance of the presentation of the Obamas as “Terrorists”. That would have made the illustration more a force of satire.
Anyone for adding that piece? I’m blanking with it.
I am over in Germany now and was in Switzerland yesterday. It’s all over the papers both places yesterday. The editorials here seem to take it seriously. Reading the reactions here is the only reason I logged on. I find it very good humor.
Sadlz Obama had to denounce.
How about the Obama cover picture is a dream bubble of Cletus The Slack-Jawed Yokel, passed out in his ragged La-Z-Boy in a dirty wife-beater?
I think we’ve just met the little old lady from Dubuque.
To quote Jon Stewart of The Daily Show: It’s just a fucking cartoon! The only people who normally care about cartoons showing Muslim Extremists…are Muslim Extremists!!
So - what? Are we gonna put some sort of American Fatwa on Barry Blitt, the cartoonist? :dubious: 
You are welcome not to like it, you are welcome to think it is in poor taste, and you are welcome, as an Obama supporter* to feel it didn’t do your candidate any favors. But jeez, it’s just a fucking cartoon!!
*by the way, I am an Obama supporter.
I just watched this, and I think there was actually steam coming out of Jon’s ears.
Is there such a thing as tasteful satire?
Depends on how well prepared the Irish babies are.
I think this ultimately might be a good thing with all the brouhaha, kinda blasts the fact that, yep, that image of the Obamas is most certainly a cartoon. So, could get the stupid meme out in the open, where it can be trounced like the the oogy boogy bug it is.
But, before reaching that point, I still think the cartoon needed some finesse in breaking the flat depiction to really make it satire. Three possible points of approach that occurred to me today: Original cover
Have a ground-level video camera pointed up Michelle Obama’s dress. Well, that doesn’t really work, but the idea is to show a ridiculous position…
Have some kind of material under the flag in the fireplace, to show a ridiculous fueling of the fire.
The one most easy to make work, to break the static depiction: use the Rennaisance painting trick of having a convex mirror on the wall, as another dimension and commentary.
Could be a portrait of the real Obamas, or, a view of a barrage of camera lenses pointed at them.
For the first time in awhile Stewart was absolutely right about something.
Good point. I like mine marinaded overnight in blood, and then served on a bed of potatoes. Tasty, if not tasteful.