without doubt, the political cartoonist is getting what he wants, more people seeing his cartoon. he made a poor choice using a current event story and tying it into politics, race or not.
I agree that most older people see more things as racist than younger people do. However I still disagree that in the 60's that "monkey" was used to describe a black guy more than it was incompetence. Back then it was much more common if someone said "monkey business" or whatever people knew WTF they meant. If the cartoon said gorilla I would be on your side 100%.
It's a stupid choice for a cartoon, as the exactly same message could be conveyed without tip-toeing down racial lines, as unintended as it may be. Freedom of the press though, they shouldn't have to apologize. If you disapprove, then don't buy the paper.
I agree that it was a stupid choice, and I agree that the (monkey at a typewriter) message could have been conveyed in a different manner. But I don't think the cartoonist was tip-toeing down racial lines. that was Al Sharpton's doing.
It's reactions like this thread, coupled with the fear of being accused of being a racist, that created a climate in the elections that made it very tough for the media to be critical of Obama. No one wants to insult the half black guy. Was it unfair to his opponents? Of course. Did the libs pimp that benefit to the max? You bet. I honestly feel like if Obama wasn't half black (never mind the fact that he had almost no black influences/culture in his life prior to joining Trinity United) then his candidacy would have been laughed out of the smoky Democratic backrooms that chose him as their figurehead. People were afraid to call BS on this guy's lack of experience, credibility, gravitas, etc for fear of the political correctness mob attacking them. And we all know, when that mob attacks, the accused is perceived as being guilty on the spot.
Fair enough. I happen to think that you should consider your audience when you're on the radio, tv, or print.
"It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times?! You stupid monkey!" Really man? You haven't heard "monkey" used a racist term, especially in terms of the 1960s, you're incredibly obtuse. Words can have multiple meanings.
^^^^^^ This. The basis for the drawing is obviously the actual chimpanzee shooting. But you add in the comment "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill" and that changes things. In the cartoon, it obviously means the monkey wrote the bill. Seeing as how Obama is the face of the stimulus bill, and how being called a "monkey" is historically and ethnic slur against blacks, that's just a joke you don't do even if you're going for the "monkey on a typewriter" angle. If it isn't outright racism, it's monumentally idiotic. Either way, it doesn't reflect well on the Post.
yes, there has been no criticism of obama, none of his cabinet picks, none of the bank bailout plan last week, none from your big brother posting krugman's article, and all this none just happened in the last week for god sakes. as usual, all talk, no substance, I see where you get that criticism of obama from
1. I think the cartoon is racist. The cartoonist might be dumb and not racist, but the work itself is racist. A joke is a communication between teller and hearer and understood in their common context. The monkey as black man meme dominates the monkey at typewriter meme by a mile here, especially with an explicit reference to Obama and no reference at all to a typewriter. Even if that was the intent of the cartoonist (which I wonder; it sounds more like a rationalization), the execution fails so completely that intent hardly matters. If I meant to call you Michael but accidentally called you ****** **** **** *** instead, it doesn't matter what I had meant to say. 2. Even without the racism, this is an offensive cartoon. A famous and beloved chimp is killed. A woman is seriously injured and nearly killed. The tape of the terrified 911 call is floating on the net. Is this an appropriate device to make a flippant joke about the stimulus bill with? 3. It's ironic that the same posters who are so quick to link the beheading of the CEO's wife to the influence of Islam are so reluctant to link this cartoon with racism.
why do you even bother replying to T_J? There are people in here with serious arguments that might or might not be valid but at least they are serious.
I don't understand my satire radar is broken. Besides the fact that OBAMA is portrayed as a monkey, where is the satire?
based on tj's posting history i think he is very serious about his argument. if he isn't joke's on me and that's fine
That is not what the cartoon was suggesting. It was suggesting that the stimulus was so bad because a monkey wrote it. As an aside - I love your version of the 60's.
