Quite the incendiary cover by The New Yorker Magazine. Did they overstep the limits of good taste with this one? http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0708/Ya_cant_make_it_up.html The New Yorker says it’s satire. It certainly will be candy for cable news. At a press availability Sunday afternoon in San Diego, Senator Obama was asked, according to the diligent Maria Gavrilovic of CBS News: “The upcoming issue of the New Yorker, the July 21st issue, has a picture of you, depicting you and your wife on the cover. Have you seen it? If not, I can show it to you on my computer. It shows your wife Michelle with an Afro and an AK 47 and the two of you doing the fist bump with you in a sort of turban-type thing on top. I wondered if you’ve seen it or if you want to see it or if you have a response to it?” Obama (shrugs incredulously): “I have no response to that.” Priceless stage direction by Maria. The magazine explains at the start of its news release previewing the issue: “On the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue of the The New Yorker, in ‘The Politics of Fear,’ artist Barry Blitt satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama’s campaign.” I’m sure Senator Obama is oh-so appreciative for The New Yorker’s help. UPDATE -- Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton says: “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."
If your gonna run for office, especially for U.S. Presidency your gonna be fair game, good taste or not! This won't change my thoughts on Obama. People just need to get over the political correctness crap!
Lampooning is part of the gig..... But at least no one will riot and kill anyone over the cartoon....which is utterly ridiculous. DD
I'm sure several folx in West Virginia will be showing their neighbors .. .without reading the article. . . "SEE SEE THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT . . . .even the NEW YORKER things so . . . and it is a liberal 'rag' . . . so the liberals are finally wising up to BALACK SADDAM OSAMABAMA!!" Rocket River you can predict stupidity . . but you cannot predict its form
This would be a bit less wrenching if there were some text on the cover itself indicating that the topic was character assassination. Instead we have a starkly offensive image that no mainstream conservative magazine would get away with, or even attempt to publish.
I actually think this helps Obama - not because of what it is, but the timing. People who are going to buy into all that crap aren't voting for Obama anyway. You might get someone to go from "Obama is an evil Muslim" to "Obama is not evil", but you're not going to get them to "I'll vote for Obama". But Obama's been struggling with the left recently with FISA and all that. This might serve as a rallying point for the left a bit. Kind of an us-against-the-world mentality. No idea if it will happen or not because a lot of will depend on the coverage, but regardless of if there's any beneficial aspect, ultimately, I think the damage will be limited or nothing.
With as many racists as there are spread across the country, I am not surprised. With that said, I hope to God Obama wins this election. If he does, given the racial profiling that's occured during his campaign, I think that speaks volumes for the guy. I think this definitely goes too far (insinuating that Obama's a terrorist).
