Well, at least it wasn't the Dutch this time. The New Yorker has offended the sensibilities of the sensitive press by the cover art reproduced to the right. Cyberspace is awash with righteous indignation, even though no one doubts that the image is a caricature not of Mr. and Ms. Obama, but of their critics.
Michelle Obama is depicted as a gun toting Angela Davis type, and we see an American flag burning in the fireplace. The Democratic nominee is presented as a Muslim, with the portrait of a Cleric looking over his shoulder, all in the Oval Office.
I am sorry, but this funny. I am not likely to endorse Ms. Obama for first lady, but only a full tilt loon could take this portrait seriously. Whatever the Obama's are, they are as American as a pair of Egg McMuffins. The cover art makes good fun of the tendency of some of us to view politicians and pundits through the most fevered imagination. Some people do probably believe that this is an accurate portrait, just as our esteemed Keloland blogger David Newquist believes that the Aberdeen American News has a "petit-fascist philosophy." No reasonable person would make such a mistake.
It's also probably true, as some wounded left wing patriots have alleged, that bozos on the right will circulate this cover as evidence for the coming Muslim take-over. But that is the risk of all satire. If the New Yorker cover is failed satire, as Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly has alleged, it is because it assumed a sophisticated sense of humor on the part of the press. I could have warned them about that. When you spend as much time as many Democrats and journalists do looking for attacks on your patriotism, you aren't a good audience for satire.
Obama himself has come out to complain. Bad strategy, I am thinking. He doesn't need to look oversensitive right now, or ever. He might have said: "look, when you are running for President, you get all kinds of grief. Actually, I thought Michelle looked kinda cute in that afro." When J.F.K. was entertaining some British politician, he complained about the way the press was treating Jackie. "What would you do if newspapers were writing about your wife's drinking?" Kennedy asked, exasperated. The Brit replied, without batting an eye, "I'd tell 'em: you should see her mother!"
Political humor cannot go after our conceits (and they are legion) without offending our sensibilities. Maybe I would have been writing an offended post if the same thing had been done to McCain. I like to think not.
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