by Katie Fretland The cover of the new New Yorker magazine depicts a caricature of Sen. Barack Obama as Muslim, standing in the Oval Office with a flag burning in the fireplace and a painting of Osama bin Laden hanging on the wall. He gives a fist bump to his wife, Michelle Obama, who is pictured wearing military fatigues and an automatic rifle slung over her shoulder. The New Yorker said the cover by Barry Blitt called "The Politics of Fear" is meant to satirize "the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama's campaign," according to a press release about the new magazine issue. The Obama campaign, as well as the campaign of Republican rival John McCain, slammed the cover as offensive: "The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement, reported by Politico. "But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree." "We completely agree with the Obama campaign, it's tasteless and offensive," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement. Obama has fought rumors that he is Muslim and that his wife once said a slur on videotape directed toward white people. Conservatives also challenged the patriotism of Michelle Obama. The campaign started a website, fightthesmears.com, aimed at combating those and other rumors. This summer, FOX News anchor E.D. Hill said the widely-televised fist bump shared by Obama and his wife had been characterized as a "terrorist fist jab." (She apologized and lost her show, though FOX said the network had already planned to replace her show in the lineup.) A journalist asked Obama about the New Yorker cover during a press availability Sunday in San Diego, according to news reports. "The upcoming issue of The New Yorker, the July 21 issue, has a picture of you, depicting you and your wife on the cover," said CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic. "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 shrugged and replied that he had no response.
stupid shit like this should only strengthen his campaign, and add some more resolve for Obama supporters.. this is just the beginning of the dumb s**t... wait until he becomes president
I actually believe them when they said they were trying to employ a little satire. Because that is exactly the right wingers have portrayed the Obamas. All that is missing is a picture of an angry, finger-pointing, frowning Malcolm X and that picture would've been a 10/10. Don't get me wrong, it might have been tacky and could've been done better, but i think anyone with an IQ above 9 could tell what their intention was.
LaydeezmanCris, I am glad you posted what you did. I agree with you. As soon as I saw the cover I thought Well there it is! Let the camo wearing, banjo playing, tabacco chewing red necks see their worst nightmare. Of course he is Muslim. Of course he is burning the flag. Of course his wife is a militant black woman. And the terrorist fist bump....it is a secret code that blacks have been using in this country for years now and it has only recently been exposed for the threat to national security that it is. Thank god we know! I think putting it out there exposes the ridiculousness of the entire scenario. Which was and always has been the intent of The New Yorker. Tasteless, of course. Offensive, yes. But did it accurately sum up the fears of a particular segment of the American public and expose them for the ignorant fools that they are? Bang on the money. 100%
Yes...the rise to power of Al-Negro...the world's most violent terrorist, anti-white, pro-black organization. The headquarters are located in Al-Cookistan County Province...also known as Chicago, Illinois by the locals. You'd think that..considering blacks have been in the U.S. since 1619 (technically 1528 if you count Esteban, a black polyglot who explored the Southwest with Narvaez)....people would realize that if we had some plan...we probably would have hatched it about 100 years ago...LOL 8)
...I think it's a wack cover.. though about par for the course with political cartoonists... nonetheless, I'm thinking that most casual readers/onlookers who look at it will likely see it as a confirmation of the fears suggested by neo-con smudge attacks, and any intended "irony" by the publisher will fly over the heads of most "moderates" and "deeply conservative" types alike.. ah well.. :?
