Obama New Yorker cover
The July 21 New Yorker features the above cover, satirizing the racist coverage of the Obamas mentioned in my previous post. According to the BBC, the Obama campaign called the cartoon "tasteless and offensive", and the McCain campaign also criticized the cartoon.
In a statement, The New Yorker magazine said the cartoon "combines a number of fantastical images about the Obamas and shows them for the obvious distortions they are."
The New Yorker said the cover, called "The Politics of Fear", was a critique of unfounded allegations that have tried to portray Mr Obama, a Christian, as a closet radical Muslim.
"The burning flag, the nationalist-radical and Islamic outfits, the fist-bump, the portrait on the wall? All of them echo one attack or another. Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd. And that's the spirit of this cover," the statement said....
The New Yorker said that this week's edition carried two "very serious" articles about Mr Obama.
But Obama spokesman Bill Burton dismissed the cartoon, saying: "The New Yorker may think... 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."
Does this satire have impact?
The only reason that this Mr. & Mrs. Obama satire DOES have impact — and may very likely spread — is because like all good satire, or good humor for that matter, there’s more than a germ of truth in it. Otherwise, the satire would utterly roll off the Obamoids’ backs, having no impact.
Blame the victim
You're saying that there's always a grain of truth behind prejudice? If so, you may want to stop reading this blog because I'm Jewish and thus kill Christian children to get blood to make matzoh.
Blood libel
ellen: You may wish to reread the comment you critique so zealously. He said "all good satire," that second word is of note. There really isn't anything satirical about Jewish blood libel, or blood libel against most cultures (there are those few for whom it's not libel) for that matter. Further, I highly doubt anyone but the most fanatical fringe crazies would consider Jewish blood libel "good" satire...
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Zöllner
http://zoellner.wpmu.theuth.com/
Prejudice is prejudice
You're correct that the commenter didn't say that all prejudice had a grain of truth behind it, but he/she did imply that there was truth to the portrayal of the Obamas as Muslim anti-Americans, a claim I maintain is only founded in racism and misplaced xenophobia, comparable to that expressed toward my own people.
To me, the grain of truth that made the cover satire was was Fox News' misportrayal of the Obamas, not any hidden Muslim or anti-American tendencies that the poster implied.
the grain of truth that made
Yes, you're right, Ellen.
but...
Americans shouldn't forget about that when they publish such anti-Muslim publications like that poster, they are fueling the fire of intolerance within the nation.
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Gabriele Bergamaschi
Grains* of truth
The Grains* of truth that inspire this cover are blatently obvious.
Recordings of both Mrs. Obama and there family minister of 20 some years ranting and raving from the pulpit about how America is horrible and the white man causes all problems in the world, Obama's speeches in which he "accidentally" refers to being a muslim or holding islamic beliefs, and Obama's desire to "talk" to a group of people who hate us for the colors we bear and the freedoms we posess and think nothing of hacking off innocent people's head's just because they dont worship Allah.
I think the writing is on the wall, Obama can try to hide his beliefs all he wants, but the only "change" we'll see if hes elected is the enactment of Sharia Law. Oh, by the way, in Sharia law its a pretty common punishment to be slaughtered if you worship anything but islam. Im sure the predjudice between christians and jews can REALLy compete with that.
Satire of the satire
Here are links to fake New Yorker covers inspired by the above:
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