Barack Obama's campaign is condemning as “tasteless and offensive” a New Yorker magazine cover that depicts Obama in a turban, fist-bumping his gun-slinging wife. An American flag burns in their fireplace. The New Yorker says it's satire. It certainly will be candy for cable news. The Obama campaign quickly condemned the rendering. Spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement: “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. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree." McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds quickly e-mailed: “We completely agree with the Obama campaign, it’s tasteless and offensive.” The issue, which goes on sale Monday, includes a long piece by Ryan Lizza about Obama’s start in Chicago politics. At a press availability Sunday afternoon in San Diego, Obama was asked, according to a transcript by Maria Gavrilovic of CBS News: “The upcoming issue of The New Yorker, the July 21 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, shrugging incredulously, replied: “I have no response to that.” The magazine explains at the start of its news release previewing the issue: “On the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue of 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.” Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post said Sunday on his CNN media show “Reliable Sources” that the cover is arguably “incendiary.” “I talked to the editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, who tells me this is a satire, that they are making fun of all the rumors,” Kurtz added. Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune defended it as “quite within the normal realms of journalism,” adding that “it's just lampooning all the crazy ignorance out there.” The panelists agreed it would succeed in its goal of getting attention.
I would say it would be bad if it wasn't true, but then if the shoe fits.... What in that satire isn't true? The turban and muslim garb? The disrespect for the flag? The fact that his wife hasn't been proud to be an American for her entire life? Here are some exerpts from his two books, from Dreams of My Father and Audacity of Hope: From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.' From Dreams of My Father : 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.' From Dreams of My Father: 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.' From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.' From Dreams of My Father: 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into myfather's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself , the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.' And FINALLY the Most Damming one of <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = U1 /><U1:STOCKTICKER u2:st="on">ALL</U1:STOCKTICKER> of them!!! From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.' Sounds like the satire is accurate.
Ol' Obie got his knickers in a knot over this. One of two reactions would have been better. Show he is bigger by laughing about it, or just ignore it and let the sycophants duke it out. What really needs to happen is have that boy (I can say that, I'm WAY older than he is, so pull in your indignant horns) grow a thicker skin to go with the political ambitions. If he lets that bother him, the political cartoonists will drive him from office in a year, if he even gets elected. To my mind, this is just something to distract from the reality of the real world situation. If we allow ourselves to be mired in trivia, we are going to miss out on significant issues. I can see that idiotic cover gaining Obie some sympathy votes he has not earned nor deserves.
