The New Yorker is catching a lot of flak for it's newest cover. It depicts Obama, dressed as Osama Bin Laden, turban and all, fist-bumping his wife, attired in millitary gear, with an AK-47 strapped across her back.
It's hilarious.
I understand why people are up in arms about it. However, to me, it's pretty obvious that the cover is satire, and not of Obama. As soon as I saw the cover, I cackled, because its actually very clever.
Perhaps the reason most people are angry about the thing is they don't have the friends have. I am very good friends with a great deal of people who inhabit the far right of the political and religious spectrums. Among some of these, there are people I know who actually believe, in all seriousness that Barack Obama is covertly working for fundamementalist Muslims in an effort to destroy America from within. The number of people who actually believe this is way higher than is expected or reasonable. Don't believe me? I know of at least 3 Facebook groups that make the claim.
To me, the illustration is hysterical, because I actually know people who look at that and go "Y'See thur? Even them dadgum liberals know that Barack is one of them terrorists!"
I understand if people get upset about this illustration. If you don't know somebody who actually believes the caricature, it can seem like a totally tasteless, utterly gratuitous assault on Obama and his wife.
I applaud the New Yorker for having the cajones to print this picture, and I applaud the editor for standing by it. This kind of satire is bound to draw criticism; it's only sad that it's from people who should be laughing along with it.
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