A sampling of Huffington Post commenters reacting to The New Yorker cover:
realtalk
IT IS SAD THAT BARACK OBAMA WHO IS A GOOD MAN, WITH A GREAT WIFE, AND TWO GREAT DAUGHTERS HAVE TO TAKE THIS GARBAGE FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!!THE NEW YORKER, AND THOSE AMERICANS WHO THINK THAT THIS MAGAZINE COVER IS APPROPRIATE ARE THE WORST OF THE WORST!
THIS IS JUST DISGRACEFUL!!
memphispaul
New York Fascism is alive and wewilburr0g
This is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen.buckygreen
Whats next for the New Yorker? Maybe a rib tickling, hilarious lynching caricature. You know, satire.
Way to conflate two unrelated examples, “buckygreen.” Way to encourage misinformation and misunderstanding, Sen. Obama.
Must we always play down to the audience, sanitizing cleverness so as not to confuse the stupid?
My only problem, is that it’s all fun and games for the NY intelligentsia to mock these beliefs that hold sway in fly-over country until Obama loses the election.
I can’t wait for the National Review’s satirical cover of Manchurian Candidate McCain divorcing his first wife to run away with Cindy.
I don’t think many in flyover country or any other part of the country really believe that shit about Obama, and those that do should be mocked. If you laugh at it, it’s more likely to go away than if you continually address it in such a serious manner. If we can’t satirize our public officials in this country, then God help us, the stupid people have won. They probably already have.
I am all for satirization (is that officially a noun) – and I believe that this was aimed at the dip shits that believe this stuff not Obama. I also agree with your point about putting it out in the open, but after the advent of Fox News, two terms of GWB and the proliferation of stupid mass emails, I no longer underestimate the power of the people to lean towards self-deception and the lowest common denominator. As for your comment:
“If we can’t satirize our public officials in this country, then God help us, the stupid people have won. They probably already have.”
I believe you are correct, sir.
[...] Our buddy over at ATLmalcontent delves into the outrage over the satirical cover for this week’s New Yorker, which depicts [...]
I don’t see it that way.
You cannot fight racism by using racist imagery. It is disgusting and demeaning on many levels. This is not the work of an ally, this is someone pandering to the lowest common denominator.
How many times are minorities going to be objectified to prove a point? They might as well have depicted the Obama’s kids as video hos and completed the racist imagery trifecta.
They made the Obamas the subject of the satire, instead of the people who believe such things about them. That’s where they went wrong.
btw, most of that^ are comments from another blog that I agree with….along with this
” When benefactors of racism and sexism spoof either or both from their comfort levels of course, it’s hard to trust their intentions are what they state them to be.”
You don’t get it. There’s nothing racist about it. It’s making fun of the racists. I’m sorry, but how is it demeaning? You’re trying to be offended. Do you even know the name Jonathan Swift?
And do you REALLY think the New Yorker is working in consort with right-wing fanatics? Are you really that literal? How is thh New Yorker a benefactor of racism and sexism? And what the fuck is sexist about this? Fuck the perpetually offended, humorless and ignorant. Learn something for a change!
And now Jesse “Nutcracker” Jackson is going to protest? Guess the New Yorker doesn’t measure up to his standard of subtle social commentary.
Literalists on the left and right will be the death of this nation. They’re equally as ignorant.
Umm, isn’t it supposed to be Jesse “Nutcutter” Jackson? Just saying…
OH, so it’s not racist or sexist? Thanks for making that so clear. Now I know and will tell all my friends!
You don’t get it.
It’s not funny and it’s a failure at satire. There’s absolutely no context to this “satire”. Maybe if this image where a thought bubble of Sean Hannity’s, then it would be a bit of chuckle. However, they’ve got the Obamas looking like the subjects/objects of the satire.
You don’t have to be in consort with the right-wing fanatics to make seriously stupid mistakes….
Also, not sure what Jesse Jackson has to do with this?
His organization is boycotting The New Yorker. That’s what he has to do with it.
Are you to judge what’s funny and what’s a satire? First you might want to study the topic.
Also, not sure what Sean Hannity has to do with this? Am I a right-winger now because I recognize satire?
Frankly, if the Obamas are too fragile to handle a cartoon, I’m concerned.