Latest Cover of New Yorker Magazine Spotlights Journalistic “Amateur Hour” at its Finest

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

The New Yorker has apparently thrown any hint of class to the wayside, this conclusion was drawn from their decision to run a tasteless (this is putting it politely) cover illustration for this weeks publication. The cartoon portrays Michelle and Barack Obama perpetuating every single slanderous right wing stereotype. With the Oval office serving as the backdrop, a huge portrait of Osama Bin Laden as well as an American Flag in flames, adjacent to the fireplace rounds up the office decor. Obama appears in full Muslim garb, fist-bumping Michelle, who is depicted as the “afro’d out wife”, dressed in the military fatigues with a machine gun and ammo draped over her shoulder.

Barry Blitt, the man behind this rather pathetic attempt at political satire, has titled the image “The Politics of Fear”. Blitt argues that he was attempting to point out the “right wing attack” machine that has been actively at work against both Barack Obama and his wife Michelle:

The illustration, by Barry Blitt,is called “The Politics of Fear” and, according to the NYer press release, “satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama’s campaign.”

Setting aside the fact that this cartoon is not at all funny, it serves as an enabler to both the GOP smear merchants as well as some American’s inability to see the satire, or the attempt there of, behind the cover image.

Individuals who believed at one time (and some who still do today) that Obama was a “secret Muslim”, or his wife Michelle held “anti American” beliefs, individuals who arrived at the misinformed conclusion due to a “chain e-mail”, or a factually absent right wing article smeared across the internet:

“Presumably the New Yorker readership is sophisticated enough to get the joke, but still: this is going to upset a lot of people, probably for the same reason it’s going to delight a lot of other people, namely those on the right: Because it’s got all the scare tactics and misinformation that has so far been used to derail Barack Obama’s campaign all in one handy illustration. Anyone who’s tried to paint Obama as a Muslim, anyone who’s tried to portray Michelle as angry or a secret revolutionary out to get Whitey, anyone who has questioned their patriotism well, here’s your image.”

The Obama camp didn’t take long to release a statement regarding the latest cover of the New Yorker. Bill Burton, a senior ranking campaign official did not mix words, and called the illustration “tasteless and offensive”:

The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, 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.”

Unfortunately though this will undoubtedly become another media feeding frenzy of a story. I mean it is more or less common knowledge by now that anytime a chance arises to question, point out, or discuss anything that’s perceived too be a negative reflection on Obama and/or his campaign.

Can you imagine if a so-called “left wing” publication (hey, thats how FOX News refers to them) ran a cover cartoon that depicted John McCain in a way that captured each and every one of the slanderous stereotypes that have been attributed to him and his family?

“Will the New Yorker’s cover of Manchurian Candidate McCain reveal him as an angry mean spirited adulterous, brainwashed, egotistical, addlepated bottom of the barrel Naval Academy graduate, surrounded by his Keating 5 buddies and his bevy of lobbying comrades?

Will the New Yorker portray Manchurian McCain who flip-flops so much it’s hard to keep track of what he stands for; McCain who is so dishonest he will lie about everything he has ever said and done - even when confronted with the videotape to the contrary.

It’s going to be swell to see Manchurian McCain on the cover of the New Yorker and in the background a list of all of the votes that McCain has cast that have resulted in McCain getting a D rating from veterans organizations.”

FOX News’ head wold literally explode - probably on air. The Hannity’s of both television and talk radio would rip into an attack mode that would surpass anything we have seen since the Rev. Wright story first broke months go, and they would be relentless in every aspect imaginable.

But hey, it’s a Democrat on the cover, whats the big deal right? I mean why is everyone getting all hussy fussy over this thing - it’s just a joke, lighten up…

Expect to hear a lot of that from the mainstream media, specifically the individuals who I referenced as being the ones who would blow their tops on air if this was done to McCain. However it has nothing to do with a “sense of humor”, actually, its the furthest thing from it.

The reason why this “cute little image” should (but probably won’t) receive an incredible amount of scrutiny is because it only feeds to the misconceptions many on the right have and are currently shaping against Barack Obama. Moreover it comes in the form of a “cartoon cover”, utilized by a publication that like so many others in this day and age, are looked at, or claim to be “liberal” (see 99% of CNN’s on air talent) and their fevered attempt to prove to something or someone — that in all reality doesn’t even exist — that they are not “radical liberals” or part of the “fringe movement” on the far reaches of the left wing platform.

And in this attempt to prove that they are not something, they subsequently are partaking in a game that their so called “sophisticated” writers have railed against for the last several months - successfully making them not only part of the problem, but also drop dead hypocrites.

1. Sneak Preview: This Weeks TIME Magazine Cover Here is a "first look" at the upcoming weeks...
2. “New Yorker” Article Reveals that the U.S. Military is Conducting Operations Inside Iran *Video* The upcoming July edition of the New Yorker features...
3. Hillary Clinton & Her Plagiarism Charges: Hypocrisy at its Finest If you have yet to hear the latest Hillary Clinton...
4. Obama’s ‘Rolling Stone’ Cover Story: Highlights from the Interview Inside Presidential hopeful Barack Obama graces the cover of July's...
5. Media Uncertain How to Cover Wright/ Obama Split–Colbert Answers Right now there is the same type of back and...