If you've not seen this cartoon for the New Yorker,then here it is in all of its glory. It shows Barack and Michelle Obama in all of the stereotypical garb and poses that bigots and racists -- same thing -- have complained about. It has Michelle as a terrorist doing the "fist pump" and Barack in radical muslim garb.
Why?
What's the point of this?
A number of outraged Obama supporters have flooded the listservs on this matter, and one person
John Hay of TellingThoughts.com took up an email conversation with the cartoonist Barry Blitt:
t appears as though “The New Yorker” is now running for cover over their outrageous and highly defamatory Obama magazine front cover. Possibly grounds for a costly New Yorker payout after Senator Obama gets the election out of the way.
Below is the New Yorker cartoonist’s response to an emailed complaint over the cover. It was posted early today by an Obama supporter MK, on one of the Obama site threads.
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New Yorker Cover Artist’s Response to My E-mail | Report to Admin
By MK Today at 2:52 am EDT
Here is Barry Blitt’s response to my e-mail expressing my hurt and distress at his New Yorker Cover…
I am distressed to receive your email. All I can tell you is it was my intention to depict the
hideous innuendo and scare tactics circulated in the media as the ridiculous lies that they are.
My drawing was intended to appear preposterous and ridiculous. That it is being taken at
face value is very upsetting, and directly opposite to its intention. I am sorry for the hurt
it has caused. I cannot actually believe this cartoon, which was meant to mock the bigots
and xenophobes who spread lies, will actually give them license.
I hoped the image would get people talking about the falsehoods being spread about the Obamas.
I still hope that will be the case.
I am sorry once again.
Barry Blitt
But this is like Jesse Jackson all over again. You do something you know is going to upset people, but then turn around and appologize for it. This is happening all too often.
What about the New Yorker's editors? They're the ones who decided to run the damn thing.
