The New Yorker Cover

Posted on 07/14/2008 at 8:44 am by Bob Cesca

My entire career has involved provocative satire and I will always defend a satirist whether or not I agree with the larger point of the comedy.

But when it comes to the rumors about Senator Obama — if it’s going to be mentioned in some way, it needs to be immediately qualified or explained as being a false rumor. This isn’t like the rumor about President Bush being a dry drunk, or Cheney being an evil half-penguin man who eats baby orangutans. Both of which are ultimately innocuous. This rumor, however, insinuates that Senator Obama is a terrorist sleeper agent who, once elected, will take over the nation in the name of al-Qaeda.

The sad truth is that terrorists are an enemy on the hit list of every batshit far-right vigilante in the nation. If this Manchurian rumor is spread without adequate attribution or explanation or debunking, it’s dangerous. Dangerous to the lives of Senator Obama and his family.

So at face value this cover doesn’t do anything to debunk the rumors, but instead only fuels them. The artwork should have underscored the false, silly and insidious nature of the rumors.

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  • midad

    I am so disgusted by this cover. I plan to let the New York Times know exactly how I feel about this.

  • natashacrk

    I could not agree more. It’s disgusting! I don’t care if he’s known for his controversial covers. It’s bullshit!

  • http://thepoliticalcarnival.blogspot.com/ Paddy

    My outrage meter hit the red zone last week and I can’t even muster an eh at this point. They’ll stop at nothing, NOTHING.

  • bajasteve

    Um, Midad, the New Yorker magazine and the NYT are two separate entities. You need to let the New Yorker magazine know exactly how you feel about this.I’m disgusted with the cover myself, but blame has to be assigned correctly.

  • midad

    DOH! You are right Baja.I did call the New Yorker…let them know I was disgusted and they promised to pass my comment on to the editors. What the hell were they thinking!!!

  • http://www.clusterdouche.com Elvis Dingeldein

    The artwork should have underscored the false, silly and insidious nature of the rumors.Ways in which this might have been accomplished:

    • Sketch in Karl Rove holding the magazine cover in one sweaty paw as he feverishly pleasures himself.
    • Depict Terrorist Obama proudly standing over Trophy Corpses of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity.
    • Add caricature of Bush caught in his own butterfly net as Actual Terrorist Osama bin Laden runs in Benny-Hill-like circles around them all.
    • To better target the Republican Sense of Humor, add pile of smoldering Iranian corpses displaying radition burns and early effects of lung cancer and/or emphysema.
    • Follow this issue with next week’s cover: Cartoon of George Bush with a John McCain-shaped lump in his colon.
    • Not worry so much about it, because blue-collar Middle American rednecks who still think the Senator is a Muslim or can’t say his name without sticking the Hoo-Sane in there don’t fucking read The New Yorker.
  • Bob_Cesca

    >>>Not worry so much about it, because blue-collar Middle American rednecks who still think the Senator is a Muslim or can’t say his name without sticking the Hoo-Sane in there don’t fucking read The New Yorker.Right on! But that’s also the problem — they’ll see the cover all over the place this week without reading a goddamn sentence of the article inside.

  • http://www.clusterdouche.com Elvis Dingeldein

    Don’t confuse us with your “good points” and your “facts” and your “rightness,” Bob Cesca, we don’t do nuance or deep thought. We’re a Liberal snark-factory called “Clusterdouche,” for Christ’s sake, how much thinking do you really think we’re doing?

  • Bob_Cesca

    BANNED!Kidding.

  • FrictionSoul

    Good to see others are outraged at this. It’s not satire at all. Satire would have had Elvis D’s suggestions drawn in it. I loved that Karl Rove idea. Brilliant, and that’s what this cover is not.

  • http://www.clusterdouche.com Elvis Dingeldein

    I am SO taking credit for the appearance of “Hoo-Sane” in the HuffPo piece, Bob Cesca. SO. TAKING. CREDIT. Don’t even lie and say you didn’t edit that in at the last minute and it’s just a big fat coincidence. DON’T YOU DO IT!So taking credit for The Hoo-Sane.