Afro, combat fatigues and boots, AK-47 strappedto her back

Tag : african sandals


N ot funny.

There's Barack and Michelle Obama fist-bumpin' in the Oval Office.He's in Islamic garb -- a turban, tunic and sandals. She's a studyin radical chic -- Afro, combat fatigues and boots, AK-47 strappedto her back. A portrait of Osama bin Laden gazes down on the firstcouple. An American flag burns in the Oval Office fireplace.

Not funny. Obama's team was spot on in calling The New Yorker cover"tasteless and offensive." John McCain was right to call it"inappropriate" and "offensive." I'm a big fan of cartoon kicks andgiggles and no fan of either Obama. Barack Obama has seriousquestions to answer about his past associations (Jeremiah Wright,Tony Rezko and William Ayers) and Michelle seems full of left-wingresentments about both her nation ("For the first time in my lifeI'm proud of my country"), but neither deserves such a loadedcaricature on the cover of a national magazine. Talk about givingaid and comfort to a limited crew of yahoos in the republic's feverswamps.

And The New Yorker's excuse for its "Politics of Fear" cartoon onlyadded insult to injury -- and unmasked Obamaland's diseased andparanoid view of those who don't share their beatific vision.

Barry Blitt's cartoon, we're told, "satirizes the use of scaretactics and misinformation in the presidential election to derailBarack Obama's campaign." According to Obama campaign spokesmanBill Burton, the magazine's staff told his campaign that "theircover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama'sright-wing critics have tried to create."

Isn't that special? The New Yorker seeks to lampoon Obama'sright-wing critics and ends up offending Obama's boosters.

You know, all Obama's right-wing critics think Michelle's aradical-terrorist and Barack's a closet Muslim with a fondness forOsama. I guess you have to be there -- in the rarefied air of TheNew Yorker offices or the steamy bunkers of Obamaland -- becausethat's not the right-wing critique of the Illinois senator I see.This explains why Blitt's cartoon missed its intended target.There's no real intended target to hit. It's all in Blitt and TeamObama's paranoid imaginings. Blitt deployed a cartoon on behalf ofa cartoonish view of Obama's right-wing critics -- he didn'tcaricature reality -- and it backfired on him and Obama.

Now that's funny.

I don't know what campaign Blitt's been watching, but it's not theone I've watched. The reality-based campaign has featured HillaryClinton's Democratic primary campaign circulating the picture ofObama in a turban and Clinton saying Obama isn't a Muslim -- "asfar as I know." The reality-based campaign also featured McCaindenouncing a talk-radio host who used Obama's middle name (Hussein)at a McCain rally. Yes, there are no doubt Obama critics whotraffic in this Muslim Manchurian candidate nonsense, but theydon't reflect a meaningful element of Obama's right-wing oppositionor this presidential race.

If it's unclear what campaign Blitt's watching, it's no mysterywho's pushing the paranoid fantasies found in Blitt's slick laughriot. Look no further than two primary figures in his "Politics ofFear" cover cartoon. Yes, meet the Obamas.

Here's Michelle Obama, last February discussing "the obvious,ultimate fear bomb" -- the use of Barack's full name -- deployedagainst her husband in his 2004 Senate race: "We learned, No. 1,that when power is threatened by real change they will say anythingto stop it."

Ah, the big, bad no-names, "they."

And here's hubby discussing the upcoming race last month inFlorida: "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run.They're going to try to make you afraid. They're going to try tomake you afraid of me. He's young and inexperienced and he's got afunny name. And did I mention he's black?"

True, he was good enough to name the "they" -- those Republicans,don't you know? -- before saying they would make his race an issue.Classy.

Yeah, there's no other possible reason to oppose Obama. What a joke-- unless, of course you're an Obama or a New Yorker cartoonist.

So, have you heard the one about a Muslim man and AK 47-totingAfrican-American woman fist-bumpin' in the Oval Office?

David Reinhard, associate editor, can be reached at 503-221-8152 ordavidreinhard@news.oregonian.com