What’s fair for the goose, is fair for the geezer.
I was planning to expand this concept into something about how cartoons this summer are giving us more meaty news to chew on than actual live-action political discourse, but got too wrapped up in other work. So I’ll have to drop this Salon bomb and run, and come back later to see what you guys think before I decide how I feel about it.¬† I depend on you guys to bring intelligence and a balanced perspective to my sometimes half-baked formulations (the same way Salon’s readers comments are often far more thoughtful and interesting than the posts that spark the debate — so check those out if you have a chance.) I was actually gonna try to fly a similar parody a few weeks ago when I was steaming over the outrageous treatment Michelle Obama was getting for being a “bitter” “baby-mama,” but it didn’t come together as I hoped so I held off posting for various reasons. But heck, let’s make this Satireday at AD! I’ll slip in my attempt after the cut.
(Forgot the usual advisory: If this type of post is not to your liking, you know where to find the scroll bar.)
I tried to think of ways to justify this as film-related (“Look, it’s a movie poster spoof too!”) but that would be stretching it. In fact, I’m just looking for filler to take up space before the next item I post about The Dark Knight.
Oh it warms my heart Ryan to see this well-deserved comeback, even if McBush has himself jumped on the bandwagon deriding the New Yorker for that poorly-chosen and slanderous cover.
You need not make any excuses–many of us are with you lock stock and barrel—we need more diversity such as this thread. Nice work!
The movie poster one is very funny and creative. The other one is not.
Thanks for for the reassurance, Sam. I saw McCain’s tsk-tsk “disapproval” statement last night. To me his words didn’t mask his expression — one of barely-restrained and very thinly-veiled schadenfreude.
Charles, that’s a terrific compliment, since the movie poster is a custom-made AD exclusive.
“Slanderous” cover? Does absolutely nobody understand that the cover was making fun of the Fox News crazies of the world who keep trying to associate Obama with terrorism and radical Islam, and not making fun of Obama himself? That’s why the cartoon was titled “The Politics of Fear.” Has America completely lost all its skills of interpretation? Have we reached the point where we have only the skills to interpret things literally?
Totally agree, S.T.Stevens. Though I cringed when I saw the cover yesterday, I completely understand where it’s coming from. My cringing was because I feared how it would be blown up — and also dreaded to think about the thousands of people who will not read a single word being written about any of this. They’ll only see the cover (and they won’t all be seeing it through the eyes of New Yorkers. Some of those eyes will be West Virginian, and not all fine citizens of that state are gonna look past the surface.)
There was an exit poll interview on MSNBC asking a little West Virginian lady why she didn’t vote for Obama. “That name Hussein. I had just about enough of Husseins.”
I’m not making that up. As Allah is my witness.
I intentionally linked the word “cartoon” to a Newsweek blog entry titled “misplaced umbrage” and here’s another excellent point of view in Salon.
In spite of all that, I can’t help wishing this never happened. It’s exactly what Republicans want: another distraction from real issues. With all this noise, the news that “foreign policy expert” McCain once again referred to a non-existent Czechoslovakia today get’s lost in the gasps over a juicer media-manufactured controversy.
S. T. Stevens:
The whole world knows what the folks at New Yorker meant by the cover. But the entire thing backfired, as most readers just don’t process the satire. It gives (unintentionally or not) more fuel to the racism that has plagued the campaign from the outset.
As a result, the END RESULT is that the cover turns out to be scandalous. Too bad.
See the sad thing is about the cover is that it was about the politics of fear but many American’s who don’t read the New Yorker or understand the meaning behind the cover or was just passing by it could THINK that the cover was informing them that “Obama is a terrorist and a Muslim”. I mean, sadly, in America today and the politics of fear after 8 years of President Bush, Terrorism has been played and hit the hearts of MANY Americans, because they can’t see though the rhetoric, which is sad. Additionally, as an Obama volunteer and supporter many people STILL believe that Obama is a Muslim and this cover does not help this situation. I live in Ohio and it is sad to say but many still think about it and because of the MEDIA, many Midwestern people saw the cover. Honestly, not many Ohioans know what the New Yorker even is; let alone see or read the cover or magazine.
In addition, on a side note about the McCain cover, it does not attack him for rumors. It attacks him on what he is said. I just wonder if those pills that good ol’ Cindy is giving him are Viagra. Honestly, that would make this cover sooooo much funnier
How is that America is getting dumber and less sophisticated every year? This is seriously something out of Idiocracy, soooo pathetic.
I appreciate your concerns Ryan. But I don’t share them with regards the satirical NYer cover. Election outcomes are predominately determined by swing voters. And any among them capable of being swayed to believe ludicrous characterizations of the Obamas by a satirical cover would certainly buy into the genuine anit-Obama messages promulgated by the Republican party and its supporters, including the conservative media, even if the cover never existed. As for the little old lady who thinks Obama is called Hussein, it’s hard to believe someone so disinclined to inform herself is interested in anything other than depictions and notions that reinforce her pre-existing political leanings.
No one is going to look at the cover of the New Yorker and assume that Obama is a terrorist, its merely a media outlet exploiting someone for the sake of selling magazines. Now everyone is talking about the New Yorker again. To say that Americans as a whole are getting dumber and dumber is ridiculous, and anyways apparently the people who read the new yorker are supposed to be brilliant so surely they would understand the satire.
And of course McCain is going to say he is offended by it while secretly laughing about it. Obama would do the same if they put a satirical cover of McCain on the cover of the New Yorker.
I don’t really get the 101 dalmatians joke poster, I mean I get it but I am not laughing. The reason everyone is shocked by that New Yorker cover is because a magazine is actually addressing a relevant hot topic, the fact that Obama is somewhat associated to the muslim culture through his father. No one really talks about it, but yes it is on some people’s minds.
I think the intellectuals of america sometimes treat the uneducated people merely as cattle that they must herd mindlessly into the right direction and its this kind of arrogance that got Bush his second term. Michael Moore’s film merely preached to the choir while infuriating a bunch of apathetic rural people into making certain that they got to the voting booth to vote for Bush in spite of Moore.
Bottom line, this shouldn’t be of any concern to the worrisome democrats. Obama owns Ohio and Virginia, and thats all he needs to win. So you can sit back and relax.
Sartre makes a lot of sense there–that’s a tough view to dispute.
“Obama owns Ohio and Virginia and that’s all he needs to win”
Great point there James!
I never saw the big deal surrounding this cover. Most people will understand that it’s satire. Most of the outrage seemed to be stemming from the possibility of a hypothetical person seeing that image and saying, “Of course! Obama’s a terrorist in disguise. And to think I was going to vote for him,” which would be followed by a large group of these hypothetical people making a difference in the election. I just don’t see that. Stephen Colbert calls Obama a “secret Muslim” four times a week, and I don’t see anyone ever worrying about unintended consequences facing his show.
The problem with the New Yorker cover is that it’s BAD satire. We all get the joke because we all know what the magazine stands for, but pretend you didn’t. What in the cartoon suggests that it is making fun of Fox News? Nothing. It just assumes that we’re all supposed to get it because it’s The New Yorker, and anyone who doesn’t is a philistine.
Satire doesn’t work unless the target is crystal clear. Take Monty Python’s Life of Brian, IMHO the best piece of satire ever filmed along with Dr. Strangelove. It works because Jesus is immediately absolved of mockery and all the jokes are targeted at the overzealous. All doubt is erased. With this cartoon, it could go either way.
The cover is lazy. The kind of laziness that only the worst kind of snob could create. Like the snobs who work at The New Yorker.
to quote a line from the “sandman” comics: “intent and outcome are rarely coincident”. ultimately, the message people will get from the New Yorker cover will be that Obama IS a “secret muslim” (will he unmask himself on Inauguration Day like a Bond villain? mwahaha). It’s the humouristic equivalent of blowing 30 H-Bombs to show people how bad war is (obviously, this comparison is meant to be absurd and should be kept to its own proportions).
I can honestly say that if I looked at that cover without ever having heard of the New Yorker, which isn’t that far from the truth anyway, I still would’ve thought it was intended as comedy. I also want to point out that The Daily Show just pointed out a great irony to this controversy that hadn’t previously occured to me: A bunch of people are getting worked up about a cartoon that portrays Obama as a Muslim extremist. Now who were the last group of people that got seriously worked up over a cartoon?
You’re right alynch, film critics went gaga over Ratatouille
haha, sartre!
“…who were the last group of people that got seriously worked up over a cartoon?”
I was gonna say the group of dwarfs in Once Upon a Girl.
That cover is more embarrassing than all the monolingual Americans put together.
So to sum up, O-blah-ma cannot be the subject of any kind of humor and McCain is only the subject to ageist jabs.
Way to go America. Now that is something to be embarrassed over.
Perhaps a significant point worth mentioning, Rob, is that while Obama is not a Muslim, McCain is actually very fucking old.
I guess I’m a dick for making that distinction?
& yes, McCain did actually sing “bomb, bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran”
& yes, McCain’s trollop wife did actually steal pain killers (Vicodin and Percocet) from a medical-aid charity to feed her addiction.
& yes, I’m guessing McCain does actually have a photo of Cheney in his home.
so in that respect, the McCain “cartoon” is not satire at all. It’s merely an illustration of verified facts.
AwardsDaily.com …….
…has become a political commentator blog.
Thanks guys.
T
I liked the New Yorker cover. They have written thoughtfully about Obama from day one. I suspect every last soul at the New Yorker will vote for him. (What David Remnick must do is fire Denby and Lane…!!!) This cover is a pimple on an elephant’s butt…..it won’t hurt Mr. O.
The Nat’l Review “one” is simply hilarious. I especially love the CONSTITUTION burning in the fireplace. Good ole Dicky-Dick Chaney!
LOL Richard Crawford!!! I love your post.
So, to sum up:
Ageism is OK if it is done for all the right reasons.
Homophobia is OK if it is done to make fun of gay Republicans and if it is done for all the right reasons.
Sexism is OK if it can put down the Democratic competition and if it is done for all the right reasons.
Diversity is alive and well and cast aside for all the right reasons.
hey Sam: I think Obama will win Florida….and get this…. Perhaps Georgia and even…………………..Texas. the gap is narrowing.
He will win nv. too….He will win Ohio also. and Virginia.
he’s even ahead in Wyoming!
However, it will be a touch close race….and Nov. 11th seems like a millon yrs. away. McCain is going to pick Mitt for his veep.
Richard, I don’t doubt it one bit. That Ohio/Virginia combo in itself may be the lethal blow. I saw it was winning Florida weeks back, bit I acknowledge that what you say about the race tightening is true.
I really do hope that McCain does pick Mitt. I know he has plenty of money, but he can be a good target–many people can’t take him.
Things are really looking great right now. It’s exciting.
Rob,
I read that article in the NYT yesterday, apparently you didn’t read it deeply enough. The problem comedians are finding is not that Obama can’t be the subject of humor or that McCain, Hillary, or (I’m assuming this was your reference) Larry Craig are made fun of to further an agenda. The problem they’re finding is that well crafted jokes have the ring of truth to them. American comedian love ripping Kerry, Jesse Jackson, Al Gore, Bill and Hillary because they make themselves easy targets. Making fun of Obama now is kind of like trying to skewer Tom Cruise before he went all scientology nutso or trying to poke fun at Will Smith, they each come off in a way that makes it hard to joke without seeming insulting or mean-spirited. Black comedians, who don’t need to worry as much about being called racist are having no trouble making jokes about Obama.
Jokes about McCain don’t bother people because McCain cracks them just as often. Jokes about Hillary (as opposed to the sexist tone of news articles) worked because she laughed along with them. Jokes about Larry Craig worked not because he might be gay, but because he was phenomenally stupid and arrogant when caught. The New Yorker cover doesn’t work because it’s not actually funny since there are people who actually believe that’s how the oval office will look with the Obamas in it.
Don’t forget, Don Imus actually thought he was just making a joke when he used his “nappy-headed ho’s” line, and saying it was just a joke didn’t save him.
the only problem with the election is that it’s 110 million yrs. away…..Nov. 11th.
I think Mitt will help McCain: some people percieve him to be handsome. (not me!) some people choose for looks. That he has flipped his flop does not matter when it comes to evangelicals….& i think he is a good choice for independents. winning michigan will be tougher.
I honestly have no idea whom Obama will pick. Nunn?
Bring on the political cartoons, Ryan! They certainly bring forth “more meaty news” than anything seen on television (minus Stewart and Colbert, of course… That’s about equal). There are places to see them online already, but at a site like this, there could be lots of commentary on each drawing. That in itself holds water. Once again, bring ‘em on!
Rob, you’re being contrarian, and we love that about you, but although you tease by saying homophobia and misogyny are fine if they serve a larger purpose, you know that’s not how I feel, and it’s borderline insulting to suggest that anybody else here feels that way. But I take it the spirit of jest, because I tease and use extreme examples all the time myself — in an attempt to be funny.
But you do inadvertently make one very good point that I take seriously, all joking aside:
“Ageism is OK if it is done for all the right reasons.”
Ageism as applied to denigrate the elderly is not good. But the issue of age is a valid concern.
Being a woman or being black or being gay do not stand in the way of being a sharp-minded well-informed leader.
Being so old that you keep referring to a non-existent Czechoslovakia and getting your Sunni and Shia all tangled up is worrisome. Thinking that you “watch” Drudge on the internet is comical until we realize that the threat of cyberattacks is a grave concern, so it would be helpful to have a president who knows the difference between cybering and ciphering. Needing another elderly fellow to whisper in your ear the answers to tricky press questions about Iranians training al queda — that’s alarming.
We already had one doddering old bag of farts in the White House who needed his wife to lead him around like a small child. That old crone was afraid to say the word “AIDS”.
I’m sick of hoary out-of-touch Methuselahs who make crude archaic jokes and get flustered about questions involving Viagra and birth control. I mean, Larry King is cute and all, but I don’t want him making decisions about my life.
So yes, McCain — beyond all the other reasons he’d be a disaster for this country — is just too damn creaky and ancient and borderline dementia-ravaged to be president.
It’s the same reason many elderly people need to have the car keys taken away from them. It’s sad, but it’s a reality that has to be considered.
End of rant.
(DirectorG, “Bring on the cartoons”? Thanks, and thanks to everybody else who appreciates that meaningful discussion of movies doesn’t exist in a social vacuum.)
Ryan,
When there are jokes about Larry Craig or Ted Haggard or (fill in the numerous closeted gay Republicans) the jokes center not around their hypocrisy but on their homosexual acts. I don’t see it here on this site, but I do hear it from many liberal commentators. But the comments about Hillary have been borderline misogynistic.
Having said that, Obama has his Czechoslovakia. He thinks there are 57 states. He also says that 10,000 people died in Greensburg, KS from a tornado.
My biggest beef with Obama is that he is untested. He faced little opposition getting into the Illinois State Senate. Because Seven of Nine didn’t get into exhibitionism is why he won his US Senate seat without a real contest. His met his first challenge was Hillary Clinton.
While she was being raked through the coals in the press, he remained unscathed. Geraldine Ferraro was correct; he wouldn’t have been in his position of front runner had he been white. The press forgives his mistakes; they go after his adversaries with a fine toothed comb.
The only bubble he encountered was Jeremiah Wright. Obama was tested on this subject. And it took him forever to do the right thing and step away. He is forgiven by the media.
There was a half bubble with the “clinging to guns and religion” comment. But that was dismissed as another “misstatement”. It is interesting that for someone who is heralded as an eloquent speaker, he seems to misspeak a lot.
I have to admit, over the past few weeks I have grown sour with McCain. The man needs to grow some balls and take some initiative with his campaign. I was actually considering that Obama might be the lesser of two evils. But then Obama opens his mouth.
Apparently he is embarrassed by American Culture. We don’t learn a second language. We don’t need to. You can actually drive for three days and not encounter a language problem. Europe is not like that. There are 23 official languages in the EU for half the size. Most Europeans learn English as a second language our of necessity. It is used in business and entertainment. They also learn languages of neighboring countries. Marylanders would learn Pennsylvanian if Pennsylvania spoke another language. But he would rather take the time to put down American Culture as an embarrassment. He is the one completely out of touch.
I don’t want someone so elitist making decisions about my life.
End of rant.
And by the way, that old crone was that took on and helped bring down the iron curtain.
Rob, I take it you haven’t been reading about that whole border situation to the south, you know that one where the Republican “Open Tent” strategy fucking blew up wide over, and cost the GOP Congress in 2006, and perhaps even this year?
How about both candidates in 2000 speaking Spanish, and again in 2004? Remember Dubya with that second tongue, or did you forget that?
If we don’t need that second language, then why did our President do that? Or is he Ivy League elitist too?
Oh wait, HE IS! Wow, both parties’ inner-circles went to the same schools, and as snobbish elite? My God, what a new concept!*
Remember that expression “Knowledge is a weapon?” Well as RRA can tell you, using that saying to heart, the contents of my skull is practically a mother fuckin Atomic Bomb. You could learn a thing or two from me, like which Chuck Norris movie to watch on any given night.
You need to know shit like this for the next decade of your life.
As for your whineyness about the media, that ass-kissing swings both ways. Remember those same media assholes who didn’t question the build-up to the war in Iraq, or even bother for the last too many years to even bother fucking RESEARCHING their reports?
Also, you know what McCain’s problem is? The biggest issue of the 2008 Election isn’t Iraq, isn’t the Economy, isn’t Iran, or even the goddamn mediocre New York Yankees….
The biggest issue is three words: GEORGE W. BUSH
Yeah, I said it. The voters will be asked, do they want a sequel to the Dubya Administration, or do they want something new?
In 1960, with the help of some dead people in Chicago, people said NO to Eisenhower. In 1988, with the help of Willie Horton, people said YES to Reagan. In 2000, with the help of chads, people said NO to Clinton.
As for Obama’s misspeaking….you have a point there, but remember Reagan during the Iran-Contra fuckup? Dude couldn’t keep straight whatever he knew anything of that mess or not.
REAGAN SMASH!
*=Not really, but I’m trying to make a point here.
*=Thanks to Bush, our biggest spending President since LBJ, GOP can’t cry about Obama resurrecting the “tax & spend” Democrats.
Rob:
I’m with you 100%. How dare that Obama act like some kind of an elitist. And I am appalled that he would have the numbers wrong in that Kansas tornado! That is unforgivable and in and of itself is reason why he shouldn’t get elected.
You are right to be disgusted with the Democrats. Imagine how unpatriotic and ungrateful most of them are. George W. Bush will go down as one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history. He has been the consumate visionary, and he gave us eight years that we will treasure for the rest of our lives. He took us to Iraq and enabled us to flex our macho muscles and show the world who’s boss. As Americans we were proud to rid the world of so many evil Arabs, and like true world policeman we didn’t care one iota about the money we expended.
Every time I go to the gas pump I wave a small American flag I have in my Honda Odyssey and proclaim that money isn’t everything. So what if it costs almost a hundred dollars to fill my vehicle—I’m making this sacrifice for my country. In the end, that’s all that really matters.
What amazes me is that there some assholes out there who feel that Donald Duck or Charles Manson could get elected on the Democratic ticket!?! These people are saying that we should not scrutinize the Democratic ticket at all—that the matter of CHANGE overides everything.
Well I don’t know about you Rob, but I’m sick of these unpatriotic ingrates. I am willing to pay $200 to fill my tank, and I think the US government should announce that they will never leave Iraq. We should make plans to annex the country and plunder it for its oil.
Some people are calling Mr.Bush a criminal and his administration inept. Well I have news for you: he is the smartest man who has ever lived in the White House and his administration the most responsible group we have ever been led by. No one knows Bush once read a distinguished picture book to grade schoolstudents while the World Trade Center was leveled, but he still was able to analyze what it was about in three or four cogent sentences. Few have such talent and insight.
When someone looks down their nose at me, they are virtually declaring war. Hurrah for Bush! Go McCain! Down with the infidel, Obama! Keep the Republicans in the White House!
Another conspicuous point, Rob. As Keith Olbermann pointed out last night, McCain has been talking about Czechoslovakia since at least 2000 (it split into Slovakia and The Czech Republic in 1993, I think.) In fact, they played a soundbite of then Governor Bush ridiculing McCain for getting it wrong. (You know you’re fucked when Bush can mock your lack of knowledge.)
We’ve heard McCain screw it up 3 times in the past week. So it’s not just a momentary slip-up or brain fart; there seems to be a permanent short-circuit. This tells us two things. (1) McCain can’t learn from his own repeated mistakes, and (2) either his advisers are too timid to correct him, or else McCain totally ignores good advice. Either way: scary.
I love how you’re so proud that Americans don’t have to learn another language, Rob. Because, yeah, the only things we need to know are just the bare essentials to get us through the day without stepping out into traffic, right? Fuck all that book-learnin and junk. Who needs it?
We’re #1! We’re #1!
Except, guess what? We’re not. We don’t even have translators who speak Arabic to know what potential terrorists are talking about. We can wiretap the shit out of people who “speak American” though.
Weak arguments, Rob. Wanna give it another shot?
Ryan,
Thank you for being consistent. Your biased arguments make complete sense to you, but they are quite weak to me.
On Obama’s foreign language faux pas, I did not have an issue with him saying we should learn a second language. We should. As someone who took French in college, I am thankful to have learned what I did.
The issue is that he is embarrassed that we don’t learn another. After learning French, I haven’t used it apart from reading some articles. We don’t use second languages here as much as they do in Europe. Any idiot can see that. I guess we can require North Dakota to start speaking Russian, Nevada to start speaking Swedish, Florida to start speaking Greek, California to start speaking Italian, and Pennsylvania to start speaking Vietnamese. Then, the need to be multilingual would be there. So the comparison of a multilingual European to a monolingual American is quite meaningless. Europe is a multilingual culture out of necessity while the US is culturally monolingual. That was my point. The facts that 1) not only does Obama not see this difference and 2) he is embarrassed by it disturbs me.
Yes the lack of Arabic translators disturbs me, as does the dismissal of a gay translator for being gay. Apparently being gay is worse than catching a terrorist.
McCain is far from being perfect. I see that. I understand that. He has made mistakes one after another. Obama has too. [The fact that he wants to sit down with Iran unconditionally (later revised to better prepared after the outrage) shows that he doesn't have a grasp on the international stage. But now all that will change, as the three network anchors will travel with him to the middle east--unlike what they did with McCain--his foreign policy will be "firmed up" as a result of the Network propaganda. This is what they do.]
You are going to dismiss this; that is obvious. That’s what you do–grant Obama a pass while nitpicking McCain.
And Sam,
I am not disgusted with Democrats, nor do I think W is the best President we ever had. I can’t tell if you are serious or satirical. If you are serious, dude you need to relax. If you are satirical, . . . well bless ya.
Rob:
I was being satirical of course. I am a lifelong liberal Democrat, who has never voted for a Republican on a national level……..ever!
I thought when I talked about Bush analysing a child’s picture book with insightful critical acumen that it was a dead giveaway. LOL!
Rob, thank you for being consistent. I’ll try to come back later and discuss in more depth, but I’d like to point out another thing about language: Paraphrasing is tricky business, and can impart shades of emphasis and shifts in perception that serve the purpose of those doing the paraphrasing.
Obama did not say: “I am embarrassed Americans can’t speak French,” as you would have us believe.
Here’s what he said:
Do you not see the distinction in being personally embarrassed by something and finding a certain circumstance embarrassing in a broader more conditional sense?
I’m not embarrassed that my Mom can’t speak Spanish, but it’s a little embarrassing that she has to phone me up and have me come over to talk to the yard workers to handle the most rudimentary communications with them. Not embarassed that she never learned. But it’s embarassing that she doesn’t see why she should have to.
See, Rob, what’s embarrassing about tourists traveling to other countries and expecting everybody they encounter to be responsible for learning our language, while making no attempt to learn theirs — that’s the kind of global sense of entitlement that causes many people to look at Americans as embarrassingly arrogant. Not very considerate as world neighbors.
Whether we need to use a second language in our day to day life is so beside the point. Learning another language has more important advantages than being able to barter with a street vendor or tell a cab driver where you’re going.
Having a grasp of another language is a window to another cultural mindset, opens our horizons to fresh methods of expression, and has the consciousness-expanding effect of helping individuals see that our self-centered way of thinking is not the only way of the world.
If you can’t see the importance of that, then yeah, I find such a selfish stubbornly anglo-centric attitude embarrassing.
That doesn’t mean you embarrass me though, Rob. It just makes me *sigh*
Rob, as a foreigner living for a time now in California I sure wish I could speak Spanish. And given the rising and well established population of Spanish speaking Americans it makes sense to me that facility with the language will increasingly be an asset rather than a necessity for many Americans.
“Having a grasp of another language is a window to another cultural mindset, opens our horizons to fresh methods of expression, and has the consciousness-expanding effect of helping individuals see that our self-centered way of thinking is not the only way of the world.”
Amen to that.