dcpolitico's Blog

    Since when did politicians become so sensitive? I’m referring to the uproar surrounding the cover of New Yorker magazine featuring a caricature of Barack and Michelle Obama as fist-bumping radicals.
    No one can argue the portrayal is outrageous, but that is just the point. It’s a cartoon. Have we now reached a point in political correctness where cartoonists need to worry about offending people? What’s next? Will John Stewart and Stephen Colbert have to tone down their acts on television?
    The Obama campaign called the cartoon “tasteless and offensive.” In the words of John McCain, it was “totally inappropriate.”
    Calm down people. Some political cartoons may be open to interpretation, but I think the New Yorker cover proves a point. I may not be a Rhodes Scholar but I believe the cover depicts some of the more outrageous yet unproven attacks on  Barack Obama. His campaign is obviously extremely sensitive and aggressive in denouncing such wild accusations. I would think the candidate would view this cover as pointing out the absurdity of these claims.
    The New Yorker has a long history of journalistic excellence. The magazine has often used satire "to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd.” Obviously, the current cover follows in that tradition.
    It is unwise to judge a candidate based solely on his party affiliation, just as it is unwise to judge a magazine without reading between the lines.

Tom DiBacco