We knew it was gonna happen. Now that Barack Obama is in the final leg of his race to the White House, almost every day his campaign is being besieged by some rumour or silly statement.
Just last week Rev. Jesse Jackson made his offensive comments about Obama, now the presidential hopeful and his wife Michelle are the subjects of a satirical cartoon on the cover of this week’s The New Yorker and it’s stirring up controversy. Michelle is depicted with an afro and AK 47 (playing on the “un-American” and revolutionary controversy she has been subjected to) and Barack is depicted as a Muslim with the American flag burning in the fireplace (playing on the Muslim rumors he has admonished since Day 1).
According to Ybf.com, here are the different statements taken from Politico.com from both sides regarding this cover. The New Yorker says about its cover:
“On the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue of the The New Yorker, in ‘The Politics of Fear,’ artist Barry Blitt satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama’s campaign.”
And the rep from Obama’s campaign says:
“The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.”
And what the cartoonist himself has to say:
I think the idea that the Obamas are branded as unpatriotic [let alone as terrorists] in certain sectors is preposterous. It seemed to me that depicting the concept would show it as the fear-mongering ridiculousness that it is.
Some people are really scared Obama is going to be the 43rd President of the United States...
