New Yorker's satirical Obama cover triggers uproar

Praxius

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This illustration provided by The New Yorker magazine, the cover of the July 21, 2008 issue by artist Barry Blitt, shows Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080714/obama_cover_080714/20080714?hub=World

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama's campaign says a satirical New Yorker magazine cover showing the Democratic presidential candidate dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist is "tasteless and offensive.''


The illustration on the issue that hits newsstands Monday, titled "The Politics of Fear'' and drawn by Barry Blitt, depicts Barack Obama wearing traditional Muslim garb -- sandals, robe and turban -- and his wife, Michelle -- dressed in camouflage, combat boots and an assault rifle strapped over her shoulder -- standing in the Oval Office.


The couple is bumping fists in front of a fireplace in which an American flag is burning. Over the mantle hangs a portrait of Osama bin Laden.


"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,'' said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.


"But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.''


In a statement Monday, the magazine said the cover "combines a number of fantastical images about the Obamas and shows them for the obvious distortions they are.''


"The burning flag, the nationalist-radical and Islamic outfits, the fist-bump, the portrait on the wall? All of them echo one attack or another. Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd. And that's the spirit of this cover,'' the New Yorker statement said.


The statement also pointed to the two articles on Obama contained inside the magazine, calling them "very serious.''


Republican John McCain's campaign spokesman, Tucker Bonds, agreed that the cover was "tasteless and offensive.''


Already the cover was generating controversy on the Internet.


The Huffington Post, a left-leaning blog, said: "Anyone who's tried to paint Obama as a Muslim, anyone who's tried to portray Michelle as angry or a secret revolutionary out to get Whitey, anyone who has questioned their patriotism -- well, here's your image.''

Freedom of Speech I suppose, still pretty ignorant and offensive.... but that's what you get.
 

Colpy

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This illustration provided by The New Yorker magazine, the cover of the July 21, 2008 issue by artist Barry Blitt, shows Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080714/obama_cover_080714/20080714?hub=World



Freedom of Speech I suppose, still pretty ignorant and offensive.... but that's what you get.

It is freedom of speech........

the problem is many still think Obama is Muslim........

The problem is the public is not well enough informed (I'm being polite here) to realize what is being satirized......not Obama, but the silliness of the extreme right-wing attacks on him.

the New Yorker, one would assume, is aimed at an educated, urban, mostly Democratic audience, all of whom (or most of whom) one would expect to understand.

Unfortunately, the ignorant also think there is a right not to be offended.
 

scratch

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It is freedom of speech........

the problem is many still think Obama is Muslim........

The problem is the public is not well enough informed (I'm being polite here) to realize what is being satirized......not Obama, but the silliness of the extreme right-wing attacks on him.

the New Yorker, one would assume, is aimed at an educated, urban, mostly Democratic audience, all of whom (or most of whom) one would expect to understand.

Unfortunately, the ignorant also think there is a right not to be offended.

If he gets to be POTUS he will see a lot more of this. Goes with the job.
 

#juan

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Hopefully, John McCain will retire along with Bush.
 

scratch

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Hopefully, John McCain will retire along with Bush.

Georgie may BUT McCain wants his pound of flesh for the time he spent in the Hanoi Hilton------regardless of where that pound comes from and the cost is of absolutely NO CONCERN to him !!!
 

Colpy

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Sigh

McCain is not Bush.

you should remember he could have escaped the torture at the Hanoi Hilton.....he refused release on a matter of principle, and suffered severe consequences.

He is an exceptional man. Full stop.

He has also been able to work with both sides, Republican and Democrat, throughout his career.....UNLIKE the "great unifier" Obama.

So far the only real abilities Obama has shown is as an orator, a campaign strategist,........and a skater.

Now, every politician skates, and I have nothing against Obama......but the man to effect unified bi-partisan action is McCain.....the man who has proven himself is McCain......

Two good candidates.
 

#juan

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Sigh

McCain is not Bush.

you should remember he could have escaped the torture at the Hanoi Hilton.....he refused release on a matter of principle, and suffered severe consequences.

He is an exceptional man. Full stop.

He has also been able to work with both sides, Republican and Democrat, throughout his career.....UNLIKE the "great unifier" Obama.

So far the only real abilities Obama has shown is as an orator, a campaign strategist,........and a skater.

Now, every politician skates, and I have nothing against Obama......but the man to effect unified bi-partisan action is McCain.....the man who has proven himself is McCain......

Two good candidates.

McCain's injuries were mostly from colliding with the wreckage of his airplane as he ejected. McCain was one of those who bombed and killed civilians. Americans like to talk about the VietNamese as the enemy but VietNam never attacked the U.S.. American bombers killed millions of VietNamese civilians.......If I had been VietNamese I would have wanted to kill him as well. That he was captured during a bombing sortie does not make him a hero.
 

Praxius

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Sigh

McCain is not Bush.

you should remember he could have escaped the torture at the Hanoi Hilton.....he refused release on a matter of principle, and suffered severe consequences.

He is an exceptional man. Full stop.

He has also been able to work with both sides, Republican and Democrat, throughout his career.....UNLIKE the "great unifier" Obama.

So far the only real abilities Obama has shown is as an orator, a campaign strategist,........and a skater.

Now, every politician skates, and I have nothing against Obama......but the man to effect unified bi-partisan action is McCain.....the man who has proven himself is McCain......

Two good candidates.

When he claims he's going to stick to the same Guns as Bush, keeps the same mentality as Bush on many forign policies, still uses many of the same excuses to justify the whole Iraq situation and jumps on the attack Iran banwagon, that's all people see in which relates him to Bush, and since the majority of the planet has had more then enough of Bush and his mentality, esspecially the people of the US, McCain is not a very easy sell to be honest about it.

I mean, when you cut it down, McCain is part of Bush's party and Bush's policies, and everything I have seen recently in relation to McCain and his objectives as president through US media, it spells out pretty much 4-8 more years of the same crap we just went through.

McCain isn't Bush, true enough.... but everything he's bringing to the table smells of Bush.
 

Risus

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McCain's injuries were mostly from colliding with the wreckage of his airplane as he ejected. McCain was one of those who bombed and killed civilians. Americans like to talk about the VietNamese as the enemy but VietNam never attacked the U.S.. American bombers killed millions of VietNamese civilians.......If I had been VietNamese I would have wanted to kill him as well. That he was captured during a bombing sortie does not make him a hero.

Bombing and killing civilians... isn't that what the yanks do best??
 

Walter

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Bombing and killing civilians... isn't that what the yanks do best??
What they have done best is improving the standard of living of 6.5 billion people. A couple hundred million have missed the boat.
 

Colpy

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McCain's injuries were mostly from colliding with the wreckage of his airplane as he ejected. McCain was one of those who bombed and killed civilians. Americans like to talk about the VietNamese as the enemy but VietNam never attacked the U.S.. American bombers killed millions of VietNamese civilians.......If I had been VietNamese I would have wanted to kill him as well. That he was captured during a bombing sortie does not make him a hero.

No, bombing civilians does not make him a hero, and yes, he was injured in the crash, but.....

John McCain's 5 1/2 years of captivity in North Vietnam were divided into two phases. Early on, this son and grandson of high-ranking Naval officers was accorded relatively privileged status. Then he refused early release--which he saw as a public relations stunt by his captors--insisting that POWs held longer than him should be granted their freedom first. Thereafter, McCain was treated much more severely, but he also had an opportunity to bond with his fellow prisoners. Those experiences strengthened his resolve and eased his transition back into civilian life.

http://www.vietnamwar.com/johnmccainbio.htm

that does make him a hero. Very much so. And a hero that stood on a matter of principle.

An exceptional man.

Another look at McCain

http://www.farfromglory.com/john_s_mccain.htm
 

Praxius

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What they have done best is improving the standard of living of 6.5 billion people. A couple hundred million have missed the boat.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

Yes, the US is the sole savior of our planet... and has improved the standard of living of 6.5 billion people.... the entire planet I'm guessing you're trying to get at.

Currently the world's population is a little over 6.7 billion, so I guess the other 2billion people are those killed by those bombings and were the enemies of the US, and therefore, didn't improve their way of life... since they're dead.

And sorry, but I don't reconize anything special in my life that the US has done to make me their boot licker anymore then any other country in the world.... it all works collectively or not at all...... and that's the big problem right there....
 

Colpy

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HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

Yes, the US is the sole savior of our planet... and has improved the standard of living of 6.5 billion people.... the entire planet I'm guessing you're trying to get at.

Currently the world's population is a little over 6.7 billion, so I guess the other 2billion people are those killed by those bombings and were the enemies of the US, and therefore, didn't improve their way of life... since they're dead.

And sorry, but I don't reconize anything special in my life that the US has done to make me their boot licker anymore then any other country in the world.... it all works collectively or not at all...... and that's the big problem right there....

Well, just for one small thing, you were kept free from the boot of fascism by the (late)entry of the USA into WWII.

And, you've lived your entire life (I believe) in a country that could basically get by without the expense of a real military, because Uncle Sam protected us.

To say nothing of US help during the ice storm and other disasters.

And our closeness to the largest economy in the world.......

Just to start.
 

Walter

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Currently the world's population is a little over 6.7 billion, so I guess the other 2billion people are those killed by those bombings and were the enemies of the US, and therefore, didn't improve their way of life... since they're dead.
Please reread my post carefully. Your math is faulty.
 

Colpy

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Surely you jest. The war in Europe was already by the time the yanks joined.

No offense, but you should read a little history.

The "Allies" had not made a single territorial gain against Germany by January of 1942.

By the summer of 1942 American output of military hardware was more than that of Japan and Germany combined.

I'm not saying they "won the war", (Hitler accomplished that for us by invading the USSR) but the USA certainly turned the tide.
 

#juan

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Well, just for one small thing, you were kept free from the boot of fascism by the (late)entry of the USA into WWII.
I'm disappointed Colpy. That is complete horse ****. Canada's contribution to WWII was among the largest of that war. On a per capita basis it was probably the largest. The U.S. helped immensely but that war would have been won without them.

And, you've lived your entire life (I believe) in a country that could basically get by without the expense of a real military, because Uncle Sam protected us.
Protected us from whom? I served in our air force during the cold war. Canada had four fighter wings in Europe(three squadrons each) and we sure as hell don't have to be ashamed of what we had. At the end of the cold war the U.S. continued to build weapons when others were slowing down. If we have enemies, the U.S. made them for us. Admittedly we have let our military falter, but again I ask who are we fighting? Right now we are fighting U.S. oil wars.

To say nothing of US help during the ice storm and other disasters.

And Canada helped during various disasters including Katrina....so what?

And our closeness to the largest economy in the world.......

Just to start.