New Yorker's 'satirical' Obama cover
The New Yorker's latest cover features Barack and Michelle Obama as terrorist types doing the fist bump in the Oval Office. A portrait of Osama bin Laden looms in the background and Old Glory feeds the flames in the hearth.
The cartoon by Barry Blitt is obviously satirical. It mocks the absurd rumors and dark imaginings that the name "Obama" continues to evoke in some right wing circles.
Unfortunately not everyone will get the joke. Obama detractors with a literal turn of mind won't get it at all, which no doubt will suit them just fine. Some might go so far as to use the cartoon as a tool against the Democratic nominee.
The cover is a risky move. Although it has generated publicity for the New Yorker, it has also succeeded in infuriating a lot of people - including New Yorker readers, a number of whom are ditching their subscriptions, calling the cover "gross, sick, pathetic".
Obama himself has refrained from wading into the controversy. His campaign people though have been less restrained. A number have voiced disapproval, claiming that most readers would regard the image as "tasteless and offensive".
The cartoon works on a number of levels. It can be seen purely as satire. On the other hand the imagery forges a connection with subconscious fears felt by many Americans, most of whom would be hard pushed to find anything amusing about the cartoon.
Concerns that the cover might hurt Obama are overblown. Rumors and smears about his alleged Muslim connections have been doing the rounds for some time. His ability to overcome the negatives has made him a stronger candidate.
The caricature of Obama as an Islamist-on-a-mission, is a satirical twist on the rumor that he is a Muslim-in-disguise out to tear down the established order. While Obama is an agent of change, it is deluded to think of him as some type of revolutionary of any stripe.
Ryan Lizza, who has written extensively about Obama makes this clear:
"Perhaps the greatest misconception about Barack Obama is that he is some sort of anti-establishment revolutionary. Rather, every stage of his political career has been marked by an eagerness to accommodate himself to existing institutions rather than tear them down or replace them... he has always played politics by the rules as they exist, not as he would like them to exist. He runs as an outsider, but he has succeeded by mastering the inside game."
New Yorker editor, David Remnick, took the trouble to point out that the cover was not satirizing Obama, but rather the fabrications churned out by the Obama rumor mill.
On the surface the cover appears distasteful, offensive ... even racist. But it is a satirical statement that mocks what it delivers. If America means anything ... if freedom means anything ... it includes the right of a Barry Blitt to render what many may not want to see. I believe that the positives of Barack Obama are bigger, more resilient, than the sum total of the negatives concocted by his enemies. He will overcome, even in the face of the best efforts of his detractors.
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