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Politics & Media
Jul 14, 2008, 06:24AM

Liberals Angry at The New Yorker?

Ryan Lizza's Obama article in the latest New Yorker is accompanied by a knowingly controversial cover that has many liberals hot and bothered. Here, a blogger for the Washington Monthly says that it wouldn't be so offensive if the artist only had "some real cojones" and pulled out all the satirical stops.

I had two reactions, myself. To be honest, my first one was that it was kinda funny, a clever way of mocking all the conservative BS that's been circulating about the Obamas.

But at the risk of seeming humorless, that reaction didn't last too long. Maybe it's because this kind of satire just doesn't work, no matter how well it's done. But mostly it's because a few minutes thought convinced me it was gutless. If artist Barry Blitt had some real cojones, he would have drawn the same cover but shown it as a gigantic word bubble coming out of John McCain's mouth — implying, you see, that this is how McCain wants the world to view Obama.

Discussion
  • I give enormous credit to New Yorker editor David Remnick for causing this stir. It wasn't "gutless" as Kevin Drum says. Rather, it was funny and successful satire. The New Yorker is pro-Obama, almost to a person, and very liberal. Fortunately, and this is one the reasons that the weekly is, in an era of declining media standards, Remnick isn't afraid to surprise his readers. The Obama campaign, instead of reacting instantly with condemnation, would've been better advised to champion the First Amendment and throw water on what could be a distracting controversy.

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  • They chode the wrong footwear for Obama on the New Yorker cover. He's wearing sandals...should have been "flip flops"

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  • From reading press reports and blogs today about this controversy, Obama supporters are blaming The New Yorker because they think some people might not get the satire. In other words, The New Yorker is not doing its job to get Obama elected. God forbid, at his first press conference next year, if a reporter asks a critical question.

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