A Letter for The New Yorker
July 16th, 2008 | by Enigma4ever | Published in 08 Elections, Daily Featured, media | 12 Comments
A LETTER TO THE NEW YORKER:
As a longtime reader of your magazine I am more than disgusted with the Obama cover that you have chosen. In this Historic Time in our Nation’s History instead of Honoring this time and this Person you chose to Honor the Ignorant Buffoons that slur him daily and with your Own Cover , you gave them more Grist for the Racial Mill that runs amuck daily. Please read the Definition below, and it clearly shows that you are Lampooning Senator Obama and his Wife. You have no right and are perpetuating Ignorance and Hate. Have you ever Lampooned Another Leading Presidential Candidate and his wife on your cover 160 days before such a Critical Groundbreaking Election ? The answer is NO.
IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SATIRE OF POLITICAL TIMES VERSUS LAMPOONING A POLITICAL FIGURE AND LEADER?
The Answer is YES, read Below…( Definition from Dictionary.com)
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Definition of Satire
1. the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
2. a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.
3. a literary genre comprising such compositions.
[Origin: 1500–10; < L satira, var. of satura medley, perh. fem. deriv. of satur sated (see saturate)]
—Synonyms 1. See irony1. 2, 3. burlesque, caricature, parody, travesty. Satire, lampoon refer to literary forms in which vices or follies are ridiculed. Satire, the general term, often emphasizes the weakness more than the weak person, and usually implies moral judgment and corrective purpose: Swift’s satire of human pettiness and bestiality. Lampoon refers to a form of satire, often political or personal, characterized by the malice or virulence of its attack: lampoons of the leading political figures.
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In 1930’s Germany People that were considered to be out of the favor with the NAZI Regime were regularly lampooned in the press with similiar Cartoons, it was considered “Humor” and “Satire”. It had dangerous consequences and fed a mindset of Hate and Ignorance.It contributed to a Climate of Hate, it legitimized Fears and Descrimination by minimalizing and damaging people with Journalistic Approval, and yes, it was a part of the Propaganda that people were fed daily for years.And The People and even the Journalists became immune and passive to the damage they were rendering.
In Light of Our Own History as a Country this is an Issue that must be treated with Great Insight and Sensitivity , as well as Intellect. There is NO Satire in Racism or painting a Presidential Candidate as a terrorist. You did not satircially show the Level of ignorance in this Country, you Lampooned THE Person with False Representation. There is no humor in that.My teenage son even asked if you had a MAD Magazine Lampoon Artist render your “art” for the Cover. It is a good Question ? Did you seek out a Lampoon Artist ? If so, that would show the Intent of “Satire” was not humor, but damage.
A year ago when Don Imus uttered his racist ignorant remarks about young black college women, we heard the “HUMOR” defense claim shuttled by the MSM , softpeddling the damage and the blame. You have now joined that reprehensible journalistic cadre. The MSM this time will try to spin this as “Normal Political Games”. Our Own History has shown that Hate in this country should never be mollycoddled, it leads to the Death or Harm of Political Figures. In Such Precarious Political Times maybe you should adopt a “Do No Harm” mission.
As an Obama Supporter I have spent monthes educating people by phone calls and door to door campaigning, the Issues on your cover are real, and problematic, but not Humorous.There is actually nothing funny or humorous that our Country has been Dumbed Down by the MSM.
I will be encouraging friends and family to not buy this issue and to cancel their Subscriptions. You Crossed A Dangerous Line and harmed the image of Good Man with your arrogance. I would like to know was there any Voice of Reason and Judgement present at those Editorial Meetings about This Cover ? If you have ANY journalistic integrity you will print a Retraction or Correction and atleast an APOLOGY to Senator Obama and his wife.Shame on You.
Sincerely Disgusted,
Pissed Off In Ohio…
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“The New Yorker” Contact Information:
Listed below:
David Carey — New Yorker
Title: Publisher
Department: Headquarters
E-mail: themail@newyorker.com —> Letters to the Editor
Phone: (212) 286-2860
Fax: (212) 286-5735
Jacob Lewis — New Yorker
Title: Managing Editor
Department: Headquarters
E-mail: jacob_lewis@newyorker.com
Phone: (212) 286-2860
Fax: (212) 286-5735
Address: 4 Times Sq, New York, NY 10036
David Remnick — New Yorker
Title: Editor
Department: Headquarters
E-mail: david_remnick@newyorker.com
Phone: (212) 286-2860
Fax: (212) 286-5735
New Yorker — Letters to the Editor
Website: newyorker.com
Phone: (212) 286-2860
Fax: (212) 286-5735
July 16th, 2008at 12:35 am(#)
Why is it ok when we, the LEFT, lampoon and satirize Bush or McCain or any other neocon we can’t stand? There is a great post on this issue up at Bring it On! By one of my favorite common sense guys, the Omnipotent Poobah:
http://www.teambio.org/2008/07/15/new-yorker-cover-when-the-jokes-not-on-you/
To quote from his post:
Fill in the blank. A New Yorker magazine cover is to Barak Obama what a National Review cover is to (blank).
A geriatric John McCain in a wheelchair! Get it? Now THAT’S funny! But, what about those thousands of Nimrod-in-Chief Hitler caricatures? Funny as hell they were. Why, some of the Photoshopped mash-ups of Lil’ Napoleon dressed as a terrorist rival the New Yorker’s noteworthy effort. And don’t even get me started on the Cindy McCain and Laura Bush robot jokes - it’s comic gold I tell ya’, comic gold!
July 16th, 2008at 8:17 am(#)
Hey Dusty…
I think that satire is fine…I even think Lampooning is fine , if done in Context and the we all know that the person is being lampooned- and that was my point The New Yorker Lampooned Obama and his wife, but then tried to claim it was “Satire” about the Dumb people that define him with ridiculous lies….
If they had just put it over the head of Rush or Rove in a Bubble- that would have changed the whole scope of it..
and to be honest No Other Candidate and even the President has Never been Lampooned on their cover….( this cover would have been perfect for the National Review- as that is their norm).
Also Bush is Lampooned for ALL the LIES he has told……
About McCain- I have seen no Negative such Covers of him or his wife…and as to Lampooning, so far the press has been giving him alot of free passes on his gaffes, voting history and mistakes….even on his “Values”….they would never lampoon him on their cover…
Anyways…if the New Yorker wanted to stir Controversy…they accomplished that….
July 16th, 2008at 10:22 am(#)
It is in context Enigma, perhaps it doesn’t seem that way to you and everyone else that is freaking out about it..but I believe it is.
There are a million photoshops out there of Bush, Cheney and every other neocon..this is no different in my opinion. We never seem to worry about context when THEY are the butt of the joke.
Bush is lampooned because of who he is. You can attempt to paint it as righteous, but in reality its just another neocon that we on the left can’t stand.
As I said in my post about this..The New Yorker has a twofold reason for what they did..and one of those reasons is selling magazines.
Personally I feel its much ado about nothing. Because the idiots that still believe Obama is a muslim wouldn’t vote for him if their life depended on it anyway.
July 16th, 2008at 12:00 pm(#)
First off I am not freaking out…I am just pissed off by it….and alot of my neighbors are too…it crossed a line….Believe I still do indeed have a sense of humor..and when things are funny or there is good satire- I am there….but and it is a BIG But, because of the times we live in….and what we have lived through ( including massive dangerous criminal ignorance that was fed by hate and fearmongering and more ignorance) Lampooning a Strong Democtatic Contender , the first Person of Color to ever get this far…..to Lampoon him and his wife using Terra-mongering and Racial Slurring….I don’t see the Humor…and I don’t think they deserve a pass on their lack of respect either…..
We could all look the other way and try to say it is just a Bad Joke or poorly done or poorly timed…..
Ironically, they did not claim it was a Lampoon - they claim it was merely satire…it wasn’t. IF it was just satire….it would have mocked the people that BELIEVE the LIES, not the Victims of the Lies….
( and yes, I do think that it was cruel ….no one has said how awful Michelle was portrayed….and she can say Nothing- or then she will be portrayed as the Angry Black Woman - and they KNEW that when they did the Cover….)
If anyone considered it humorous- that is fine…but as Someone that writes and reads…and had thought that The New Yorker tries to educate…and has some journalistic integrity it was a huge dissappointment…..I have read that mag since I was eleven…
On another note….living in an area that when I went doorbelling for Obama- it was amazing to have to teach People he is NOT a Terraist , because of his name- and he is not a Muslim…and nothing was funny about it….it was disheartening and concerning…
but Dusty…
we just disagree….that is fine…no worries….it is just a Cover…
July 16th, 2008at 2:42 pm(#)
Enigma, it crossed no lines in my view. Its much ado about nothing.
You and those of you that are all upset by the graphic have now walked a mile in the shoes of most Neocons and/or rightwingers that are constantly the butt of jokes, satirized and just generally made fun of by we on the left.
The graphic was made up of all the ridiculous things that people accuse the Obama’s of believing and being..yes it was satire and actually it was aimed, I think, at the idiots who believe all the bullshit.
Yes we won’t agree on this issue because I thought it was well done and I ‘got’ it. It will do no harm to Obama amongst thinking folks and he himself ignored it by saying he had no comment. His surrogates all got up in arms about it.
If people are that clueless that they still believe he is a Muslim, or whatever…you are not going to reach them no matter how many times you bang your head against the wall trying to explain it to them. They are willingly obtuse for a reason..they either don’t like his ‘blackness’ or they don’t trust him because of his name..which really cracks me up..whats a name? Hussien is like Smith for crying out loud!
The willfully ignorant will believe what they want to believe. Meanwhile the folks that read and watch the news, even the shitty evening news on CBS, NBC and ABC are now aware of this cover and what they were trying to represent.
If it created a dialogue, that is a good thing isn’t it?
July 16th, 2008at 3:33 pm(#)
Dialogue is fine anytime…as long as we all keep talking…that is what matters…
(to be honest I sent off my letter, and have not thought much more on it)..
….and atleast all of us thought about it…and we are STILL Thinking….that is all that matters…if we can not think or talk we are beyond screwed…( that means we are sitting watching FOX and drool is forming puddles on the floor …..)
I guess on another level - we have so many Important issues going on…and soon we all will have to go get Flintstone cars, grow our own Vegis, and buy a goat for milk…so One Lowly cover is Nothing compared to what we are coping with…..
July 16th, 2008at 3:36 pm(#)
Dusty::
Hussein is like Smith ….LOL…I wished I had thought to say that…damn…
( I thought Hussein is “Handsome” and Barack is” Blessed” were good enuf…..not)….
thanks for talking about it…
July 16th, 2008at 3:51 pm(#)
I think a lot of folks are overreacting to this issue and making much ado about nothing. There are always going to be intellectually challenged people that might take the wrong message from the cover cartoon, however, they are in the minority, and are no threat to the Obama campaign or the values expressed by those of us on the progressive side of the spectrum. These are the same people who take as Gospel any crap spewed by a Bill-O or an Anne Coulter, not “net new” right wing wackos.
Russ Smith, a conservative Republican, ironically has it right in his piece titled “Fear and Fretting on the Campaign Trail” in the Wall Street Journal today: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121616729468456255.html
Big Fellas last blog post..Nice Work Jesse
July 16th, 2008at 5:01 pm(#)
Thanks Big Fella for the interesting link…I think we all have different views on this- I said mostly how I feel above….but I have been reading other’s posts on it Diva’s post is really interesting too- I think for the Intellectual folks it is easy to see it in a whole different light…and for some of us we are worried about the bigger picture….
Either way it will pass in no time….because let’s be real…by Friday Captain Dumass King George will do something to distract us with something else….sigh…
good to hear from you….
July 16th, 2008at 5:29 pm(#)
Enigma4ever, I understand your revulsion to the cover, as at first I thought the same. As the immediate response to it was seen, I also saw a similar apologist position, which makes this a beautiful thing. The reality is that those many Americans who remain confused about the Obamas would never have read the article within the New Yorker; Hell, not too many will bother now. So the explanations that have been broadcast, are amplified by the interest in the cover, thus forcing at least some of the “lost causes” to see how they’ve been misled by those awful e-mails and bigoted gossips. Just looking at the cover might give pause to anyone that believes one of those lies portrayed, and instead see how ridiculous all of them together really are.
Finally, it’s really a good rendition of them both with all the crap in one place. Kudos to the artist.
July 16th, 2008at 5:42 pm(#)
Trog69:::
I hear you…..and I wish that they had posted it with the Article ( I think Dusty suggested that) it would have been much better all the way round…and it would have shed some light on the enormity of the combined lies and the effect…and yes, Blitt certainly did manage to capture ALL of the lies in one painting,…no doubt about that….
thanks for reading…and giving me more to think on….
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Another Perspective::::
I did talk to my neighbor-78, retired teacher…black…well read…and she sadly did agree with my letter, she said she will never buy New Yorker again…for her she said that she feels like the Media can do what ever they want to Obama, for her a woman of age and black she was most upset” what they did to Michelle”….for her it is about “respect”….
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but thank you again….
July 17th, 2008at 7:43 am(#)
The joke is on us, we the people… We are being lampooned by The New Yorker.