David’s Journal

The media (and commenters in the liberal blogosphere) have been set afire by the cover of the July 21 New Yorker, which hasn’t arrived at my house yet (yes, I’ll fully disclose that I subscribe, although their New York / Coastal elitism jars my good Midwestern sensibilities almost every week).

It illustrates just about every single smear which the Informal Right Wing Smearers are using to coat the presumptive Democratic nominee.

I agree with just about every official statement (and one reader comment in particular) on the matter…

The Obama campaign: “The New Yorker may think… that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.”

The McCain campaign: “We completely agree with the Obama campaign.”

The New Yorker Editor David Remnick: “It always occurs to you that things will be misinterpreted or taken out of context. But I think that’s the case of all political satire. The fact is, it’s not a satire about Obama– it’s a satire about the distortions and misconceptions and prejudices about Obama.”

A Huffington Post commenter: “Just the fact that David Remnick has to explain the picture’s message means it has failed as political satire.”

… but the media coverage of this so-called controversy is what’s most offensive (to me); the media, when addressing these so-called “smears,” routinely includes the rumor that Barack Obama is a Muslim as one of these smears.

This false rumor is an untruth, and it’s an untruth that is meant to undermine the Obama candidacy by playing to the fears of some Americans. But to play along with the assertion that “accusing” a man of being a Muslim is “offensive” does nothing constructive– it merely reinforces the ever-dated notion that one’s faith plays a role in one’s ability to govern.

Sadly, it’s clear that we’re decades (at best) away from ever having a Muslim president, let alone a president of a non-Christian faith. In this political culture, it’d be hard to fathom a Mormon or another Catholic president.

The whole B. Obama / H. Clinton thing aside, I figure the Future will show up eventually. But so much for 2008.

This entry about Uncategorized was written approximately 2 years, 1 month ago.

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