The Daily Show :: Obama Cartoon
July 21, 2008 by Robert
This is just one reason why I love The Daily Show.
Barack Obama should in no way be upset about the cartoon that depicts him as a Muslim extremist, because you know who gets upset about cartoons? Muslim extremists.
Don’t we all wish we could do a rant like this one? The joke about the bears is really enough to tell the whole story, alone. Yet, the closing line says it all.
[...] Roy Edroso wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptBarack Obama should in no way be upset about the cartoon that depicts him as a Muslim extremist, because you know who gets upset about cartoons? Muslim extremists. Don’t we all wish we could do a rant like this one? … Read the rest of this great post here [...]
Thank you, Robert. I was on Twitter when the New Yorker cover first circulated — and you could almost hear the gasps. I totally *got* why people were worried: that Americans weren’t smart enough to understand that this was satire. Still, I could feel that bandwagon of righteous indignation gaining speed.
I suspect if anyone actually looked at the cover, as uncomfortable as it might be, there’s no way they could take it seriously. It is clearly satire.
But it’s hard to articulate; so your post of Jon Stewart saying in 10 seconds what it took me two paragraphs to write was perfect. Hope this gets shared everywhere.
Thanks for the comment, Merredith. I like your blog, by the way.
To me the cartoon was perhaps one of The New Yorker’s worst (and least funny) efforts at satire, dark humor. Still, it is - after all - The New Yorker. The cartoon itself, taken out of context, would likely offend. But, it is really a poor attempt at old stereotypes. I expected something new from the usually bright and quick witted New Yorker contributors. Guess they can’t all be winners.
Jon Stewart certainly had the best response I’ve seen. To me, this is just an example of what happens when major media looks for something to make into a larger discussion during what they call the summer news lull. I frankly don’t think there is any lull in important issues to cover and discuss, but the networks and cable news channels don’t really listen to viewers, now do they. ;o)
This reminds me of the 2005 protests over prophet cartoons. The difference? Mohammed is certainly a much more established prophet than Obama.