Cover Me

Alan Ferguson has written an excellent editorial in this morning's Province about the Obama New Yorker cartoon.

The cover cartoon was an obvious satire of the lunacy coming from the extreme right regarding Obama's history and sympathies.

But unless you stop and think about it, at first glance the cartoon seems to be saying that Obama is a flag-burning Islamic terrorist.

Of course, it is a typically outrageous New Yorker cartoon.

I agree with Ferguson's analysis in large measure, but I don't agree completely with his conclusions.

I don't think the cover is "brilliant" and I don't think it was a wise choice, precisely because so many people are so stupid and see only what appears to be the obvious.

This week, I received 3 pieces of mail scolding me for a poster I created in which I deliberately used the wrong spelling of a word to create a jokey pun. None of the letter writers got the joke.

Of course, that doesn't mean I should have resisted the joke, and there is no question the New Yorker should not be attacked for this cover.

Still, my sense of this is that it was a good laugh in the news room, but maybe it shouldn't have gone any further.