Can Barack Obama take a joke?

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Can Barack Obama take a joke?

My biggest complaint is not that The New Yorker went too far with the cover cartoon of Barack Obama as a Muslim, but that the people running presidential campaigns have no sense of humor.

Admittedly, I have a rather skewed view of the world after devoting most of my life to insulting the sensibilities of half my readers day in and day out, but I had no problem understanding that the now-notorious cartoon was a dig at all the right wing nutballs and conspiracy cranks who have been spreading slander about Obama through the gutters of the blogosphere. The artist pulled together all those little lies to create an Oval Office scene with Barack in Muslim garb fist bumping his black militant wife under a portrait of Osama Bin Laden while an American flag burned in the fireplace. I got the joke and recognized the intended target. I don't think the drawing was racist, I don't think it was too subtle and I don't think it will influence anyone to vote against Obama who wasn't already voting against him anyway.

Obviously, not everyone agrees with me, including plenty of people I like and admire -- such as my sweet wife and several of my cartoonist colleagues. Maybe I've pushed the edge too many times myself to appreciate their sincere negative response to the cartoon. And maybe I've enjoyed the controversy a little too much, having joined the fray by drawing a cartoon that imagined similar treatment being given to John McCain by the conservative National Review. My cartoon got picked up on a few web sites, including the Huffington Post, thus inspiring an extra dose of hate mail and a rude phone call from a guy in Chicago who called me a "commie pinko" who, he hoped, "would rot in Hell."

At least part of my motivation for partaking in this mud wrestling match is that I didn't really believe either the Obama campaign or the McCain campaign when they issued statements calling The New Yorker cover "tasteless and offensive." That's boilerplate -- the same kind of fake outrage that all the candidates have been displaying during this election year. It seems as if the Obama campaign and Hillary Clinton's campaign spent the whole winter and spring seizing on mildly rude comments from people in the other camp, feigning outrage and demanding apologies and firings. Part of this is because the media has pounced on every tiny gaffe and turned each one into a 24-hour news story. Everybody's been appalled about something and no one has had the good sense to say, "lighten up."

You can see the effect with John McCain. Here's a guy who still has the attitude of the wild-living, cocky fighter pilot he used to be. That is actually the most appealing thing about him. It is why the press has always liked him and why rides on the Straight Talk Express were the hot ticket on the campaign trail. McCain has a hard time answering a question without first making a sarcastic or funny remark. But, now, he's censoring himself, biting his tongue and getting as solemn and cautious as his opponent.

And how about that opponent? Does Barack ever tell a joke? He may be the second coming of JFK, but he sure lacks the Kennedy wit. If I had been him, I would have grabbed the opportunity afforded by The New Yorker cover and I would have said, "Yeah, that's a great cartoon. It shows just how ridiculous all these rumors are. The fact is, when I get into the White House, I'll have a portrait of Abraham Lincoln above the mantle and the only thing I'll be burning in the fireplace will be transcripts of Rush Limbaugh's radio programs."

Couldn't somebody on the Obama campaign figure this out? Any sissy can complain about being picked on. A leader can take a joke -- and turn it to his advantage.

Posted by at July 15, 2008 5:53 p.m.

Comments

#151538

Posted by unregistered user at 7/15/08 6:42 p.m.

He did see the point. Didn't you see Larry King Live ?? He showed more grace than most candidates..Sen. Mc Cain saw it as tasteless and offensive as well. Do your homework before posting such fabrications.