Obama's Larry King Interview: Responds To New Yorker's "Attempt At Satire"

Obama will appear on Larry King tonight. Here are some excerpts.

On the New Yorker cover:

LARRY KING, HOST: I've heard a lot of others comment on it. We haven't heard you speak about it yet. That "New Yorker" cover which depicts you and your wife, and you dressed in a Muslim outfit, your wife in a kind of military outfit, Osama bin Laden's picture burning, what do you make of that?

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I know it was The New Yorker's attempt at satire. I don't think they were entirely successful with it. But you know what? It's a cartoon, Larry, and that's why we've got the First Amendment ... You know, we've -- one of the things when you're running for president for almost two years is, you get a pretty thick skin. And, you know, I've seen and heard worse.

I do think that, you know, in attempting to satirize something, they probably fueled some misconceptions about me instead. But, you know, that was their editorial judgment. And as I said, ultimately, it's a cartoon, it's not where the American people are spending a lot of their time thinking about.

On the smears the New Yorker referenced:

KING: Considering that, though, there's a lot of e-mails going around. It gets rather terrible. A "Newsweek" poll shows that 12 percent of America believes that you're a Muslim, and 26 believe -- 26 percent believe you were raised in a Muslim home. A lot of misinformation. How do you fight that?

OBAMA: Well, you know, by getting on "Larry King" and telling everybody I'm a Christian and I wasn't raised in a Muslim home. And pledge allegiance to the flag. And, you know, all the things that have been reported in these e-mails are completely untrue and have been debunked again and again and again. So, all you can do is just tell the truth and trust in the American people that over time, they're going to know what the truth is.

One last point I want to -- I do want to make about these e-mails, though. And I think this has an impact on this "New Yorker" cover. You know, this is actually an insult against Muslim-Americans, something that we don't spend a lot of time talking about. And sometimes I've been derelict in pointing that out. You know, there are wonderful Muslim-Americans all across the country who are doing wonderful things. And for this to be used as sort of an insult, or to raise suspicions about me, I think is unfortunate. And it's not what America's all about.

On listening to generals:

KING: If president, you're the commander in chief. How will you perceive dealing with your generals, your chiefs of staff and alike? Are they -- their impact important, very important, deciding? How do you view it?

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OBAMA: Well, I think they're critically important, and developing a strong relationship with our top military officers is critical for any commander in chief. And I've been so impressed with the work that they have done consistently, even when they've been handed a very difficult and in some cases misguided mission, they're still executed with extraordinary skill and precision. And I think, for example, General Petraeus has done a terrific job with the cards that have been dealt to him.

But -- and this I think is the difference between myself and George Bush, and it's a difference between myself and John McCain. My job as commander in chief is to set the mission. It is to determine the strategy. And then to ask our military to carry it out. Now, how I set that strategy is going to be informed by what capabilities we have, what information is on the ground. But ultimately, the buck stops with me.

And so you will not hear me say what President Bush has said, which is, General Petraeus has told me this is what we have to do, and I'm just doing what he says. That's not -- that's not how the American government is supposed to work, and that is not supposed to be the role of the commander in chief.

The role of the commander in chief is to take all of our national security interests into account.

Comments

[khalibrrr]

Thank you Obama for finally speaking up for Muslims. Being a Muslim is not some sort of disease as the media would have you believe. There is nothing wrong with Muslims and there is nothing wrong with being associated with Muslims. I'm glad Barack said something about it

[cavillor]

"From the majority of comments I read, it seems to me we have a lot of pots calling the kettle black when it comes to declaring that only the elite read the Washington Post."

The idea of the sniveling, groveling, pandering WaPo being a publication of the "elite" is just risible.

[PresidentLindsay]

Excuse me, are you people talking about the same thing here? The cartoon was on the cover of the New Yorker, not the WaPo, and the "elite" remarks were directed at the former.

[DonMesser]

After reading all the comments, it is very apparent that most of the commenters are much like the pot calling the kettle black. Maybe the majority of people never see the Washington Post and would know nothing of a cartoon on its cover unless it made such in impact on the media as the one under discussion did. Emphasis on "majority".

[DonMesser]

From the majority of comments I read, it seems to me we have a lot of pots calling the kettle black when it comes to declaring that only the elite read the Washington Post.

[barackobama4prez]

"You know, this is actually an insult against Muslim-Americans, something that we don't spend a lot of time talking about. And sometimes I've been derelict in pointing that out. You know, there are wonderful Muslim-Americans all across the country who are doing wonderful things. And for this to be used as sort of an insult, or to raise suspicions about me, I think is unfortunate. And it's not what America's all about."

THIS IS WHY I LOVE THIS MAN!

[TLV]

Think how amazing it will be to actually have a president this intelligent and well-spoken. I almost forgot what it was like!

[SophieR]

Obama sounded very reasonable in this interview. I think he's an intelligent man who has an amateur political staff working for him. He needs to get control of his PR people. They're overreacting to the smallest things, and they're not getting his message out clearly. For a candidate who ran a pretty good primary campaign, he hasn't done a great job managing the general so far. Come on, Obama, pull it together!

[funwithwarcrimes]

Satire it wasn't -- satire it will never be --
for an excellent example of satire stop on by
http://www.funwithwarcrimes.com

[LordKelvin]

Speaking of satire, how about this;

"Barack Obama was campaigning for souls in a Red Light state when he decided to stop in at his campaign headquarters.

As he was about to enter the building he noticed a homeless Afro-American sitting at the curb.

The brother looked up and shouted “Bro can you spare a buck?”

Obama looked down at him with his trademark haughtiness and said “My man you need to lift up yourself with your own boot strap”.

The brother said “Sorry to bother you Bro, that’s why I am asking you for a buck, I want to buy a pair of boots to get the straps.”

By the way, if you think of passing it around note that it is pending APPROVAL by Axlerod.

COGITO, ERGO SUM.

[Mojane]

Dear Lord, your joke ain't satire, it's just a joke and not even a good one.

[theplaintrutho1]

It's really amusing to read/see how many people do not understand the definition of "Satire or Parody".

Say pal, you can't make up what you want about a person, than attempt satire-parody about what you made up. See the link above, or the you-tube McCain-Internet satire.

It would be ludicrous for me to make up: LordKelvin is a gun-touting, Sun-young-moon loving, cross-dressing, drag-queen, than attempt a satirical humorous parody of my own creation.

Get it, yet????

[Liberoservative]

I think .... therefore I am???

I am still looking for the thinking part of that diatribe you call a joke....

[diogeron]

From Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune:

“I take the editors at their word and await the upcoming cover in which they give the same ha-ha-isn'­t-it-silly­? treatment to the rotten things people say about John McCain: Say a cartoon showing him looking about 150 years old and spouting demented non-sequiturs in the middle of a violent temper tantrum while, in the corner, his wife is passed out next to a bottle of pills. It's only satire, right?”

The only thing wrong with Zorn's analysis is that it's not analogous to the cartoon on Obama because everything Zorn proposes for his cartoon is based on the truth as a friend of mine pointed out to me.

[WWWexler]

I guess Mr. Obama must have completely forgotten about his campaign's initial response to the cartoon, which was reported on this website with screaming headlines for a whole day. (It must have been a slow news day).

Is that a flip, a flop, a gaffe, a convenient memory fuzzball, or an outright lie? Is it an outright lie to tell Americans that you will end the war in Iraq and then say it all depends on what the generals on the ground are saying?

Bush Lite.

-Wexler

[allonfla]

The response came from Bill Burton and I believe around the same time a reporter asked Barack Obama about it and he said he has nothing to say about the cover. Obviously he had not seen the cover and Bill Burton went ahead and gave a statement on his behalf. Do you think that Obama or McCain gives the green light on EVERY response?

[uvymopkq]

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I know it was The New Yorker's attempt at satire. I don't think they were entirely successful with it. But you know what? They were picking on ME....that­s wrong.

[GunnyJ]

Obama/Caroline Kennedy '08

[meanguy]

"Obama/Caroline Kennedy '08"


"inexperience you can count on"

"who needs competence when you have popularity?"

[GunnyJ]

And they will do worse than who?

[tubette]

Bush's experience was really helpful...­. just demonstrated that indeed he was a puppet.
But hey, people wanted to drink a beer with him...

McCain's experience as a POW should help with the economy as well.... that and his academic successes.

[PJay1]

Obama did a good job. Good that he addressed the Muslim sensitivity issue - that being a Muslim isn't synonymous with being a terrorist.

[VOTER]

Very good point.

[PJay1]

PUMA - the Republican front group, branch of Operation Chaos.

http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/07/09/crapping-all-over-hillary-clinton/

http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/07/14/puma-poor-unsuspecting-mccain-androids/

Puma PAC’s founder Darragh Murphy (hearts) John McCain

http://www.rumproast.com/index.php/site/comments/puma_pacs_founder_darragh_murphy_proudly_presents_party_unity_my_ass_redux/

[Dave01]

To all you PUMA folks, you should read another article here on HuffPo ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/hhs-moves-to-define-contr_b_112887.html#postComment )

And that is what all you ladies have to look forward to if you help get Mc"Needs A"Cain elected.

Have fun with that!

[HHarvey]

Don't confuse yourselves that the PUMA bunch are feminists, they're not. They are rich white women who disliked McCain and so they were pulling for Hillary, when she didn't win they jumped on the Rush Limbaugh band wagon for operation chaos, pooled their money (probably from their rich republican husbands) and formed this PUMA thing. I think I pretty much hit the nail on the head with this.

[GuyFawkes]

Nice that you slipped in the word "confused" when describing McDubya, senator.