Fear of Fun

Oh, no! That New Yorker cover is going to ruin everything for Obama. This is the tipping point. Now he'll never get elected. I'm so disappointed. I had such great hopes. What can I do? Cancel my subscription to the First Amendment?

Fear. It's all about fear. I've always been instilled with fear by TV commercials. From the woman who was afraid that her mother-in-law would disapprove of her because she couldn't see the reflection of her face in a dish, to the man who's afraid that he has restless penis syndrome.

And now I have such great fear of a dumbed down public. You know, those who still believe there was a connection between 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq. They're going to believe that an editorial cartoon is an actual photo of Barack and Michelle.

What's next? A cover showing Jesse Jackson cutting off Obama's nuts? Maybe the New Yorker can redeem itself by publishing an image of John McCain singing "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran." Nah, that concept would be too far fetched. I'd have to cancel my subscription to real life.

If McCain wins the election because of this misunderstanding, I promise I'm going to move to Dubuque. Sorry, I don't mean to whine. It's just that I never ever thought that in my lifetime I would see a president of the United States who was half-white. And now the dream is over. Dang!

Follow Paul Krassner on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Zen Bastard

Comments

[BetterDays105]

No one has said it better than 4thepeople on Daily Kos, "When Jonathan Swift taught us all how to satirize in "A Modest Proposal," he did so by skewering those from whom he wanted a change of heart and a change of behavior. Cover illustrator Barry Blitt and the editors of The New Yorker magazine obviously either haven't read "A Modest Proposal," or didn't get it. Instead, the editors' and Blitt's idiotic notion of satire is to eat the poor in the benighted hope that the rich will somehow guess how bad they taste."

[DaveMacaray]

It's good to see Krassner put this thing in its proper perspective. Call the New Yorker cover what you like (brilliantly satirical, scatalogical, a poor decision, a joke that backfired, etc.), but one thing it wasn't was "monumental" in importance. It was the cover of a magazine. There will be a new one next week. Move on, people.

[sandman323]

Move on? We will all move on, but when a respected publication makes a boneheaded move, it must be pointed out and criticized.

To those who say, "Everybody knows it's satire," I strongly disagree. Not everyone reads The New Yorker. Not everyone lives in Manhattan. Not everyone is uber-liberal. Not everyone is politically savy. Not everyone know everything about the Obamas. Not everyone believes the facts about the Obamas.

Those at the New Yorker have the freedom to publish that cover. We have the freedom to criticize or defend the cover.

[VicPerry]

I'd like to know how it got to be news in the first place, and who is served by making it news.

[LarBear]

sandman323 ....

Google Sandman, Olympia, Wa and you will find images of a Sandman Tugboat built and worked on by my Grandfather in 1910... (and see pictures of Vintage Tugboat Races)...
As to the "Move On"... Well we will because we track time that way.... Also, me thinks this Cover has done an OUTSTANDING job of getting people's attention.­.. Unfortunately, all to many just react, with little thought and project their beliefs... Very funny/not funny, excellent/terrible, accurate statement about right wing/ racist.... Covers, like Beauty, obviously are also in the eye of the beholder..­.

[tillybummie]

Move on. Yes, sure, since more trauma is ahead, why not accept this one, and get ready to face those to come? Because the image is immortal and will outlive all of us, when we register our discontent now, those will travel with that image into the archives. Even if New Yorker chooses not to withdraw the cover, it is important to register WHY and HOW their choice of cover art is part of the problem they claim to be trying to address.

[PBirk]

The only people who aren't "getting" somethng are the artist and his supporters.
No one thinks the artist didn't have a right to create it.
This is not a first amendment issue.
No one thinks people will believe it's a photograph.
This is is "satire" on a fifth grade level.
No one doesn't get the joke.
We get it.
It's just not funny.
Not because somethingike this couldn't be funny.
This particular cover is not funny.
If it was done year ago it might have been, a little bit.
But even then, not really.
It's tired, obvious, ham-fisted and completely lacking in the kind of insight or nuance that would make it successful.
So it's only the image, and the image is powerful, and offensive on its face.
Why don't you get that?

[LarBear]

PBirk....
We get it..... YOU GOT this cover... Your FEAR, that others won't, speaks of you...
I even get you "GOT IT" by your claim of not getting it and the, it is "not funny"... Hey, it's your choice as to humor... You don't decide funny, for others...
QUOTE: " It's tired, obvious, ham-fisted and completely lacking in the kind of insight or nuance that would make it successful. So it's only the image, and the image is powerful, and offensive on its face. Why don't you get that?"
Actually, ask the person in your mirror that question, and you may "GET" to ponder your FEAR... Did not you just state why this is SATIRE and you got it?

[libbygirl]

Thanks for expressing my feelings about it for me. My brain hurts too much from trying to figure it all out.

[tillybummie]

Yep.

[howdouno]

So toughen up!

You have no right to censor, burn, and demand that other people not offend you. This is not Franco's Spain, Nazi Germany, Islamic Iran, or Communist China. This is the United States, founded on enlightenment principles, and a wonderful first amendment that guarantees "freedom of speech."

Hint: freedom of speech includes offensive speech - or speech that you find offensive and others appreciate. That's it. A good society, a democratic society, and a free society all require free speech.

Get it????

[normathumb]

When did you get the power to say what is funny? To say nothing about how nobody said it had to be funny in the first place.

[TunaFish]

If McCain wins the election because of this "stuff", I'm going to move to San Antonio, Tx. Opps, I'm already there. Never mind. Maybe, I'll just go to the Virgin Islands and panhandle the tourists. Oh yeah...exa­ctly what is restless penis syndrome?

[philinmedford]

The syndrome can generally be found in the mens room at airports.

It is generally preceded by foot-tapping and hand signals.

[TunaFish]

Thanks Phil. I was worried that it had something to do with involuntary hip-hop dancing or being lead around my the "other head". Instead I find that it has to do with Republican politicians who.....Oh never mind why go further?

[BeeOplentee]

It is all rather funny, isn't it? After all, even Boss Tweed got a kick out of Nast's political cartoons of him.

[YellerDawg]

Careful, there! Irony, like satire, apparently is lost on some people.