PrintJuly 14, 2008
The Incredibly Thin Skin of Barack Obama (updated)
A long, yet unsatisfyingly incomplete article in the current issue of The New Yorker about Barack Obama's Chicago roots, lauding him for many things that might be considered non-laudable, was a passing curiosity in the blogosphere yesterday. We here at AT blogged about it, pointing out that Mr. Lizza had actually uncovered some things that weren't too flattering about the candidate.
But the piece went from a passing curiosity to a full blown campaign typhoon when the cover of the issue was released. It showed Obama in a turban doing the fist bump with his wife who is dressed up as some kind of revolutionary. An American flag burns in the fireplace of the Oval Ofice:
One look at this and the Obama campaign hit the roof. Despite the fact that The New Yorker was lampooning conservatives by portraying some on the right's overheated descriptions of Obama, spokesman Bill Burton for the Obama campaign said "The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.”
Well, I don't agree. I find it pretty rich even if they are poking fun at conservatives. But what should trouble anyone is how thin Obama's skin truly is if he can't take a little satire from his friends on the left!
Michelle Malkin puts it nicely when she headlines her post "Grow a pair, Obama" and says "So, you found this satirical New Yorker cover art “tasteless and offensive.” Welcome to public life. Guess what? In Washington, political cartoonists and caricaturists spare no one."
So Obama plays his race/cultural card against a friendly publication while many of his allies on the left dutifully follow his lead and condemn the piece because most of them fear that those of us who live out in flyover country "won't get" the satire.
Thin skinned Obama and his tone deaf, elitist allies; what a combination.
Update from Thomas Lifson: Doug Ross presents a montage of the sort of satire Bush, Cheney and conservatives are subjected to without provoking any whining or outrage.
My all-time favorite comes from Der Spiegel:
Isn't it time for Obama to man up?
Update: the artist Barry Blitt speaks in the Huffington Post (via Jake Tapper):
I keep hearing from Obama supporters that he is being "branded" or "called unpatriotic." But I do not see anyone calling him or branding him unpatriotic or a terrorist. Who is doing this, and why are they so hard to find?
But the piece went from a passing curiosity to a full blown campaign typhoon when the cover of the issue was released. It showed Obama in a turban doing the fist bump with his wife who is dressed up as some kind of revolutionary. An American flag burns in the fireplace of the Oval Ofice:
One look at this and the Obama campaign hit the roof. Despite the fact that The New Yorker was lampooning conservatives by portraying some on the right's overheated descriptions of Obama, spokesman Bill Burton for the Obama campaign said "The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.”
Well, I don't agree. I find it pretty rich even if they are poking fun at conservatives. But what should trouble anyone is how thin Obama's skin truly is if he can't take a little satire from his friends on the left!
Michelle Malkin puts it nicely when she headlines her post "Grow a pair, Obama" and says "So, you found this satirical New Yorker cover art “tasteless and offensive.” Welcome to public life. Guess what? In Washington, political cartoonists and caricaturists spare no one."
So Obama plays his race/cultural card against a friendly publication while many of his allies on the left dutifully follow his lead and condemn the piece because most of them fear that those of us who live out in flyover country "won't get" the satire.
Thin skinned Obama and his tone deaf, elitist allies; what a combination.
Update from Thomas Lifson: Doug Ross presents a montage of the sort of satire Bush, Cheney and conservatives are subjected to without provoking any whining or outrage.
My all-time favorite comes from Der Spiegel:
Isn't it time for Obama to man up?
Update: the artist Barry Blitt speaks in the Huffington Post (via Jake Tapper):
"I think the idea that the Obamas are branded as unpatriotic [let alone as terrorists] in certain sectors is preposterous. It seemed to me that depicting the concept would show it as the fear-mongering ridiculousness that it is."
I keep hearing from Obama supporters that he is being "branded" or "called unpatriotic." But I do not see anyone calling him or branding him unpatriotic or a terrorist. Who is doing this, and why are they so hard to find?
