Obama Camp Rips New Yorker Caricature

McCain's on a walker while Cindy cradles drugs in Vanity Fair illustration

(NEWSER) - Vanity Fair has taken a jab at the New Yorker, posting a spoof of the magazine’s controversial Barack Obama cover on its website. VF’s "cover" shows a doddering John McCain gripping a walker and fist-bumping his wife, Cindy, who cradles a pile of prescription drugs. In the background, the Constitution burns in the fireplace under a portrait of President Bush. More»

It supported a lunatic idea, without slamming an established one

(NEWSER) - The now-infamous New Yorker cover depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as Muslim extremists rankled readers because it is not satire, Lee Siegel argues in the New York Times. Satire tackles "social rottenness once it has become a visible and established part of life," writes Siegel. But the New Yorker gave mainstream credence to a notion of the lunatic fringe. More»

Cynicism has killed satire, perhaps even humor altogether, in post 9/11 age

(NEWSER) - Many writers are scratching their heads at the incensed reactions provoked by the New Yorker’s Obamas-as-terrorists cover. Here’s some rebuttal:

• Liberals “have come to regard all images or texts that contain negative stereotypes as too politically dangerous to run,” Gary Kamiya writes in Salon. “Not a single work of satire could ever pass this paranoid test” in which merely acknowledging racism “is to be racist.”

Mad turns satirical eye on new president

(NEWSER) - Crises at home and abroad seem to be taking a toll on President Obama already—at least through the lens of Mad Magazine’s cartoonists. The current issue depicts a stressed-out president—ashtray full, antacid flowing—poring over screaming headlines and classified reports. “The only thing the artist missed,” Frank James writes in the Chicago Tribune, “was the chance to take a swipe at the president for those Alfred E. Newman ears of his.” More»

Companies tie products, events to Obama's big day

(NEWSER) - Marketers for products from cognac to commemorative coins are looking to cash in on Barack Obama’s Tuesday inauguration, the New York Times reports. “Obamabilia” includes bottles of Hennessy with a “44” on the label, special magazine issues, and Tshirts galore. Other companies, like Quaker Oatmeal, are hosting Inauguration Day events “to capture the excitement and optimism of the moment.” And, you know, sell oatmeal. More»