Running for Cover

New Yorker magazine editor David Remnick continues to smear the right with the absurd explanation that the cover portraying Saint Obama and his wife is a mere caricature of how the right allegedly "smears" Barack Obama.

The editor of The New Yorker magazine said Monday his cover cartoon showing Michelle and Barack Obama as fist-bumping terrorists was designed to "provoke a discussion" about campaign smear tactics.

The controversial July 21 issue cover created a national uproar as Americans across the country weighed in on the provocative image.

Some called for New Yorker editor David Remnick to step down, while others praised him for calling attention to the smear tactics.

"I published the cover not to 'get attention' gratuitously but because it had something important to say and to provoke a discussion," Remnick told the Daily News.
...
Remnick appeared on national TV to explain the decision, saying the cover was meant to "attack lies and misconceptions and distortions about the Obamas."

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but what evidence exactly does he have that the right has done anything like this?

If there was anyone allegedly smearing Obama the past few months it was other Democrats themselves. Apparently Remnick has no recollection of an ugly primary fight between Obama and Hillary Clinton.

This is the same nonsense that followed the alleged "Whitey tape" that was foisted on the public by Democrats themselves, which was then turned around and blamed on the right.

If you needed any further evidence the right has had nothing to do with this Obama is a Muslim nonsense, is there a single major news outlet or blog that has declared Obama a Muslim?

No, there isn't. And the John McCain campaign has bent over backward to avoid "smearing" Obama. Of course, using a person's own words against him nowadays is considered a smear by the weak-kneed left.

To further illustrate the point, since the Obama campaign unveiled this absurd Fight the Smears website, there has not been a single "smear" added to it. In fact, the first alleged "smear" is a smear against Rush Limbaugh which has not yet been retracted.

So it's time for the leftwing media and Obama campaign to stop smearing the right.

Previously.

You Stay Classy, New Yorker

Good Lord, what are these people thinking?

The magazine explains at the start of its news release previewing the issue: “On the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue of the The New Yorker, in ‘The Politics of Fear,’ artist Barry Blitt satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama’s campaign.”

I’m sure Senator Obama is oh-so appreciative for The New Yorker’s help.

UPDATE -- Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton says: "“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."

Frankly, I'm more than a little fed up at this notion it's "right-wing critics" who're pushing this caricature of Obama. There's more than enough to criticize about the man and his wife than to sink to something like this.

H/T: NJDhockeryfan via LGF links.

Meanwhile, once you get past the absurd cover, there are some interesting excerpts in the lengthy story.

Rezko was one of the people Obama consulted when he considered running to replace Palmer, and Rezko eventually raised about ten per cent of Obama’s funds for that first campaign. As a state senator, Obama became an advocate of the tax-credit program. “That’s an example of a smart policy,” he told the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin in 1997. “The developers were thinking in market terms and operating under the rules of the marketplace; but at the same time, we had government supporting and subsidizing those efforts.” Obama and Rezko’s friendship grew stronger. They dined together regularly and even, on at least one occasion, retreated to Rezko’s vacation home, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

That of course is the now convicted Tony Rezko, a guy who's completely fallen off the media radar.

Funny how that works.

Also noted in his reaction to 9/11 in the Hyde Park Herald:

Even as I hope for some measure of peace and comfort to the bereaved families, I must also hope that we as a nation draw some measure of wisdom from this tragedy. Certain immediate lessons are clear, and we must act upon those lessons decisively. We need to step up security at our airports. We must reexamine the effectiveness of our intelligence networks. And we must be resolute in identifying the perpetrators of these heinous acts and dismantling their organizations of destruction.

We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics. Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.

We will have to make sure, despite our rage, that any U.S. military action takes into account the lives of innocent civilians abroad. We will have to be unwavering in opposing bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle Eastern descent. Finally, we will have to devote far more attention to the monumental task of raising the hopes and prospects of embittered children across the globe—children not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and within our own shores.

Sounded like he wanted to start a worldwide Meals on Wheels program and with just the right amount of compassion dispensed, the world would love us that much more.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Update: Further reaction here.