‘New Yorker’ Cover Could Serve Obama in the End

The main argument made against The New Yorker cover is that it will foster the ignorant belief that Obama is a Muslim with shadowy connections. Chris Matthews says 12 percent of Americans believe Obama’s a Muslim. But will it actually have that effect? I doubt it. Shocking satire resonates in unpredictable ways. It provokes people to think about stuff. The outrage over the cover may well redound to Obama’s benefit, it could actually help to blow the rumor campaign out of the water. Obama himself began his AIPAC speech last month by joking about the Other Obama these Jews had heard so much about, wanting to reassure the audience that that wasn’t him. I wonder if Obama won’t be citing this New Yorker cartoon before long in his speeches, and if it won’t serve him as a foil. From an early age in the news business, I’ve been warned of the consequences of printing this or that. Rarely were the warnings correct. Other stuff happened instead. And as for the idea that The New Yorker should mold its jokes to serve ignorant people, talk down to its own audience… why do we have a free press?