5702: Satire Or Tired?

Cover charges in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The campaign teams for Barack Obama and John McCain agree on something: the offensive nature of the latest New Yorker cover (depicted above). “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton. McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds added, “We completely agree with the Obama campaign that it’s tasteless and offensive.” The New Yorker seemed shocked by the reactions. “Our cover … combines a number of fantastical images about the Obamas and shows them for the obvious distortions they are,” said editor David Remnick. “The burning flag, the nationalist-radical and Islamic outfits, the fist-bump, the portrait on the wall—all of them echo one attack or another. Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to the absurd. And that’s the spirit of this cover.” Depending upon one’s version of glass-half-empty/glass-half-full, America could be heading toward a New Era of Oversensitivity or a New Era of Insensitivity.

• Anheuser-Busch accepted a sweetened offer from InBev, paving the way for a buyout. “Together, Anheuser-Busch and InBev will be able to accomplish much more than each can on its own,” said Carlos Brito, slated to become the new company’s chief executive. “This combination will create a stronger, more competitive global company with an unrivaled worldwide brand portfolio and distribution network, with great potential for growth all over the world.” Guess the Clydesdales will have to apply for passports and travel visas.