Washington is buzzing this morning as word quickly spread about the latest cover of The New Yorker magazine.

The magazine explains at the start of its news release previewing the issue: “On the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue of 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.”

As you can see from the picture, Michelle Obama is depicted with an Afro and an AK-47 while Barack is wearing a turban and traditional Arab clothing. Also note the portrait of Osama bin Laden on the wall and the American flag burning in the fireplace.

The Obama campaign responed with this:

“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.”

The McCain campaign responded with this:

“We completely agree with the Obama campaign, it’s tasteless and offensive.”

I think it’s interesting that a liberal rag like the New Yorker would put out a cover like that. For a magazine that clearly wants to see Barack Obama elected President, they certainly threw caution to the wind with that one.

After seeing the cover yourself, what do you think? Is it offensive or just satire?

-Chris Jones

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