Decision ‘08

The Death Of Satire

So finely tuned is the public nose in the age of blogging that it detects the scent of outrage and scandal in the most innocuous of places. The New Yorker, as you’ve no doubt heard by now, has as its latest cover a broadly satirical representation of the more far-fetched attack lines against Obama embodied in a portrait of the candidate in full Muslim regalia doing the ‘terrorist fist bump’ with his suitably attired wife while the American flag burns in the fireplace.

Naturally, in this day and age where irony is a multi-vitamin, it’s the Obama camp that gets offended, with plenty of help from the liberal blogosphere, and just to add to the idiocy, the McCain camp chimed in (ironically supporting the idea that extremist right-wing smear campaigns against Obama are not fair game for satire, the best - and most devestating - form of critique).

I love this country, but I’m not so fond of many of its citizens. We are now so stupid that perhaps an enlightened despotism would be the best form of government going forward (note to those suffering from irony deficiencies - I’m kidding!)…

12 Responses to “The Death Of Satire”

1 Chris J. Breisch Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 6:47 am
It’s never a good idea to satirize the King.
2 too many steves Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 8:48 am
What have we become when we lose the ability to laugh and appreciate satire? Humorless. Ick.

A trait I find tremendously endearing in public figures is that of self-deprecation. I have great respect for those who are able to make fun of themselves, and none for those that are so serious that they cannot.
3 mikebdot Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 10:21 am
The problem with the cartoon has more to do with the fact that it sucked. It had three things which didn’t really go together. And, the flag-burning thing was completely out of place as Obama has not been accused of such. It lacked an extreme level to really make the point. Not to mention it lacked any evidence of the right-wing noise machine/mass media being involved with painting the picture.

In short, it wasn’t even mildly amusing. If it was a picture of jonah goldberg reading an issue of the national review with THAT cover, then it would have been funny.
4 peter Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I agree with Mark. Lighten up.

The New York Times has a front page article which speculates that the reason you haven’t heard many Obama jokes is that there is no hook for comedians to latch on to. He’s not robotic like Gore, womanizing like Clinton, or buffoonish like Bush. Perhaps that’s why the New Yorker cover struck such a nerve.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/us/politics/15humor.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin
5 Chris J. Breisch Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Oh, come on, peter. You don’t really believe that, do you? No hook? His name? His church? His age? His experience? His “gaffes” (57 states, “happy to see those who we’re honoring on memorial day”, etc.) All of these would be fodder for an old white guy Republican candidate.

I’ll start.

Q: What do Osama bin Laden and Barack Obama have in common?

A: They both have friends who bombed the Pentagon.

See…it’s not that hard.

(And for those of you missing the point–it’s satire!)
6 Mark Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
No, the flag-burning thing is the exact right touch - brings it completely over the top and lets all but the most obtuse in on the joke. My own counterpart, in my little attempt at satire on this site, a piece I loved, apparently all by my lonesome, was Karl Rove snorting coke in the Oval Office through a rolled-up copy of the Constitution…
7 Aaron Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
I concur, Chris. It’s not that there’s no hook with Obama; it’s that he and his supporters are so overly-sensitive to any criticism that it becomes a “smear” or “swiftboating” in the eyes of his media surrogates.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/jpodhoretz/16021
8 Peter Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Oh, please. Obama isn’t overly sensitive — his reaction was nonplussed (”I’ve seen worse”). I could see why some people would be offended by a caricature of him as an Obama worshipping, flag burning, Muslim spouse of a black militant. I imagine some people would be offended if George Bush was on the front cover of a national magazine in 2000 as a coke snorting, draft dodging, heavy drinking business failure. Hold on, he was … oh, never mind. Personally I think everyone should lighten up, but I don’t think that the reaction of some (including McCain) to an over-the-top cover indicates squeamishness.

The fact is: Obama is a pretty serious guy. He doesn’t have Bush’s camaraderie, Clinton’s twinling eyes, or the self-effacing sense of humor that Reagan had. It would be as if Chris Dodd got the nomination — try to think of a Chris Dodd joke. Bet you can’t. Even Borowitz can’t come up with much in the way of Obama humor:

http://borowitzreport.com/
9 Peter Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
sorry, Osama worshipping
10 too many steves Says:
July 16th, 2008 at 5:04 am
Judging solely by his reaction, Obama was offended (so was McCain, I think) and so he most clearly missed the point and didn’t understand that it was satire. Overly sensitive, probably not, overly serious, you bet. You might make the argument - which I won’t - that The New Yorker is in the bag for Obama and trying to help, but in any case, the publishing of that cartoon does help him by making future charges of the sort that are included in the cartoon automatically laughable.

So I agree with the admonition to “lighten up” and Obama would do well to take that advice.
11 Chris J. Breisch Says:
July 16th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Chris Dodd, hmmm…an easy one:

Hey Mr. Dodd, can you help me out with a loan?

to paraphrase an old one that Letterman used on Bush.

Today was a great day for Senator Dodd. He got a great loan deal from Countrywide, then approved some legislation bailing out the company for its business practices. Whew. What a relief. If only he were the Democratic Presidential nominee. Then, next year, he could have an even better day, pardoning himself and Angelo.

However, I do agree that both Obama and McCain need to lighten up. I agree with Aaron on him being overly sensitive. The cover already appears on fightthesmears.com (an overly sensitive website–you really want to show me you’re committed to fighting smears, open the site up to fighting McCain smears too), and the official statement from his campaign: “But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.” Obama’s “rules” on how he and his family are to be treated are starting to really make my hands twitch. My first comment on this thread seems very apropos.
12 Bob from Ohio Says:
July 16th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Q: What do Osama bin Laden and Barack Obama have in common?

A: They both have friends who bombed the Pentagon.

See…it’s not that hard.

(And for those of you missing the point–it’s satire!)

Funny joke.

Not satire though. The literal, though slightly unfair, truth.