Is it elitist to say this whole thing is ridiculous?

The cover of The New Yorker this week--the July 14 issue depicting the Obamas surrounded by evidence of various false rumors--was, I thought, kind of funny. Not hilarious, mind you, but certainly not completely un-funny. Unfortunately I did not get to arrive at this conclusion before I had been told 12 ways how offensive it was. Apparently no one in the media who commented on the cover is an actual reader of the magazine (hello, context). Fortunately I can think for myself and can take political art with a grain of salt and a sense of humor.

I understand where artist Barry Blitt took a risk. Clearly not everyone has been following the easily disproven rumors that have been circulated concerning Barack Obama. David's grandfather thought the cover was terrible; I feel I should add that he is not a New Yorker reader and only heard about the cartoon from the story's heavy rotation on TV. When we discussed it over lunch I realized that where I saw a picture poking fun at all the absurd allegations and conjectures about our democratic Presidential nominee, he saw an artist promoting such allegations and conjectures.

As a political cartoonist I'd say it's Blitt's job to push the envelope, and sometimes it works better than others. While this one probably helped the New Yorker sell more newsstand copies, it probably won't go down as one of Blitt's best loved works. Consideration for that honor ought to go to Blitt's October 2007 New Yorker cover depicting Iranian President Ahmadinejad in a foot-tapping bathroom stall. Now that was some clever political-fun poking.

To finish things off I encourage you to check out a few other elitist funnies right after you read a bit more about charges of elitism in general.

• MUST READ: Jon Stewart on The Daily Show had a hilarious take on the latest New Yorker cover, including a fabulous response suggestion for the Obama camp.
• Daily Kos posting, The New Yorker Cover: An Anti-Elitist Opportunity
• And two more elitist New Yorker cartoons: one and two. (It's okay to label them as such; they use the word themselves.)