Obama: Don't mess with the messiah!

Posted: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:17 AM by Mark Murray

On that New Yorker cover, Obama told CNN's Larry King: "You know, there are wonderful Muslim Americans all across the country who are doing wonderful things. And for this to be used as sort of an insult, or to raise suspicions about me, I think is unfortunate. And it's not what America's all about."

VIDEO: A Hardball panel debates whether the controversial New Yorker cover showing Barack Obama in Muslim garb is satire or slur.

Maureen Dowd uses the New Yorker cover as a springboard to ask: Why can’t we laugh at Obama? “At first blush, it would seem to be a positive for Obama that he is hard to mock. But on second thought, is it another sign that he’s trying so hard to be perfect that it’s stultifying? Or that eight years of W. and Cheney have robbed Democratic voters of their sense of humor?”

“Certainly, as the potential first black president, and as a contender with tender experience, Obama must feel under strain to be serious. But he does not want the ‘take’ on him to become that he’s so tightly wrapped, overcalculated and circumspect that he can’t even allow anyone to make jokes about him, and that his supporters are so evangelical and eager for a champion to rescue America that their response to any razzing is a sanctimonious: Don’t mess with our messiah!”

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Comments

There's been plenty of jokes about Obama, and most people don't care about the New Yorker cover. Instead of writing about how we can't laugh at Obama, why isn't there a story be written about the campaign's inability to say 'no comment' to things like this.

adam/Brooklyn New York City (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:24 AM)

You can mock and make fun of Obama, but it's only funny when you exploit areas that are based on fact. If you want to say he has elephant ears then go ahead because he does have big ears. If you want to mock his tendency to say "Uhhhhhh" while giving interviews, then mock it because he does say "Uhhhhh" a lot.

But implying he's a Muslim when he's not is NOT FUNNY. Portraying his wife to be a militant Black woman is NOT FUNNY because of the many stereotypes of "angry Black women" on TV, especially reality shows.

Mister Anderson (The Matrix) (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:25 AM)

Why do you quote from that woman who couldn't write a good piece if she was typing a Vonnegut essay.

evie (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:26 AM)

maureen dowd--you have been following mccain for so long that you are totally unable to offer any objective views of the candidates. " why can't we laugh at obama"---you are the laughable one!

L N (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:27 AM)

You CAN make fun of Obama. The problem with the New Yorker cover is that it's not just making fun of him, it's perpetuating a misconception that could cost him votes and even the election. While the New Yorker had no ill intentions with their cover, there will be, unfortunately, unintended consequences that will inevitably hurt Obama's campaign. Sadly, there are too many morons in this country who actually believe all the Muslim/anti-American crap.

So yes, we can make fun of Obama, but when it goes so far as to actually damage his campaign - merely for the sake of a cheap laugh - then it's going too far.

Linda. Boston, MA (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:28 AM)

This is a worthless post. I wish I could laugh at McCain's pitiful and non-humorous jokes. I'm really disgusted with this hatred and bias towards Mr. Obama. Has there ever been a candidate for POYUS, who has had to deal with SO MUCH scrutiny and micro-analysis?

dqool1, Illinois (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:28 AM)

He's too cool and not dumb and lame as ever republican out there.

Stud (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:29 AM)

Just the simple fact that I have heard many many bigots say that the New Yorker has it right! And it scares me the a lot of Americans (christians) think they are so much better then any other religion in the world. I equate it to what The Nazi's did to the Jewish people. That is the sense that I'm getting. It shouldn't be like this.

Selina, Wilmington, De (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:29 AM)

Geeze. Do you have to start EVERY day with an attack on Obama? He acquitted himself well on the Larry King show, the most recent Quinnipiac poll shows him opening up a big lead over McCain, and he gave major speech on Iraq and Afghanistan that forced McCain to flip-flop and play "me too" on sending troops to Afghanistan.

So you start out the day with Dowd's snarky article.

Obama was right: the New Yorker cover was an insult not only to him but to Muslim Americans. The New Yorker is a liberal publication and the artist and editor no doubt thought they were doing Obama a favor. But as a CNN report showed, people interviewed on the street who saw it on a news stand thought the cartoon was an attack on Obama because the New Yorker never puts any text on its cover to accompany the graphic.

This was one case of liberals trying to be too clever and sophisticated by half. As for Dowd, her articles aren't worth the paper they[re printed on.

Houston (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:30 AM)

i think a governor needs to be on the ticket not another senator

Elitist Alert — Cindy McCain
http://sensico.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/elitist-alert-cindy-mccain/
or

http://sensico2.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-blogs.html

camie (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:35 AM)

I think joking about someone based upon race is just decidedly NOT funny. That's the problem. Because we all know that ultimately, the people who say they aren't going to vote for Obama because they stupidly STILL think he is a muslim is the face of all the evidence to the contrary are just using that as an excuse for racism. If you don't support his policies-then fine that's a reason. If you just plain don't like him-then that's a reason-its a dumb one but its a reason. But to continually repeat the thoroughly debunked LIE as your reason only illustrates your racism. That's the problem. And if people are going to NOT vote for him because they just can't get over the fact that he's black then just SAY THAT! Own that racism. Its the only way its ever going to change. (and btw-ITA that saying someone is a muslim isn't really a smear-its kind of insulting to muslims to use it as though its a swear word).

And quite frankly I understand why comedians are having a hard time finding something funny about Obama. He's so polished and composed. But they could joke about the way he kind of stammers, his over use of "look" or "well", he's got some great lines that he repeats over and over that could be used for comic fodder. Heck, he even thinks his ears are funny. Its not the Obama supporters fault that the muslim lie isn't funny. Its just not funny. Comics shouldn't blame us for their lack of creativity.

Suz in KS (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:36 AM)

People just don't get it. There's nothing wrong with making fun of Obama. If someone joked that he had big ears, or use to smoke, or looks goofy riding his bike with helmet. But what's funny joking that someone is a Muslim extremist who burns the American flag and has a picture of Osama bin Laden on the wall?

Carter, Jacksonville, FL (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:38 AM)

Let's face it---this country has never been this far before in having a black presumptive presidential nominee. Sen. Obama has taken hit after hit on the Muslim rumors and the NY'er magazine was offensive to both the Obamas and to Muslim Americans.

There seems to be no middle ground when it comes to Obama. Humor is fine, but when the media portrays anything about Sen. Obama, it is to the extreme and he would be reduced to a caricature of buffoonery that many uninformed people would prefer rather than embrace Obama for the intellectual pragamatist he is.

ObamaNation is very protective of our leader and he should be given every respect he so richly deserves.

J. Ellis, Virginia (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:40 AM)

As for the New Yorker's cover, it's obvious that well-educated and/or informed Americans understand the satirical depiction of Obama and Michelle, but how does this help dispel the myths about him for people who are ignorant about his background?

I get the humor, but it was a shoddy, stupid piece of work. But thats okay, because what goes around, comes around.

Obama 08

Elise D.,Tx (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:40 AM)

Obama's comment on Larry King, was a reference to Hillary's, and neocon's bigoted campaign that if they could convince voters that Obama is a Muslim, then that in, and of itsself would be a persuavive, boogey man in the cellar poll changer. It is faith baiting.

Maureen Dowd hasn't walked 2 feet in Obama's shoes. She has no sense of what he's up against, and apparantly no inclination toward understanding.

donna (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:43 AM)

satire - \sa-tī(-ə)r\ 1 : a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
2 : trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly

The definition of satire is to hold up or expose vice or folly. Since none of the depicted images are based in 'truth' - it is at best hysterical; but at worst, discrediting and damaging.

New Yorker takes a giant leap that MSM doesn't make which is that Low Information voters do not get this type of humor. They see an e-mail or image enough and they believe it is factual. MSM has accepted this and clearly parses most 'news' in small, easily clipped & looped images.

You can mess with my messiah, when you have equal coverage of his opponent. Since MSM has no intention of really doing that; let's not perpetuate inaccurate and negative stereotypes, no matter how funny you deem them.

Clara Kansas City, MO (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:44 AM)

The only one using Muslims as an insult are Obama and his little supporters. Anytime someone even just asks the question about Obama, the lunatic left goes ballistic. This knee jerk reaction comes from the belief that all Muslims are just another minority group that ar evictims in some sense, and no one should speak unkindly about them.

Roland Ontheriver, Spingfield MO (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:44 AM)

Maureen Dowd ask,"Why can't we laugh at Obama?" I am a Democrat who has not lost my sense of humor and I can assure you Obama has not lost his either, but, when you continue to perpetuate a vicious, malicious lie and sterotype about a person and put it in print no less, is a person suppose to find that amusing ?! c'mon Maureen how would you feel if it was done to you time and time again?

margaret,baltimore,md. (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:46 AM)

There is plenty to mock Obama about, but the media and Hollywood lefties are so tied into the politically correct thinking, no one is going after him. The thinking is "Oh, he's a black man, can't make fun of him, I'll be called a racist." Leno/Letterman/Stewart joke about every other pol, but not Obama. Obama has become a humor-less android of some sort. Something you put on stage, wind up, and watch him perform. There is no human quality to the man.

Stacy Brown, Holman MS (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:51 AM)

The Messiah reference is low ... even for First Read.

Steve NewYork (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:51 AM)

You know - the headline of this is just ridiculous. But then, you knew that, right?

I guess if Obama is the Messiah then that makes McCain Methuselah.

Nashville_fan (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:53 AM)

MSM...the cover wasn't funny to me at all. Not because you can't make jokes about Obama. I sat through a comedy act that poked fun at all McCain, Clinton and Obama. It was very funny and most of the jokes were about Obama and his name. The reason why people are uptight about The New Yorker is because it fans the flames surrounding the lies about Obama and his love for the country. It would have been funny, maybe, if it showed a prominent Republican painting the picture. This way it would have shown how people intend to use a broad brush to paint Obama. If this country wasn't so prejudice against Muslims, the caricature wouldn't even make a difference. His religion shouldn't be the focal point of this debate to begin with, but when you have so many Americans who believe already without the cover that Obama is Muslim, went to a Muslim school, took his oath for the Senate on the Qu'ran, etc....the cover was the last thing he needed. Again, it just wasn't funny!

Obama '08...the only choice for me

Fee, Philadelphia (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:54 AM)

So it's Obama's fault that you folks can't think up any good jokes?

Of course it is.

Nashville_fan (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:55 AM)

Good grief, is Maureen Dowd that dense?

He HAS to try to be perfect - look at all the criticism that he's been receiving from all sides!

If he was more jovial, everyone would be saying he's not serious enough! C'mon!

MI Chick (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:55 AM)

People want to believe cartoons....and comic strips.

If the New Yorker Magazine had any brains they'd have a front cover with McCain hugging Bush...Oh, never mind that one is true....

BJ, CA (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:55 AM)

It drives the right crazy...obama has a teflon coating...much like their boy ronny raygun...its ironic

Rick, NC (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:56 AM)

First Read - great story line!

Obama has no sense of humor. Nor do his supporters. People of this country want their President to be open to criticism, and be able to take a little ribbing. Obama is too tightly wound and gives off the distinct impression that he doesn't like people to make fun of him. He puts out this vibe that he's the smartest guy around, so why would people make fun of him?

You see this behavior by Obama with his reaction, and the medias reaction to the New Yorker cover. Obama, his staff, and the media were agast by the cover. If Bush was on the cover along with Rove and Cheney, mowing down Iraqi civilains with machine guns, the left would have on the floor laughing, and Bush would be expected to take the ribbing.

HT Rowe, Kansas City (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 9:58 AM)

Maureen Dowd seems to be leaning toward bigotry here if she cannot realize that the real problem with the New Yorker cover was in the negative portrayal of Muslims in general. The negative connotations toward Obama have been there in the past, and most understand this, but to use the Obama's likeness in this way is not only offensive to the Obamas, it is offensive to the Muslims in particular, and should be offensive to anyone who is fair minded.

Beside that point; this is not a joking matter!! This election cycle is considered critical by most thinking and politically active Americans. If Maureen wants to laugh about it, she cheapens her own brand. If the comedians whom she quotes in her article are to be considered in this matter, wouldn't it be more germaine if they stated their positions on the race/bigotry/terror issues before searching for punchlines? The claim of "Reverse Racism" is a very lame excuse for the discarding of decency.

GA GUY (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:01 AM)

Dowd is normally a reliable intelligent journalist, but he lack of depth on this is alarming. She knows that a fake article using her name was floated about Obama. His supporter just want him to win or lose based on him, not his race. There are some people (like the New Yorker) who think America is more racially advanced than it actually is.

If the New Yorker had just put the words "The Politics of Fear" on the cover, it would have been acceptable.

A Charles, LA, CA (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:01 AM)

Maureen Dowd is a bit off target regarding poking humor at Obama. Certainly SNL poked fun at him. It all depends on who is doing and the intent. The New Yorker cover was not satire, it was a smear. If the McCain camp can see how offensive it was. Why cant Joe Scarbrough and Pat Buchanan.

Ron Indiana (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:03 AM)

Yeah, I get the satire.

Problem is most low information voters wont and they will only see Obama as a muslim and Michelle as terrorist. It will only serve to reinforce absurd and rebutted myths about the Obama's.

This cover should have come with a manual and a warning label.

Ira, Freehold, NJ (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:08 AM)

Everybody loves Jesus....except that other guy from the GOP...In war prison...prayed about the Pittsburg Steelers...never said anything about Jesus while there...

BJ, CA (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:11 AM)

I agree with Dowd, Obama and the rest of us should lighten up on Obama. Offhand, I can't think of a single really funny joke about the man, and I've heard lots about McCain (who is a walking joke.) If SNL weren't so pro-Clinton, he should go on there or something. As for his being a Messiah, even Jesus is the butt of many good jokes, and no one will riot and kill you if you joke about Him. I'll bet no one will die as a result of the New Yorker cartoon, by the way...

Class Warrior, D.C. (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:12 AM)

Mark, your headline "Obama: Don't Mess with the Messiah" is so misleading. Anyone just seeing the headline would think Obama had said something about not messing with the Messiah. As to Obama's reaction to the New Yorker cover cartoon, I think he has been remarkably calm and rational about it. I wouldn't expect him or his wife to think it was funny, and from what I've read neither would a majority of Americans. I generally enjoy the satire of the New Yorker, but in this case, my first reaction was not to laugh - it was to suck in my breath and say "Oh My God!" in dismay. Obama did not overreact, and I think he should be commended for that.

Linda, Allen, TX (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:12 AM)

Maureen, the joke isn't on an individual, it's on an entire religion. It isn't funny...

Jeremy KS (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:14 AM)

Disagree. It isnt' just Obama's supporters. Obama himself has dictated what you will and won't discuss about him. It's part of his arrogance to think he can control people's minds and thoughts. Yet, he says he believes in the 1st Amendment. Again, HYPOCRITE.

NObama (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:15 AM)

Maureen Dowd doesn't get the point.

It's ok to laugh at Obama - you can make fun of his ears, the fact that he still wears 10-year old pants and a worn-out belt. You can laugh at his 'gaffes' or ignorantly-perceived lack of 'experience'. You can mock him as the 'messiah' as Maureen just did - Whatever!

But to fuel misconceptions about his faith and attack his family by portraying his wife as some AK-47 carrying radical - THAT IS A NO-GO and every journalist with any decency at all should know that!

DiamondE (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:16 AM)

Last week my day was ruined by a Kathleen Parker column in our local newspaper lauding McCain's superior character over Obama's. Today, Maureen Dowd is telling me we need to let comedians, including her, blow up Obama's campaign like they torpedoed Kerry and Gore's. I am royally sick of pundits telling me how I should feel about the candidates. The stakes have never been higher for our country than in this election. Maureen Dowd makes herself more irrelevant every day.

Amy B Portland, ME (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:18 AM)

I think the question is wrong; not that we shouldn't laugh at Obama, but the New Yorker, to me, put it as these are the things that people think that Obama is/was/could be/wants to be. Some of these things to many Americans are scary as change can be. There are things that we can laugh at Obama for; have you see the ears? Editorial cartoons picked up on that quickly enough. It is also that George W. Bush has so many easier flaws to pick on (appears to be not intelligent, speaking flubs etc).

S.B. Stein E.B. NJ (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:20 AM)

This is more of the same. Insulated thinking on the part of white folks. DO YOU HEAR YOURSELVES?

Because you can't find anymore ACCEPTABLE insults—you are blaming Barack??? I can't believe it.

He did not even put you guys down because of the insensitivity of the New Yorker cover. And he is the most accepting black or white man YOU will ever meet in your lifetime.

How would you feel if the shoe was on the other foot!!!!

We AMERICANS ARE BETTER THAN THIS!!!

Andrea, New York City (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:24 AM)

Obama supporters such as myself take offense to pigeonholing our candidate into such a limited role as that of the human offspring of G*D. To us he is not human but G*D himself!

Of course that is a joke. Messiah? No, that would make him Jewish (a fine religion that parallels my own.) The best chance in a long, long time for a good Presidential candidate that might actually do something for our great country? Absolutely. In the very least, Senator Obama is not a self-serving, economically dividing Republican.

Democrat (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:26 AM)

The fuss about The New Yorker cover has nothing to do with making fun of Obama. If the cover had featured a 2-fasced Obama, moking his change of positions, or joking about the food he eats, or his fancy suits, that would have been entirely different.

The New Yorker says its cover was about misperceptions about Obama, but it misssed the mark. The title "Politics of Fear" does not appear on the cover. What it LOOKS like is that The New Yorker is criticizing Obama for BEING a secret Muslim. If they wanted to make fun of the misperceptions, they should have been more explicit. Face it, New Yorker, you just didn't communicate.

Judith Smith (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:30 AM)

The reaction of the Obama camp to the humourous magazine cover is a good example of "whining".

Jim Tampa, FL (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:38 AM)

Laughing at presidential candidates is only natural. There's plenty to laugh about as a rule. Still, the publishing of a cartoon that continues to imply a muslim connection to Sen. Obama to me just isn't funny or appropriate. I've heard that 13% of people polled still believe he's muslim. Are these people stupid, unread, conspiracy nuts, rascist, or what? It's just that when there's a percentage out there like that, is it the press's job to perpetuate it? Living in times of fear of terrorists and religious radicals seems to make people get tribal. Some people out there just aren't ready to give up the days of two rich male WASPS in the contest.

bill, okla (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:39 AM)

I think it is unfair to say we have NO sense of humor, or that we CAN'T laugh at Sen. Obama just because one cartoon rubs us the wrong way. Instead I think it is fair to say that we all have our lines, and that cartoon crossed it for some of us. For me, it seemed like a gift to the people who actually believe the image depicted is true. Just the fact that the artist had to verify that it was in fact satirical proves that the mainstream viewer wasn't sure which side The New Yorker was on. Because, and hard as it is to believe, there is a large segment of those who are anti-Obama who really do believe it is true. And, the Obama camp is spending a lot of energy dispelling myths. No, he isn't a messiah, but he does represent a real chance to make politics something interesting for those of us who never before cared. So, the reaction we're seeing isn't so much "back off" as it is "great - now we have to deal with this obstacle..."

Amy, Denver, CO (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:49 AM)

I agree with Jon Stewart. The only people who get freaked over a CARTOON are radical muslims. The Obama campaign should have stuck with "no comment" and be done with it. To those who got in a tizzy over it I have only oned question: "How old are you, two?" It's called ironic satire.

Ian (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:52 AM)

Yes, Obama is, to many of us a buoyant piece of flotsam in the sewer of American politics. We see a sick system that is so entrenched that it rises up to protect itself by any means including the destruction of any threatening "Change Agent". The "press" has become "corporate media" and can no longer be counted on to champion the truth. They, instead, champion their own self interest. Chief among those interests is the status quo.
They have been assimilated.
So excuse us if we are sensitive to coordinated attacks against our "life raft". We see it as our last chance not to drown in the fetid waters that American politics represent. In fact if you manage to sink him our break him up to the point where he offers no buoyancy then I suspect many of us will swim to the edge and crawl out, take a shower and never return.

Gary Schear, Bozeman Montana (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:54 AM)

How biased is that lead? "Don't mess with the Messiah?" Is that funny? Is it? I don't know anymore... MSNBC is just like Fox now. Is Andrea Mitchell (your Big Girl) going to start calling Michelle Obama "Baby Mama"? Oh, yeah, forgive me.... you guys are fair and balanced. We've heard that somewhere before... let's see if I can remember where.

Bill Watson, Darien, IL (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 11:02 AM)

Maureen Dowd should get out of her little cocoon and realize what is happening in the country about the false rumours purposely spread about the Obamas . Unlike Ms. Dowd's column, Obama's response was reasoned and balanced. not icy as Ms Dowd claimed,

GW, Vancouver, CAnad (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 11:08 AM)

I don't think Obama is responsible for the fact that he is hard to make fun of. Maybe it just shows that we are so used to idiotic buffoons as leaders, and the comedic opportunities have been so rampant that the late night folks aren't accustomed to having to work for it.
I do know that Joe Scarborough is becoming more annoying every day. He was whining this morning about how comics say they speak truth to power but then only go after Republicans. Maybe Joe should get a clue that you usually speak truth to power when the "power" element is out of control and screwing everything up.

AP from IL (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 11:09 AM)

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