‘The New Yorker’ vs. the Obamas
Never forget that the real America starts at the Delaware Water Gap
July 2008 By Denny Hatch
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In the News
Obama’s Revenge: New Yorker Banned From Press Plane For Overseas TripIt led with the report that Lara Logan had scored the first overseas sit-down with Barack Obama, but here’s the most interesting nugget from yesterday’s Mike Allen piece [in Politico.com] about the trip: Forty journalists, including such leading correspondents as Dan Balz of The Washington Post, will be aboard his plane for next week’s swing through Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and England. The campaign received 200 requests for press seats on the plane. Among those for whom there was no room was Ryan Lizza, Washington correspondent of The New Yorker. The campaign, which was furious about the magazine’s satirical cover this week, cited space constraints in turning him away.
—Rachel Sklar, The Huffington Post, July 21, 2008
I have 104 days to make up my mind, and I’m still not sure about Barack Obama or John McCain. Will this be yet another presidential election where I go into a voting booth holding my nose and pulling the lever for the LOC (Least Objectionable Candidate)?
One thing I’m sure of: David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, and his cover artist, Barry Blitt, should be spanked and sent to bed without supper.
The New Yorker’s cover depiction of Barack Obama in the Oval Office as a mullah bumping knuckles with a terrorist Michelle Obama in an Angela Davis Afro and camo pants with an AK-47 on her shoulder, while an American flag burns in the fireplace and a portrait of Osama bin Laden looks down over the mantel piece, is appalling. [See illustration below.]
“Satire,” is what Remnick calls it.
I call it sabotage—totally over the top and out of bounds.
I have cancelled my subscription to The New Yorker and have demanded a cash refund on all undelivered issues.
A Catastrophe for the Obama Campaign
People believe what they want to believe, and this New Yorker—on newsstands all over the world—will confirm to non-New Yorker readers that the mainstream “Eastern Establishment” views the Obamas as Islamic terrorists.
My prediction is that, between now and Election Day, this image will be all over the Internet and YouTube, as well as on TV, posters, T-shirts, sweat shirts, lawn signs and anti-Obama fliers. In what promises to be a close race, this editorial mischief could tip the election to McCain just as the Swift Boat campaign—and John Kerry’s glacial response to it—went a long way to elect George W. Bush for a second term.
A Prior Run-in With the Newhouse Organization
My innards harbor a smoldering anger at The New Yorker’s owner—Advance Publications and the Newhouse family that controls it. It’s the result of a smarty-pants stunt by a New Yorker writer designed for no other purpose than to hurt magazines—his own and all others.
Takeaway Points to Consider:
* Before going public with a potential shocker, it’s imperative to think through all the possible collateral damage if it should backfire on you, your organization and the world beyond.* The New York media are arrogant elitists typified by Saul Steinberg’s iconic cover depicting The New Yorker’s view of the United States, which puts New York City at the center of the world while all the rest of us were dummkopfs in the boondocks. (Click on the image below.)
* “Mary Regina Hayford, the ‘Little Old Lady from Dubuque’ who helped turn a New York snub into a symbol of pride, died Monday. She was 85 years old. Mrs. Hayford worked for 25 years to take advantage of a barb from Harold Ross, editor of The New Yorker magazine, against midwestern provincialism. In his prospectus for the magazine in 1925, Mr. Ross declared that the publication was not edited ‘for the little old lady from Dubuque.’ Mrs. Hayford began her effort in 1964, at age 60, as part of a Dubuque Chamber of Commerce campaign to fight the city’s image. The campaign’s organizers decided to use the ‘Little Old Lady’ character to counteract Mr. Ross’s put-down.”
—The New York Times, June 14, 1989
* In 2008, little old ladies from Dubuque, Iowa, vote, watch 24/7 cable news, are in tune with the election process and could well be as offended as this little old man from Philly. You will recall that it was Obama’s surprise win in the Iowa caucuses that kick-started his campaign.
* If you want to talk to real Americans—and know what real Americans feel—ignore the Boston-Washington Beltway corridor and think of the real United States as commencing west of the Delaware Water Gap.
* I predict an avalanche of subscription cancellations to The New Yorker—my own included. As with Vanity Fair, many of the articles—including major ones—are free on the Web and available well ahead of when the paid issue arrives in your mailbox. Anybody can see the major stories, save money and pollute less.
* “Satire is what closes on Saturday night.”
— George S. Kaufman
Web Sites Related to Today's Edition:
The New Yorkerhttp://www.newyorker.com/
“New Yorker attacked for Obama cover” — FinancialTimes.com
http://tinyurl.com/5bc9pk
“Barry Blitt Defends His New Yorker Cover Art Of Obama” — The Huffington Post
http://tinyurl.com/6s23et
“David Remnick On That New Yorker Cover: It’s Satire, Meant To Target ‘Distortions And Misconceptions And Prejudices’ About Obama” — The Huffington Post
http://tinyurl.com/6etuel
Video: David Remnick interviewed by Charlie Rose
http://tinyurl.com/6yupqq
Jon Rettich, direct marketing graphic designer/illustrator/artist, founder Classic Toys in Greenwich Village—a toy and collectable store, now The Toy Shop with his son in Philadelphia.
jonrettich@rcn.com
www.PennToys.com
www.ToysNYC.com
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