New Yorker Cover Illustration: Stupidity or Satire?

Is the New Yorker way off base? Or right on target? The magazine famous for its satire has generated a lot of attention for its July 2008 cover illustration of Barack and Michelle Obama in the Oval Office, with abundant terrorist symbolism.

According to CNN, New Yorker editors say the drawing is a comment on how the media has passed along ridiculous claims about the Democratic candidate. (Don't forget www.FactCheck.org is a great place to find out the truth when you hear allegations.)

The New Yorker magazine says its latest cover is satire.

Meanwhile, the Obama camp calls the cover " tasteless and offensive." McCain's campaign repudiated it. Liberal Liberal radio talk-show host Laura Flanders takes another view. She told CNN's "American Morning" on July 14 that Obama campaign "should have come out strongly endorsing this cover."

She said, "This isn't a jab at them, terrorist or any other kind. This is a jab at the media. ... It should be cause for our conversation to focus on the kind of fear mongering that the media and people on the right have engaged in." What do you think?