http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111 The Washington Post's culture critic did an online interview with readers about the New Yorker's attempt at satire with its recent cover of Barack Obama. I don't know whether satire is dead, but I did stop at this quote from the critic: "As a working journalist, can I just suggest the possibility that we not all cancel our subscriptions everytime something offends us? I know it's tempting. But here's an analogy: I live in a neighborhood with about two really good restaurants, at which I don't always have a really good meal. If everyone refused to return based on one overcooked plate of tuna, I'd live in a neighborhood with no good restaurants at all." I'm not sure whether the analogy works, but I must say I don't understand why people would not want to have a newspaper around to report the news. Yes, I understand being upset by what's reported from time to time. No, I don't understand the notion that no news is a better alternative. Regarding Obama, I must say I'm surprised by all of the false information being passed around the country and our community about him. For example, my kids have told me other kids have said he's building secret concentration camps around the country to imprison Christians. Huh? I'm not endorsing either candidate. I would hope, though, that the election is decided on the issues and not ugly rumors. That's where reading the newspaper comes in. Stay informed. I'm not an advocate of Timothy Leary's philosophy of "turning on, tuning in and dropping out." The Washington Post's culture critic did an online interview with readers about the New Yorker's attempt at satire with its recent cover of Barack Obama. I don't know whether satire is dead, but I did stop at this quote from the critic: "As a working journalist, can I just suggest the possibility that we not all cancel our subscriptions everytime something offends us? I know it's tempting. But here's an analogy: I live in a neighborhood with about two really good restaurants, at which I don't always have a really good meal. If everyone refused to return based on one overcooked plate of tuna, I'd live in a neighborhood with no good restaurants at all." I'm not sure whether the analogy works, but I must say I don't understand why people would not want to have a newspaper around to report the news. Yes, I understand being upset by what's reported from time to time. No, I don't understand the notion that no news is a better alternative. Regarding Obama, I must say I'm surprised by all of the false information being passed around the country and our community about him. For example, my kids have told me other kids have said he's building secret concentration camps around the country to imprison Christians. Huh? I'm not endorsing either candidate. I would hope, though, that the election is decided on the issues and not ugly rumors. That's where reading the newspaper comes in. Stay informed. I'm not an advocate of Timothy Leary's philosophy of "turning on, tuning in and dropping out." en-us I agree with you.  People seem to forget that we have specific freedoms in the Constitution.  We all remember the Constitution, right?  That means we should be able to say what we want, write what we want, print what we want.  I know people will say, "within reason" to all of that.  But that's not what our country is about.  Oh, I can criticize you because of free speech, but only within reason.  No, no, no.  It was just a cartoon.  To get upset over it is to be no  better than the extremists who got upset over cartoons in Denmark.   When Larry King asked Obama the other night what he thought of the cartoon he smiled and shook it off.  If the Obama's are not openly offended, let it go.  There are more important issues to get crazed over.  Like the issue of your children coming home and telling you that Obama is building secret concentration camps.  What moron came up with that one?  Probably the same person who thinks a black president will enslave white people.  When will we grow up? Especially in the U.S., please try to understand satire.  Frankly, I think we need more satire, it sort of puts a whole new perspective on particular arguments.   Buying into this whole notion that we can't criticize the candidates, we're basically saying we shouldn't even have an opinion of them, and we should just wait for orders from......who?.......to vote for the "right" person.    Politics aside, I do think we all need to lighten up a bit.  I know I was beginning to stress out big time over the last year or so watching and listening to this presidential campaign go on and on and on.  I'm probably off your point by now, sorry!  It just sets me off when the whole country is able to get riled up over a satirical cartoon.  It's probably because the cable news programs, real and fake, keep throwing it at us.  And it's the media that keeps reminding me that Obama is black and McCain is old.  I'm not planning to vote for a color or age group.  Just the person I think is the best candidate.  People need to learn how to think for themselves once again.  Get the story, listen to opinion, examine the facts when possible, and make your decision all by yourself.  Good stuff, Chris. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59122 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59122 I agree with you.  People seem to forget that we have specific freedoms in the Constitution.  We all remember the Constitution, right?  That means we should be able to say what we want, write what we want, print what we want.  I know people will say, "within reason" to all of that.  But that's not what our country is about.  Oh, I can criticize you because of free speech, but only within reason.  No, no, no.  It was just a cartoon.  To get upset over it is to be no  better than the extremists who got upset over cartoons in Denmark.   When Larry King asked Obama the other night what he thought of the cartoon he smiled and shook it off.  If the Obama's are not openly offended, let it go.  There are more important issues to get crazed over.  Like the issue of your children coming home and telling you that Obama is building secret concentration camps.  What moron came up with that one?  Probably the same person who thinks a black president will enslave white people.  When will we grow up? Especially in the U.S., please try to understand satire.  Frankly, I think we need more satire, it sort of puts a whole new perspective on particular arguments.   Buying into this whole notion that we can't criticize the candidates, we're basically saying we shouldn't even have an opinion of them, and we should just wait for orders from......who?.......to vote for the "right" person.    Politics aside, I do think we all need to lighten up a bit.  I know I was beginning to stress out big time over the last year or so watching and listening to this presidential campaign go on and on and on.  I'm probably off your point by now, sorry!  It just sets me off when the whole country is able to get riled up over a satirical cartoon.  It's probably because the cable news programs, real and fake, keep throwing it at us.  And it's the media that keeps reminding me that Obama is black and McCain is old.  I'm not planning to vote for a color or age group.  Just the person I think is the best candidate.  People need to learn how to think for themselves once again.  Get the story, listen to opinion, examine the facts when possible, and make your decision all by yourself.  Good stuff, Chris. John and Triangle, I agree with you that life is too short to get offended at the little things. I suppose it's the nature of my job, but I'm still amazed at how upset people can get sometimes. It can't be good for your heart to get your blood pressure boiling. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59133 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59133 John and Triangle, I agree with you that life is too short to get offended at the little things. I suppose it's the nature of my job, but I'm still amazed at how upset people can get sometimes. It can't be good for your heart to get your blood pressure boiling. The New Yorker is a liberal magazine and its readers probably would not be offended because the article was very favorable to Barack Obama.... The New Yorker's cover page had to stand out, the magazine market is tough...... If the cover was funny, it would've been taken that way,but given the fact that 16% of Americans think Obama is a Muslim and over 30% thinks he was educated in Madras schools, this cover reinforced that view...... Personally, the magazine cover did not upset me,even thou I am a Obama supporter... I would hope that Barack Obama would use more self-deprecating humor to combat such attacks. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59135 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59135 The New Yorker is a liberal magazine and its readers probably would not be offended because the article was very favorable to Barack Obama.... The New Yorker's cover page had to stand out, the magazine market is tough...... If the cover was funny, it would've been taken that way,but given the fact that 16% of Americans think Obama is a Muslim and over 30% thinks he was educated in Madras schools, this cover reinforced that view...... Personally, the magazine cover did not upset me,even thou I am a Obama supporter... I would hope that Barack Obama would use more self-deprecating humor to combat such attacks. I thought the cover was hilarious....but then of couse I have no use for Obama.  Goodness knows there have been enough "offensive" satirical pictures of GW.....I believe in taking the advice of Carlos Mencia.  No cow is sacred except in India.  When we can't laugh at ourselves, we need to call it quits.  http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59148 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59148 I thought the cover was hilarious....but then of couse I have no use for Obama.  Goodness knows there have been enough "offensive" satirical pictures of GW.....I believe in taking the advice of Carlos Mencia.  No cow is sacred except in India.  When we can't laugh at ourselves, we need to call it quits.  What do I think?  Well, I try not to - but everywhere I look or listen, the folks to whom this sort of thing appeals are talking about it.  As Sherlock Holmes said when Watson expressed amazement that the great detective didn't know the earth went around the sun (I paraphrase), "I have utterly no reason to know (or care), and now that I know I'll do my best to forget it as quickly as possible." The death toll in Afghanistan is rising, our troops are in real trouble there (as if any soldier with George W. Bush as his commander in chief isn't in real trouble), the nation's infrastructure is crumbling, the economy is in the toilet, and thousands of kidnappers, rapist, and murderers are pouring over the border with Mexico.  But we can take the time to fuss over a magazine cover a cartoon? There was once a supposedly Russian comedian who used to say, "What a country!"  Yeah, but apparently not for long, huh?   http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59152 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59152 What do I think?  Well, I try not to - but everywhere I look or listen, the folks to whom this sort of thing appeals are talking about it.  As Sherlock Holmes said when Watson expressed amazement that the great detective didn't know the earth went around the sun (I paraphrase), "I have utterly no reason to know (or care), and now that I know I'll do my best to forget it as quickly as possible." The death toll in Afghanistan is rising, our troops are in real trouble there (as if any soldier with George W. Bush as his commander in chief isn't in real trouble), the nation's infrastructure is crumbling, the economy is in the toilet, and thousands of kidnappers, rapist, and murderers are pouring over the border with Mexico.  But we can take the time to fuss over a magazine cover a cartoon? There was once a supposedly Russian comedian who used to say, "What a country!"  Yeah, but apparently not for long, huh?   I say now you know what conservatives have been going through for years. 'bout  time. I would just like to know if all would be quiet if it was a conservative publication that did it. I am sure there would be uproars, continuous coverage on MSNBC and the like.   Takes some of the heat off of the Jesse Jackson antics.   Of course they would never have done that to a "real Muslim". The place would have been on the hit list.   Personally I agree with southtexas about the Mencia, just wish all would. Don't be stupid, just be honest about it.   And it's "vat a country". http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59172 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59172 I say now you know what conservatives have been going through for years. 'bout  time. I would just like to know if all would be quiet if it was a conservative publication that did it. I am sure there would be uproars, continuous coverage on MSNBC and the like.   Takes some of the heat off of the Jesse Jackson antics.   Of course they would never have done that to a "real Muslim". The place would have been on the hit list.   Personally I agree with southtexas about the Mencia, just wish all would. Don't be stupid, just be honest about it.   And it's "vat a country". Mr. Spock, Funny that you should mention Yakov Smirnoff. I was just talking about him to someone the other week about how his career must have collapsed with the Berlin Wall. After communism fell, his routine lost its edge. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59235 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59235 Mr. Spock, Funny that you should mention Yakov Smirnoff. I was just talking about him to someone the other week about how his career must have collapsed with the Berlin Wall. After communism fell, his routine lost its edge. Well Yakov has been doing fairly well with his own show running in Branson,Missouri since 1992. Not sure how many million people have seen it but millions. www.yakov.com     Someone told me they saw him there and that he was not very funny but boy was he patriotic. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59263 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59263 Well Yakov has been doing fairly well with his own show running in Branson,Missouri since 1992. Not sure how many million people have seen it but millions. www.yakov.com     Someone told me they saw him there and that he was not very funny but boy was he patriotic. Free thinker, I did not know that. Thanks for the update. Clearly, this Jayhawk hasn't been to Branson. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59265 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59265 Free thinker, I did not know that. Thanks for the update. Clearly, this Jayhawk hasn't been to Branson. Luminary, Certainly no obscenity filter is perfect. This particular word reminds me of a George Carlin routine. In terms of getting posts deleted, I'd encourage you to avoid baiting other posters. We've received quite a few reports lately regarding a handful of people going back and forth at each other. Most readers find these personal squabbles to be annoying. If you don't like a particular person, why not just move on to reading other items or comments? Stick to commenting on the subject of the article or the issue at hand, not the other posters. We really don't want to spend time reviewing and deleting posts. And we don't favor any particular complaint over another -- we respond to them in the order received. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59347 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChrisCobler/8111/#c_59347 Luminary, Certainly no obscenity filter is perfect. This particular word reminds me of a George Carlin routine. In terms of getting posts deleted, I'd encourage you to avoid baiting other posters. We've received quite a few reports lately regarding a handful of people going back and forth at each other. Most readers find these personal squabbles to be annoying. If you don't like a particular person, why not just move on to reading other items or comments? Stick to commenting on the subject of the article or the issue at hand, not the other posters. We really don't want to spend time reviewing and deleting posts. And we don't favor any particular complaint over another -- we respond to them in the order received.