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choices : news related : CAN WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?

[+] serious ballot by Barbara_Baby_Cakes

NEW YORK, Hundreds of demonstrators rallied to boycott the New York Post on Thursday, branding the newspaper as racist for publishing a cartoon that appeared to compare President Barack Obama to a chimpanzee.

Published on Wednesday, it shows police shooting an ape and plays on the real shooting of a pet chimpanzee that went on a rampage in Connecticut this week.

One of the police officers says, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

President Barack Obama promoted the $787 billion economic stimulus that he signed into law on Tuesday and critics of the cartoon interpreted the dead chimp as a reference to Obama, who became the first black U.S. president on Jan. 20.

"You would have to be in a time warp or in a whole other world not to know what that means," said demonstrator Charles Ashley, 25, a model who did not believe the cartoon was an innocent political joke.

Others said it made light of assassinating Obama, a possibility they said that worries many African Americans.

"Just the fact that they put a monkey with gunshot wounds in his chest, it gives the idea of an assassination," said Peter Aviles, 48, a building superintendent.

Police in Stamford, Connecticut, shot and killed a 200lbs chimpanzee on Monday after the pet nearly killed its owner's friend and attacked a police car. The chimp, named Travis, had once starred in television commercials and was taking medication for Lyme disease.

New York Post Editor in Chief Col Allan said in a statement the cartoon "broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy."

There appears to be two points of concerns regarding this photo, one, the ape reference and the assassination references. What was really on the minds of the New York Post staff to not only create such a cartoon, but also published and attempt to characterized it in a banter light.

What so you, what say you all? Is this cartoon distasteful or harmless banter?

1. Its distasteful.

2. Its harmless banter.

3. Its Racist.

4. Its Political correctness rearing its ugly head.

5. I'm not sure.

I'ts amusing, and timely

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Ballot #132610 : SEE RESULTS

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Submitted by : Barbara_Baby_Cakes
Submitted on : Feb 19,2009 4:14:47 pm
ballot title:

Can we all just get along?

ballot number:132610

COMMENTS

Voted : 3. Its Racist.
In my opinion, I don't know how this cartoon could be viewed otherwise...

by Barbara_Baby_Cakes [+]

it's beyond racist. Geez, I would have thought there were some subtlety involved.

I guess they wanted to sell some mags. looks like they got the publicity they wanted.

by LCD [+]

Voted : 3. Its Racist.
WOW. That's pretty bad. That was in the New York Post? Can the editor.

by ThisIsNate [+]

It's not racist. How many times was Bush compared to a chimp? It's an insult but it's not racist.

by ClosetIguana [+]

Voted : 3. Its Racist.
It wasn't done for humor.

by skylab [+]

It is distasteful and disrespectful, but I do not see how it is racist. I never thought of apes as representing Black people. After all, as ClosetIquana brings up, Dubya was compared to a chimp from day one and is as white as can be.

I think it is racist for people to claim comparing Obama to a chimp is racist because obviously they have this comparison in mind. Shakespeare showed us that those who protest too much own the the thing they protest.

by forgetmenot [+]

(voted It's racist) They made their point. Usually racist people are in a state of denial. Under the circumtances of the "ape" going mad and the stimulus bill statement in the cartoon, murder, the police, where is the connection ? What's funny about a lady whose face was literally torn off and is in great distress right now ? I never saw any depiction of Bush being compared to a Murdered Chimp (by police) in reference to any of his policies, it was more of the Alfred E Newman look alike (putdown) from his facial expressions.

by thesoothsayer [+]

Voted : 1. Its distasteful.
Long before the cartoon came out, I knew that it wasn't Obama who authored the stimulus package. He handed the duty over to Pelosi, who had help from congress.

Then when I saw the cartoon, the first thing that came to my mind was the old adage about putting typewriters in a room full of monkeys and they'll eventually write the works of Shakespeare.

I think it's distasteful because of one of the reasons that thesoothsayer gave. A woman nearly got killed by a chimp and someone used it for a political cartoon.

by Grumpy_Person [+]

Voted : 3. Its Racist.
And disgusting. And several other words which won't come to mind, as my brain is dire need of about thirty hours of sleep.

by Truthseeker013 [+]

^ Proof positive - there should be an "in" between "is" and "dire"...

by Truthseeker013 [+]

Voted : I'ts amusing, and timely
..and clever.. (-: Where has people's sense of humor gone..? Funny is funny, and the current commentary seems to fit. Laugh, and the world laughs at you . The odds of a president being harmed or terminated nowadays is very slim, next to impossible, so no one really should bother to worry at all. As for the cartoon, it really did grab people's interest, did't it? Freedom of expression allows quite a leeway for exact form and content, and that is as it should be.
It should prove to be Very Interesting what the current president may do in the next four years, he thinks he knows what he's doing, but time will tell..
If 'his administration' fails to curtail the current Recession heading toward Depression? he will not look very good, not as an effective leader or successful problem solver.. But a lot is bound to happen in the next four years, hold on to your hat, big winds may blow you away.. (-:

by ElectTonic [+]

Voted : 1. Its distasteful.
Well, George W. Bush was also called a monkey. The United States is a monkey in Chinese Astrology, so it figures. (Canada is a rabbit/cat).

by neon [+]

Voted : 3. Its Racist.
To compare GW Bush being characterized in this light to President Obama is comparing apples and oranges.

There is a historical comparison regarding people color and primates. People of color and others know exactly what it means to make such a reference and its not by accident.

I believe to compare GW Bush and President Obama is to excuse the racial overtone presented in this cartoon. It speaks to the issues of racism and the possibility assassination of the President.

This country has a looooooong history of sending out this kind of message and will continue to do so as long as others stand by, watch it unfold and ignore it.

To be certain, President Obama becoming President is not going to make this kind of behavior and messages go away.

Infact, becoming President only brings out the nutjobs in higher places and I personally am waiting for all of this to come to a head and be done with it...

by Barbara_Baby_Cakes [+]