"Effective satire requires an established and recognizable template that you can subtly play off of in order to show the humor inherent in the original. But for anyone outside the lunatic fringe--of both parties--this magazine cover is the original, the first time we've seen the accusations."

But most of us never see ANY New Yorker covers. They're playing to a tiny crowd of snobby lefties--that "lunatic fringe" that reads their rag. So of course the magazine must have been totally blind-sided by all this, because the "joke" is supposed to be on the drooling Neanderthals who occupy flyover country and are supposed to picture the Obamas like this, and they would have assumed this to be obvious to their readership that thinks that "Republicans sure are dumb, aren't they?" is the height of humor (and also think all sorts of other hilariously wrong "facts" like the fake-turkey & that Joe Wilson refuted the whole yellowcake thing). For their readership, the satire should have been screamingly obvious (of course, their readership is actually full of humorless morons...). Now, why the Obama campaign was so astronomically stupid as to bring this to wide attention is beyond all comprehension.

Now, why the Obama campaign was so astronomically stupid as to bring this to wide attention is beyond all comprehension.

That's because The Big O is running (or being run by) a reactionary campaign. They are afraid at this point to take any initiative, because The Candidate has no ideas other than a Clinton sized hunger for adulation. So even even the inconsequential and irrelevant get a response.

Worse, they've learned the wrong lesson from Kerry's adventures in so-called "Swiftboating" and from Slick WIlly's War Room. They think that having an immediate reaction to anything is always good, while never having figured out that sometimes saying nothing is the best possible reaction. Slick Willy, at least, as President was able to "change the subject", even if it meant lobbing missles into Iraq ("Desert Fox"?), something beyond even the powers of the Jnr. Senator from the South Side.

(But I do like the way the Reality Based Left, when the stereotyped and caricatured boogeyman of their fantasies refuses to make an appearance, will eagerly don the costume and spook themselves. And yet the Stupid Party is going to lose seats in Congress to these idiots.)

We all are seeing the same thing. Why in the world did they blow it p this way? The circulation of The New Yorker is under 500,000, and these clowns have made this the big story for days, with the whole world chuckling (or not) over the cartoon.

I read that magazine occasionally in waiting rooms or libraries, but this time I had the controversial image downloaded, emailed and printed out in a couple of minutes.

Raoul's theory is good one; so is "Quos Deus vult perdere. . .." I suggest that the Effendi and his people are so far out of their depth that they may be expected to lash out irrationally in just this fashion. This makes them prime targets for what we used to call "Rovian" mind control, as they are then subject to being steered like radio-controlled model airplanes. This could be fun to watch.

There is much insight in the posts above, but to add a few points:

I see what the New Yorker and cartoonist are trying (and failing) to do, but it's hard to create a funny fake tongue-in-cheek over-the-top propaganda cartoon that doesn't look like a real and unfunny over-the-top propaganda cartoon. The old National Lampoon could do that sort of thing, but it's not easy.

Imagine if National Review tried to mock Bush-deranged conspiracy theorists with a cover portraying (e.g.) Bush with Nazi and oil industry imagery, his strings pulled by neocon puppetmasters, etc. It's hard to imagine something with enough of the requisite references to look like the view of someone with BDS, and that mocks that view in a funny way, all without seeming to be just an over-the-top attack on Bush. It's almost certain to fail humorously by being too clever.

And as Max Eastman pointed out, it's hard to find a joke funny if you take the topic very seriously. Most people are trying hard to avoid charges of racism, so the whole topic is extra sensitive and thus laugh-killing.