Berserk chimp = stimulus author: NY Post

You're nuts. Nobody think Obama wrote the bill and nobody in their right mind would think this cartoonist made any association between our biracial President and this chimp, which he clearly associates with the Dem-controlled Congress. Did you never hear the analogy of a monkey typing Shakespeare?

I don't think I'm nuts, Get a Clue. I'll repeat, many blacks are going to react negatively to the cartoon because of our history of being likened to monkeys, apes and gorillas and being depicted as such. When we see a cartoon like this, we wonder if the cartoonist was making a racist statement, even subconsciously. Race in America is never as simple as black and white (pun intended.) And ignoring how black people feel, or saying we're nuts for having certain feelings, doesn't do much to move the dialogue forward.

Though I do not believe for a minute the cartoonist meant the chimp to represent BHO, the cartoon would have faired better if the cop said “President Obama will have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”

I like to think of myself as unPC as possible but this absolutely crosses a line-

The racist undertone is obvious- even if unintended.

When the right uses the obviously absurd argument that the housing crisis is because of minorities, it certainly should be seen as "suspect".

Frank, I didn't even think about racism when I read the cartoon.

I then read the first 2 comments. Then I read the article.

The people who think racism, that's their problem. I thought "that sums up these stupid Politicians. The Bill is that bad a monkey/chimp could have written it".

And it is Obama's bill.

bill r., Respectfully, what point does your statement have to do with the issue?

Not only is it racist, it's a fantasy about gunning down the president. Without the chimp being Obama, the cartoon is completely nonsensical.

The intent of this image is to consciously and subliminally suggest that someone shoot our president. Anyone who wishes to see otherwise is living in a world of their own creation. Why a monkey? Why not a donkey? Why shoot something alive? Why not torpedo a sinking ship of state? In this context, depicting white police officers shooting a monkey is about as obviously racists and irresponsible as you can get. This isn't only racist; it's suggesting the murder of our president!!!

"Get a Clue," you have no clue. You too, PG. Frank is being overly nice to call it "edgy." It's vile. The NYPost is owned by rightwingnut Rupert Murdoch, so that tells you something as well. Why not shoot a pig, if it's pork you don't like..Of course one election isn't going to chase all the bigots away.

For the life of me, Frank, I would never have made the connection between the chimp and any African-American absent your suggestion that a connection existed. I don’t think I’m being insensitive either. I immediately associated the picture with the events in Connecticut. It’s still in the news. I also viewed the stimulus bill as coming from the hands of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and their henchmen, rather than the President. Thus, I saw the cartoon as a commentary on the manner in which the bill was written, rather than any particular author. In the third place, and probably most importantly, I believe our society has succeeded to a greater degree (that some might believe) in becoming color blind in its treatment of people. By my reckoning, by the time the ‘70s rolled around, only hillbillies, Klansmen or Nazis would have tried to make crass comparisons between people and lower order primates.
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I do not question your assertion that many African-Americans will be offended by the cartoon. I question whether they aren’t being too self-conscious of past treatment, or just overly sensitive - when one considers the fact the cartoon is in the New York Post rather than in some racist organization's publication.

FJ's right. Even if the cartoonist didn't intend racism, it will be understood as racism. And really, how could Delonas NOT know that it would be taken as a racial slur? C'mon!

PG....You obviously didn't understand what Mr. James just wrote. It is not about what you think.......it is how it is percieved by the black community. I know...you're color blind. I've heard that so many times racism must be a myth.

The cartoon is not racist at all because the chimp is in the news and congress has been acting like monkey's with the stimulus bill.
The cop shooting the chimp has more to do with Darwin's theory; Origin of species survival...I think.

David......Maybe I'm just a little ornery today. Forgive me.

Yeah, that was a slime ball cartoon.

Not even Hustler Magazine would publish it, because in addition to being offensive, it isn't any any possible construction witty or amusing.

Is there a link to the rag that published it????

I thought the chimp resembled Nancy Pelosi.

David, if you don't see bill r 's point, you probably find the cartoon to be just wonderful.

Why a monkey? Because it was a MONKEY THAT WAS SHOT. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=Police+shoot+monkey&btnG=Search

Didn't you see the 200lb monkey that went nuts?

Do you know why there is hatred. Because of people like you who'll tell me I'm a bigot, when I tell you that's not what I thought.

You have a problem. And if you like make it a donkey/elephant.

Blacks don't like it? Tough.

Actually, the caption should read, "They'll have to find someone else to run the New York Post."

Nate & Osage:
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I think you guys are either suffering from paranoia or attempting to induce it in others. It’s a well known fact that a chimpanzee was shot and killed just the other day after it went berserk and attacked someone. It’s still in the news. Google it for yourselves. How does that have anything to do with the President? Are you suggesting the officer’s comment, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill?” is a reference to the President? Did the President write the first stimulus bill? NO! So if the police comment suggests that the dead chimp was the author of the first stimulus bill, and the President didn’t write it, how does that reflect some sick fantasy that someone shoot the President? If I were you I would walk around with my fingers in my ears. You brains have to be oozing out from somewhere.

Any US citizen would be offended by this cartoon--not just "many black people." He's everyone's president. The Post needs to apologize ASAP. This is a horrible cartoon, not just because of the ape association but also because of the ape being shot as if Obama would be shot as well. It's disgusting.

It's offensive enough to ignore the innocent victim of the chimp's rampage. A woman in Critical condition who was described a a "guy with no face" by the police that responded to the scene.

There's topical and edgy and then there's opportunistic and offensive.

This is not only a racist depiction, but also an ignorant statement. The NY Post should be digraced by the illustrator that made this cartoon. That thing, because he is not a man should not only be fired, but so should the editor who allowed this to be put in the paper. Black people are not the only ones to be offened by this, so are whites who do not have this same mindset.

On the one hand, it's obviously referring to the chimpanzee that was shot yesterday. On the other it's implying that the stimulus bill is such a joke that it could've been (or was) written by monkeys.

While I get how this could be offensive, if you connect the monkey reference to Obama, Obama himself did not write the bill, and so it would be an inaccurate spoof.

At the same time, one has to wonder if Delonas didn't consider the possibility that such a connection would be made - more like inevitability - and then decide to go ahead with it anyway. Or if he knew the connection would be made, because that's exactly the implication he was making? We'll probably never know.

To those asking why a monkey and why not a donkey or a pig - it's because it is also referencing the chimp that was ACTUALLY shot yesterday.

That could, however, just be Delonas's "way out", when the criticism comes.

The whole thing is quite provocative.

The New York Post needs to apologize to President Obama:
http://www.floodthelines.com/nypchimpcartoon/
Our President is no Chimp!

Ruppert Murdock must have rubbed the cartoonists head for luck after it was published.
What a miscreant Delonas is.
The ny post is a sensationalist rag not fit for the bottom of a parrots cage.

Cartoonist Sean Delonas is a moron, a cave man, and a jackass who is hereby called upon to resign. Maybe you can get pal up and do some job hunting with a soon to be ex Senator from Illinois. Sean Delonas is probably a fat, bald white guy and a legend in his own mind.

It never crossed my mind that the chimp in the cartoon was supposed to represent Obama. I think that is a bit of a stretch. Obama didn't even write the stimulus bill, making the innuendo even less plausible. I agree with F. James that ignoring the feelings of black people is counter-productive, but so is stretching reason and credibility to find racism where it doesn't exist. This cartoon is in incredibly poor taste in my opinion, not because it is racist, but because it includes satire about a situation where a woman just had her arms ripped off.

That's a political cartoon that hit a lot of hot buttons. If there is an "apology" for it, it will be one of those insincere "I am sorry that YOU were offended by blah blah blah..."

So this is what passes for humor in the GOPer Murdoch Post? Calling a black president a monkey, and joking about how white cops have the right to shoot him for signing legislation they don't approve of is a real gut buster, in addition to being witty, informative commentary....NOT!

I guess we can now say that a A Picture's Worth 1,000 Burning Crosses to GOPer Murdoch and Co...

People need to be sensitive to these things, even if the intent is not racially motivated. The other day I went to the original (and last remaining) Sambo's restaurant in Santa Barbara. When I looked at the menu and the Co. logo I was immediately reminded of "Little Black Sambo", which I believe has racist undertones. The owners insist this is not the case, but I know I'm not alone in that perception, and I mentioned it to my cousin who took me there. He said he had heard others comment about it to, though he at 20 is too young to know first hand of the racial tension in this country from my generation. I know the Rush crowd is loathe to acknowledge such sensibilities, reveling in their ethnocentric thinking, but there is a fine line between biting satire and irresponsible portrayals of other cultures and races. Of course, we don't want to see the other extreme, like we saw exhibited by some over the portrayals of the prophet Mohammed in cartoons. But lets be sensible here, with are country's shameful racial history, that's an area we need to be mindful of.

More on the Sambo's story:
http://www.cnn.com/US/9801/28/sambo.revival/

OK, bill r, don't you dare tell me I don't understand, meaning your saying I'm a bigot/racist.
You don't know a damn thing about me, but you want to force your bigotry at me by saying I don't understand.
You can take it anyway you want. As a racist cartoon, but you don't have the right even on the "Swamp", to change what I said.
I told you the truth of what I immediately thought reading/looking at the cartoon.
I showed my wife, the cartoon without FJ's article and the comments. Guess what, she thought it was a shot at Congress/Politicians, and writing a bad bill. Then I showed her the rest, she couldn't believe it. So if you want to talk facts AT me fine, but it's people like you calling people like me racists is why there is still a problem.
I come here to try and talk online, but I'm continually insulted, but calling me out like you did is wrong.

One thing I will say, I'm an eye for an eye type of person. And if you said that to my face you'd be on your back.
Sorry Frank, but I needed to respond because I'm sick of people not speaking up and respecting those who get verbally attacked.

Yeah, Paolo et al.

You probably see nothing sinister in the terms "Jim Crow" "spade" "spook" etc. etc.

Actually, not only is the cartoonist a doofus, but the editor as well.

They used to have a spike for junk like that.

White guys just don't get it, with their, "It's not offensive to me," garbage. Let's profile the artist: let me guess, white, pot bellied, middle aged, big ego. For those of you beer bellied white boys who don't get it, just accept the fact that just because you don't find garbage such as these trash cartoons racist of offensive, doesn't mean they're not. You don't like veiled comments like you probably need Viagra or Extenze, the same way most of us don't appreciate racism or sexism in any form. Get a grip.

Humor? Well america has a sick sense of humor when it comes to violence. Here are more of my views on this topic. Is it racist? Hmmm let NY Post's reputation speak for it self.

http://cdtbk.com/site/2009/02/sly-fox-new-york-post-at-it-again/

I'm really enjoying the Wingnut's comments on here. They're showing their true colors again by trying to act like things like this are no big deal. It's kind of like how they thought it was funny to call President Obama a secret muslim, terrorist, terrorist sympathizer, Barack the Magic Negro etc etc during the Presidential race. They thought it was hilarious because Rush and Hannity told them it was. Meanwhile most of the rest of the country was appalled at their behavior and voted them deeply into the minority, again, in Nov of 08.

So go ahead and laugh Wingnut's because when it comes right down to it, the rest of the country, and the world for that matter, are laughing right back at you because of your irrelevance and stupidity.

PG........Once again tough guy.....it isn't about what you think. What part of that don't you get????????????????????????????? It is about this offending the black community...and unless your black they don't give two hoots what you think. You say who ever thinks this is racism....that's their problem....well black people care...that's who. I may be old....but unless you get in a sucker punch...I don't think I'd be on "my" back. Verbally attacked huh?

Obama didn't write the first bill, so how could ths be Obama on the sidewalk?

Chimp = Congressmen with opposed thumbs

for all of u who don't think this cartoon is not racist only leaves me to one conclusion and u can figure this out for yourselves...i think it is dispicable and very racist. and since the Post is the sister company off Fox News, I wonder if this is going to makle the news...just like the voter who was carirying a stuffed monkey to one of John McCain's rallies....they didn't have any problem reporting that...for the first time in my life, i am not proud to be an american....

I like to think of myself as unPC as possible but this absolutely crosses a line-
The racist undertone is obvious- even if unintended.
Posted by: heartburn | February 18, 2009 12:25 PM

Heartburn I never thought I'd see the day that I would agree with you ! Bravo

many African-Americans will be offended by the cartoon. I question whether they aren’t being too self-conscious of past treatment, or just overly sensitive - when one considers the fact the cartoon is in the New York Post rather than in some racist organization's publication.

Posted by: John W. | February 18, 2009 1:10 PM

John W, your insensitivity is astounding to me and everyone else on here. Do you really think people in rural America heard about that monkey in CT?? Please, you're more delusional then I thought man. Oh and by the way, the Post is renowned for being a racist and far right rag! Anyone who lives in NYC will tell you that!

I also viewed the stimulus bill as coming from the hands of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and their henchmen, rather than the President.

Posted by: John W. | February 18, 2009 2:00 PM

And one more thing, any and every bill that passes and is signed, is always associated with the President who signs the bill! Saying otherwise is rhetorical BS!

New York Post = Low-life morons. Your so-called political cartoon is insulting in many ways, but let's see any of you come up with better solutions. I'm glad i don't ever waste my time reading your BS.

It would be a lot easier to doubt Delona's intentions if he didn't have such a glaring history of racism, sexism and homophobia in his repertoire:

http://gawker.com/5155855/ten-masterpieces-from-sean-delonas

To all who have posted above, with concern to any racial accusations made by the NYP cartoon: "WAAAAAAHH!"

You're a bunch of crying, sniveling, whiny little kids.

The black community really needs to stop feeling sorry for itself. You cannot keep going through history accusing EVERY LITTLE THING of being racist.
I'm white. Not proud, not superior, just white.
I didn't vote for Barack Obama, because of his lack of experience, and his future cabinet member choices. The grand majority of them are crooked as the letter Z.
I made an intellegent decision, based on facts, and not bias.
All people need to learn how to think and act like intellegent individuals when approaching anything, especially that which is political in nature.
Barack Obama did not write the stimulus bill.
There was a monkey shot in Connecticut.
Hence, there was no INTENDED analogy that the cops in the cartoon had shot Obama.
"It's only racist if you are." -David Allen Grier

My money is on bill r.

The cartoon is terrible. It is racist (yes, Bush was compared to a chimp, but the history of blacks being degraded wholesale like that makes this different). And, most disturbingly, it intimates that it's somehow ok to assasinate the President of the U.S. Shockingly disgraceful, not cutting edge. The Post should not have run it.

I thought it was hilarious and not racist. I think it presents the monkey business associated with this "porkulus bill"

I AM DEEPLY OFFENDED BY THIS CARTOON'S OVERT SPECIESISM AND ANTI-MONKEYTISM.

Freedom of Speech. The article is tasteless, and really just not all that funny, and pretty much completely unnecessary. Humor, however, is often offensive. We must accept this. However, the newspaper can print it if it wants to. If anything, I am proud that our journalists and cartoonists are free to do this kind of thing, even if it is really unnecessary and even if clowns and race-hustling, arrogant information controllers like Abe Foxman and Al Sharpton want to censor it. Barack Obama's failure to be who he says he would be, speaks for itself. As I was saying, freedom of speech, nothing more. Accept it. Do not apologize for it. It is racist, there is no doubting this. So what? Certainly if it is imperative it be discussed(free debate is imperative above all) and if it is racist, so be it? In this case, it may be unnecessary but certainly the right is there, thankfully.

Delonas has a history of offensive cartoons, so it's hard to give him the benifit of the doubt; but even if you tried, it's obviously going to be offensive to a large number of people, including especially blacks. As for you, Clay, you're not very "intellegent" at all.
Bemused is correct.

Oh common..
Anyone who would think its saying that Obama is a chimp is a RACIST themselves, get off it.

Pelosi wrote the bill, and it would be an insult to insult the chimp like that!

It's not the least bit funny unless you're a redneck and like racist jokes. If you don't see the racist aspect, what's even funny about this???

The rag newspaper knew what they were doing and should be ashamed--and no doubt is happy for the attention.

President Obama DIDN'T write this bill!!! Big misconception!! Maybe people should look in to who really wrote the bill and they will see why there is so much crap in it. The way I see it, the cartoon compares the authors to wild animals.

I was completely flummoxed when I discovered that this cartoon was causing controversy. Didn't everyone hear about the chimpanzee attack? It ran as front page news IN THE NEW YORK POST! If you read the cartoon there's no way you missed the story. Hasn't everyone heard and made the comparison between Congress and a bunch of chimps? Heck, Newt Gingrich even recommended a book about chimpanzee power struggles as the ultimate guide to being an effective Congressional politician. We're in for a long four/eight years if any reference to a primate in politics generates an uproar, because that's bread and butter political satire.
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The thing that gets me is that you have to actually expend effort to make this offensive. This is a common analogy being used in a political cartoon and it doesn't even reference the President... yet it's offensive because you decide to pretend that it does reference the President? You could turn anything into an offense if you went through life like that.
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And before I get blasted by the usual deluge of "oh shut up Republican" - I voted for Obama. I think he's doing a great job and if I actually believed this cartoonist was trying to imply that we should shoot the President over the stimulus bill I'd be up in arms with the rest of you. But I think this reaction is true absurdity. It's based on a demonstrably false presumption of authorship with regards to the stimulus bill. If outrage is founded on false premises, it should be dismissed like any other irrational behavior - and there's nothing to support the premise.

According to Time/CNN, see link: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1877192,00.html
Congress wrote the bill.

A wild animal runs amok and kills someone.
Congress runs amok with a wild spending bill and the economy dies.

Do you see the similarity yet. It's OK if you don't, sometimes school kids don't understand editorial cartoons, either.

Nazis depicted Jewish people as rats. Unions, including Teamsters, use giant inflatable rats with various types of gore, fangs, claws and other horrible embellishments, all over the country to depict and insult employers they don't like. Are unions anti-Semitic?

I never thought about it as racist until all the commotion. We will never know what the cartoonist actually thought.
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My thought was they were comparing the chimp to Pelois and Reid. I thought it was an insult to all chimps.

Hey Clay!

Go ahead and fly your racist freak flag, Slick. I mean it can't get much worse for Rush and you minority party Repukes punks than it is right now, can it?!?!

Remember when Howard Cosell said of the Washington Redskins running back "Look at that little monkey run" he was chastised till the cows came home. Howard was a lot of things, but a racist wasn't one of them. People need to get a grip, it could of meant any number of things, Pelosi, the intelligence of a chimp, and yes, a black person too ......if you always have race on your mind.

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Posted by: Scot S. Blakeley | February 18, 2009 3:56 PM
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You can’t be serious, Scot. You ask: Do I think the people in rural America heard about that crazed monkey in Connecticut? Heck yeah. That story is all over the place. There are a few dozen articles on it on Google news. Here, out on the west coast, I saw the story about the chimpanzee attack on the morning network news.
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In contrast, I have good reason to believe the NY Post cartoon didn’t make it very far. I didn’t see the cartoon until I read Frank James’ article. As a matter of fact, because of your foolhardy tantrum, I asked my uncle about the whole thing when he called me about an hour ago. I asked, “So, did you hear about the chimpanzee attack?” He replied, “Yeah, I heard it on the radio on my way home.” I then asked, “Did you see or hear about the cartoon in the New York Post that people are upset about?” He replied, “No. What cartoon?” If the dang thing didn’t make it into the MSM on the west coast, I seriously doubt that it made it to rural America.
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Your strange, pseudo-liberal guilt filled cup then overflowed when you actually suggested that the cartoon is “racist” because the New York Post “is renowned for being a racist and far right rag!” Racism is not up to the beholder, and it is not determined by reputation. It is determined primarily by the intent with which the message is delivered and, barring direct evidence of that intent, by an objective standard: Would an objectively reasonable person unhesitatingly conclude the content was conveyed with a racist intent? The NY Post cartoon fails that test for the reasons I already stated.
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Then, in a separate post, you suggest that it has to be racist because “every bill that passes and is signed, is always associated with the President who signs the bill!” Nice try, Bonzo, but no cigar. The cartoon didn’t say we would need a new President. It said “[t]hey’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” Barack Obama didn’t write the first stimulus bill; not a word of it. In fact, he was mildly critical of some parts of the House version. As such, the cartoon’s wording actually excludes the idea the cartoonist had the President in mind. In fact, by all appearances, the stimulus bill’s primary author was Dave Obey, Democrat Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee (aka Mr. Pork-Barrel.) Obey isn’t an African American either. Do you know who any of the other authors are? I didn’t think so. And neither do I. So, not only have you failed to rationally identify the cartoon with the President, you can’t identify it with any other African-American. Your contrary suggestion is purely delusional.
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I sometimes joke about people who’ve had their brains kicked out and become pseudo-liberals as a result. You are living proof that the process really takes place.

Calling President Bush "chimpy," a monkey or any other image alluding to the monkey or great ape families = okay and funny.
Calling President Obama a chimp, a monkey or any other image alluding to the monkey or great apes families = DASS RACIST!
Glad we cleared that up.

This is a patently racist cartoon. And it's an obvious reference to Obama.

The first job a any fascist is to turn the truth and the law inside out.

Therefore; 'This is not racist.'

As a blue eyed, fair skinned Anglo/American I have been privy over the years to the opinions of white middle aged white guys at lunch at work. In a group they assume all white males think the same thing.

Many of you are bigots. It comes out in your talk about Jews, women, and black people. Hispanics are included.

I've heard you, and some of you are posting here.

Does anyone really believe that Obama spent the first 2 weeks of his presidency writing a 1000+ bill? There is a subpopulation of America that tries to twist everything into a matter of race, particularly Al Sharpton. I wouldn't be surprised if he complained to God because snowflakes are white while storm clouds are black. Grow up people and develop some sulci and gyri.

This is a patently racist cartoon. And it's an obvious reference to Obama.
Posted by: C.Morris✈ | February 18, 2009 9:22 PM

If it's so obvious Morris please explain it to the forty or so of us who don't agree with you..is it that your so much smarter than the rest of us ? or maybe your just so much more enlightened than us ? no I don't think so ...i believe you just have a disputatious nature about you, and that makes you juvenile.

Hey clammyc!

Use your stimulus payment on a proper education.

To Flo:

Bemused?
I'm not even being naive about it, really. Of course it's going to enrage those who don't understand it. THAT WAS MY POINT.

Both of you can go back to grade school and try again.

Again, there seems to be a history and pattern to the cartoonists' work. Much of it may be avant garde, it's intent to ask difficult questions and inspire debate. Or, Mr. Delonas is another typical white male with racist, sexist and homophobic opinions who happens to have a soap box to display it in all it's glory.

I would guess the latter:

http://gawker.com/5155855/ten-masterpieces-from-sean-delonas

Hey Clay,

FU and rotate you racist Repug clown.

Your strange, pseudo-liberal guilt filled cup then overflowed when you actually suggested that the cartoon is “racist” because the New York Post “is renowned for being a racist and far right rag!” Racism is not up to the beholder, and it is not determined
Posted by: John W. | February 18, 2009 8:55 PM
....

You want to talk about pseudo "intellectual" crap? That would be you, the two page long novels you write on here and that racist Repug ideology that you cheerlead for every day, old man.

You're living proof that a dumb mangie old dog really can't be enlightened, no matter what the facts may be to the contrary.

Go ahead and have the last word, psycho. I know how much it means to Repugs like you who suffer from a severe inferiority complex.

All American citizens of good faith should immediately boycott all Rupert Murdoch News Corporation media properties, and all advertisers who do not immediately cancel all business with News Corp.

Any attempt to censor promotion and distribution of this boycott call on the internet should be considered on the side of this racist empire

Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine

If you can't understand that this is racist, you might want to look in the mirror for the answer.

Almost every previous cutting edge cartoon by Delonas has a label on the target to identify them. Why not put "Pelosi" across the chimp's chest? Or "Congress" or "Reid"?? Is he afraid to label his obvious inference?

Talk about cowards.

I'm not even being naive about it, really. Of course it's going to enrage those who don't understand it. THAT WAS MY POINT.Both of you can go back to grade school and try again.

Posted by: Clay | February 18, 2009 10:23 PM
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Beanie boy Clay cracks me up. He's the embodiment of exactly why the Wingnuts are so hated by most of the country and the world (racism and hatred of everyone who is not like them) and why they are so far in the minority in 2009...and he's proud of it....HAHAHA!!!

Take a bow, Clay. Your hero, Druggy Rush, would be proud of you.

it is racist to me.
President did not write the stimulus bill, but he took the owner of it. He went everywhere to get support from the common people.. that make it his bill.
As for new york post, it is very bad taste in my opinion.
what's ashame.

As a white person, I am offended by the obvious intent of this caricature and its racist overtones.

Maybe Delonas could do a cartoon about Newt Gingrich romancing some broad while his first wife was dying in the hospital ? Now THAT would be funny ! It could be entitled REPUBLICAN FAMILY VALUES !

this is not racist, why is everyone freaking out? I'm a black teen, and it is in no way racist to me.But then again, my generation is A LOT different then my mom, who seems to see it a whole lot different than me. I still don't see it, didn't they caricature Bush as a monkey...?

This is over the line. Rev.Sharpton is correct and Allen & Delonas are wrong, as well as insensitive. In an equal society this might fly, but in a racist society like ours this subtle cleverness reeks to high heaven.

As a white person, I think this cartoon is vicious and vile - and I like edgy cartoons. But wow, this went WAY over the line. With black peoples' history of being compared to monkeys, the "artist" HAD to know exactly what he was doing. I don't want to hear any lame excuses.

One more thing - just listen to the awful 911 tape of the attack to get a slight understanding of how horrific it was. The victim is now fighting for her life. If she lives, she's forever maimed and faces years of rehabilitation. I don't find that funny in any way. This cartoon was an epic fail.

I think it was in very poor taste. I thought "racism" the minute I heard about it and had not yet heard it discussed.
I am white and think we need to stop this demeaning type of comment.

Delonas hit the nail on the head. The Porkzilla bill was the product either of profound stupidity or a willful, treasonous desire to undermine the economic and political wellbeing of the country. I have no difficulty seeing this socialist garbage spew forth from the mind of someone like Pelosi, but I really had much higher hopes for a product of Harvard.

When Bush was in office it was "If you don't support the wars" you are labeled 'unpatriotic'. Now if you don't support the 'Stimulus' you are labeled 'racist'. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain......

Any blacks suspecting they're being thought of as ape-like are simply thinking of themselves as ape-like. You're the ones seeing it in this cartoon, not us whites (eyeroll).

What is this crap. The Rev. Al must be having a slow day and decided to pick up a new cause. Anyone can see that this toon is a slam against the Democratic controlled congress for writing that spending bill that will do no good for any one including the black community.

Let's be real here...this cartoon is so offensive! With all the historians, analysts, etc...clearly someone had to know that this would strike a chord with black america. Seeing this for the first time, my mouth dropped in disgust! Obviously there are some of you out there...But any reasonable person could not HONESTLY believe there is nothing wrong with this cartoon...just think about it!

As a white American, I must admit that I am ashamed of our negative history. I do not want to be associated with the stupidity and racist remarks that some people make against others. Even a monkey could see the racist intent meant by the cartoonist.

People will attempt to spin anything. This is not up for rationalization. It's obvious people. Now be brave and deal with this as it is presented to you or are you cowards?

Whatever John W, you're still making up excuses for something done in bad taste. So typical of you and your party. The majority of America disapproves of this cartoon and finds it in bad taste or racist.
You're so smart and knowing about this bill but the truth of the matter is that It's easy to link the cartoon to an attack on Obama, considering he's thought by many Americans to be the main backer of the stimulus bill! !!
Also, the cartoonist, Sean Delonas, has a long history of drawing cartoons that draw the ire of the black community. But what would you know about that you are from the west coast. Enough said.

Kimberly George...it's statements like yours, and people like you who say things to insult the intelligence of those who actually caught your lame joke..
And this is what's faced in our society today...people who too afraid to come out and say what they want, but rather take the passive aggressive approach. When will people like you learn...the more you put us down, the higher we'll rise!

I have to laugh at the people who say this is obviously not racism.........by the posts.....it obviously is.

Why in God's name does this continuallity of racisism exists. White's are being taught generation after generation to hate someone because they still believe in superiority of people of color. How ignorant white's can get. Always wanting power and control. What will you whites do when judgement day fall upon you. Because you did not and can not create yourselves after the likeness of God, how will you even think you will be in control in Heaven? This comment is not meant for all whites, only the like minded of this comment. As you continue to degrade a Black person, so will you be when you stand in front of the Saviour.

What is the big deal? Try this: Suppose brave cartoonist Sean Delonas came up with one or more cartoons which many may consider mildly or strongly anti-semitic. Would New York Post print it - or would the paper find one or more convenient reasons not to?

Only a racist would find a way to connect this cartoon to Obama.

Posted by: Honestly! | February 19, 2009 10:35 AM

I have to say after reading Kimberlys' post....I see absolutely nothing hidden or derogatory.

I don't think it's racial. The chimp story was in the news at the time, and the cartoon captures the anger of the American people toward the stimulus bill and the idiots in Congress who voted into law something they did not read or understand. What makes it worse is that most of them are lawyers who would never personally sign a document they did not fully understand. I hope another interpretation does not happen and that is the chimp could represent the anger of the American people and what is planned for them if they demonstrate against injustice and taxation without representation.

Anyone who even thinks that a chimp is a "monkey" doesnt have enough knowledge of breeds, or race, to even discuss this. Come back when you're intelligent enough to keep up.

"Let's be real here...this cartoon is so offensive!"


Rubbish! The cartoon is insightful, incisive and succinct, all the things a political cartoon should be. It's only the hypersensitive PC lefties who manage to fabricate a racial angle to any derogatory statement about themselves or their Messiah.

Oh, gawd, it's soooooo terrible. What's that name that was used to describe Bush for years?

Oh yeah, it's Chimpy.

So now, we've got Obama in office, and suddenly you can't use derogatory language to describe the president, because he's half black.

Listen up, little people. You're just reaping what you've sowed.

You were fearless in your condemnation of Bush even before the guy ever took office, and now you want Chimpy II to be handled with kid gloves?

You should have thought about genteel language when you weren't in power.

Another poster referring to John W:

Go ahead and have the last word, psycho. I know how much it means to Repugs like you who suffer from a severe inferiority complex.

Posted by: fake lawyer | February 18, 2009 10:53 PM

BRAVO!!!

"People will attempt to spin anything. This is not up for rationalization. It's obvious people. Now be brave and deal with this as it is presented to you or are you cowards?"
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Obvious? No, it is not obvious. The assumption on the part of the offended that everyone else somehow "gets it" and either chooses to agree or disagree is groundless. I genuinely do not understand why everyone is outraged, because, as I posted earlier, the only way to justify that outrage is by accepting a false premise. If outrage is grounded on something false, what weight should that outrage be ascribed? I don't understand why you seem to imply that rationalization is a bad thing - it's better to fly blind on emotion and gut feeling than to think about things rationally?
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In all the outrage and accusations of cowardice, bigotry and hatred, there's something significant passing you all by: there are a lot of people who genuinely do not "get it" the way you do. You are all very quick to posit cowardice and bigotry, but fail to take into account the possibility that there's people out there who simply don't see the world the way you do. They're not racist. They're not bigots. Quite the opposite - they're likely much younger and didn't grow up in a race-war world, and so don't understand race-warrior logic.
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In thirty years, if we have a black president, killer chimps and a stimulus bill debate going on, this cartoon being posted all over again would go totally unremarked. The new generation won't even think about racial subtexts and connotations, because when we see something like this, we don't try to or know to. We haven't been trained to find offense where none is offered. Our kids will probably be even further along and will roll their eyes at whatever we are outraged at. This is natural and good - and not cowardice, bigotry or whatever other lazy label you want to toss around.
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No, racism isn't dead in America. But it is wilting before the march of time and the changing of the guard. Allowing the insults of the past to shape the future will only prolong the process and confuse the hell out of anyone born after the 1980s. So instead of baldly asserting how "obvious" the outrage is and how racist or bigoted or cowardly anyone who doesn't get it must be, do the future a favor, step back and wonder just how effective this response is at achieving a post-racial world.

White's are being taught generation after generation to hate someone because they still believe in superiority of people of color.
Posted by: Ruth Puryear | February 19, 2009 10:53 AM

Ruth your sentence doesn't make any sense. Anybody posting here also knows that the vast majority of blacks despise white people too.

Bill r, you must be joking..."Even a monkey could see the racist intent meant by the cartoonist." Honestly...come on now!

So we've gone back to the days of Lombardo? This is exactly why there will always be conflict between the races. You don't see other editorial cartoonists depicting burning crosses with the KKK, now do you? Although this idea of linking African American's to apes and such is a thing of the past, it still hits home to all of us when it is put on display in such a demeaning manner, and whether or not our President is the author of the Stimulus Bill is irrelevant.

Given the long history of racist images in American political cartooning, making the jump that the dead ape represents the President seems to me a much easier step then making the complex constructions that the singular monkey is supposed to symbolize Pelosi and Reid (2 people) or Congress (a large body of people).

...And here I’ll not that there is a long tradition of labeling images in political cartoons for the purposes of sending a direct message. If the monkey is supposed to represent Congress, Delonas could have easily labeled the monkey “Congress” via a sash, name tag, arrow, etc.

Finally, this cartoon is--all racist inferences aside--unfunny and confusing. The question I keep asking is: Who are the cops supposed to be?

Maybe its just my ignorance but I dont see what the two topics (the stimulus bill and the crazy Chimp) have to do with each other to where they form 1 political cartoon. Thats why I automatically saw this as racist.. now I dont usually look at these things and dont claim to be an expert but the average person who is not overindulged in politics is really going to misinterpert this cartoon if it really isnt meant to be racist. I just think as a society we owe it to ourselves and our children not to leave room for any misunderstandings...

The cartoon is so unfunny and unfathomable as the cartoonist intended it, that the only way to take it is as racism.

(A connection between a chimp gone mad and a stimulus bill? Huh!?)

What should happen is that the guy should be fired as a really crappy cartoonist.

"The cartoon is insightful, incisive and succinct, all the things a political cartoon should be...."

How much insight is the cartoon really giving? Like with all marketing/advertising, you can't be too detailed for some people may not get it...i.e., the avg american won't know or think about who wrote the first stimulus bill. And yes, the chimp story was in the news...but after looking and reading the caption what would you think the OVERALL response will be? And to all those who say it's only racist to those who look for the racism...if that were the case, why was Barack Obama's presidency so historical? If millions (black & white) can appreciate how far we've come by braving the elements to attend the inauguration of the first AA president, how many do you think would understand the level of utter disrespect displayed by a person with a history of racists posts?? Honestly, in a day when you'd like to believe in unity, someone would look for a way to disrupt it.

Sorry Phil no go.
If it walks and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. Your defense of this has NO merit.
Only insensitively, uncivilized people don't get the implications of this. What camp do you fit in?

Bill r, you must be joking..."Even a monkey could see the racist intent meant by the cartoonist." Honestly...come on now!

Posted by: Honestly! | February 19, 2009 12:03 PM

I don't know...I really don't see it. This is were things get a little crazy. I am white...but understand that I remember having bricks thrown through our window and recieving death threats in the 50s when my father would write articles in the Richmond Times on better race relations. I remember the treatment I recieved early as I chose black friends and whites would chose to stop our freindship, but for the life of me....I just don't really see it in her post. Maybe I'm wrong........but...

I am a middle-aged, white woman and I find this cartoon to be repulsive. As long is this kind of "humor"(??) is allowed, we will be fighting hatred and discrimination in our culture.

It just isn't funny and it is very poor taste.

Jessie wrote: "Maybe its just my ignorance but I dont see what the two topics (the stimulus bill and the crazy Chimp) have to do with each other to where they form 1 political cartoon. Thats why I automatically saw this as racist."


Lemme 'splane it to you. The cartoon was about the legislative prowess of the idiots who concocted the Porkulus bill. The point of the cartoon, the punchline if you will, is that the bill was such a hopeless trainwreck that it looked like the handiwork of an chimpanzee. It couldn't possibly have been of human origin... unless of course those humans happen to be Democrats. The cartoonist was not, however, implying any racial innuendo.

I'll explain the satire to the slow folks here: out-of-control chimp = must be stopped. Got it?
out-of-control spending and debt borrowing in the stimulus plan = must be stopped.
Who WROTE the plan? Democrats in congress with Obama's blessing. The cartoon is a critique of the plan viewed through the filter of the news of day. The cops are the voters who don't approve of the stimulus. You can say it uses "racist imagery" all you want, but don't say it doesn't have a clear message that's provocatively delivered. Besides, most of the people saying this are the same people that called Bush "chimpy" for the last 6 years so they don't really have much of a leg to stand on,

Other things that aren't racist;

1. "That one."
2. "Uppity"
3. 'Should stay in their place."
4. The guy at all the Palin rallies with the chimp doll labeled 'Obama'.
5. The one drop rule
6. Jim Crow.

None of that was racist.

Other con. truths;
1. Clear skies
2. Healthy Forests
3. Not torture

"Chief procrastinator and general non-team player - Ass."

Honestly....after rereading.....I don't know maybe....I have to say if she is slyly posting her racism...she ought to have enough guts to be proud of it.

I like your take, Frank. It's probably a good bet that the cartoonist was making a reference to the infinite monkey theorem. And political cartoonists at big papers these days don't have a reputation of crossing the race line. There's little reason to believe that was this cartoonist's intent. But it's a shame that the little red light in the back of his head didn't go off. I could feel my blood pressure rise when I first saw it. Some editor should have said SOMETHING before publication. It's troubles me that, given all of the eyes that should have seen this before it was published, someone didn't point out the history of blacks and monkeys and suggest the cartoonist rethink it. To me, not knowing the inside story, there is more culpability among the editors than the cartoonist.

I'D SAY LET'S BOYCOTT!!!!!!

THIS IS TOTALLY HIDDEN RACISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!FIRE THE NUT WHO DREW & POSTED THIS BULL CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NO PIGS WERE LET OUT WHEN BUSH WAS IN OFFICE AND SHOT BY WHITE COPS?????POST THAT!!!!

You're nuts. Obama is an Executive. Legislators Legislate. Executives execute. Do you really think black people are so stupid as to not understand this? As a black person, I can tell you your commentary racist.

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Posted by: fake lawyer | February 18, 2009 10:53 PM
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Who, between us, is dumb, JohnEEE-boy? You are the one that thinks that two pages of writing make a novel. That’s because you have yet to graduate from reading comic books. I can also spell, whereas you cannot (i.e. it’s “mangy” not “mangie”). I can also come up with original thought, whereas you have always been incapable of doing anything but repeating other’s talking points. Furthermore, you have never - I repeat never - been able to argue any issue on its merits. When you don’t like the side someone takes in an argument, you attack the person and not his or her argument.
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I am not responding to you because I have an inferiority complex, or because I have some issues with my self-image (like you always claim). (Come to think of it, you are the one who has to constantly change his screen name several times a day, and you never use John E. any more. What kind of self-image do you have when you can never be yourself?) I am replying because I find your claim of racism vile and offensive (which is consistent with your character). As usual, you have given no reason for this claim. You simply made an accusation which is totally unfounded in fact. In reality, JohnEEE-boy, you just don’t like me because I am unwilling to jump, lemming-like, into the same intellectually dishonest waters. You bask in those waters because you have no mind of your own.

Yeah. I didn't read all of this because it was, you know, too long, but yeah, it's racist.

You know them white peoples want to call all us some monkeys or chimpanzees or something. That's how they is.

And, you know, it even kind of looks like Obama. See them ears?

I don't like it. I think they do something about it. Maybe put a little something extra in our stimulus checks this year. That would be good.

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Posted by: Scot S. Blakeley | February 19, 2009 10:33 AM
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Scot,
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I never said the cartoon was tasteful. I agree that it wasn’t. But there’s a big difference between tasteless and racist. All racist cartoons are tasteless, but not all tasteless cartoons are racist. I won’t go into what I think the Democrats do that is in bad taste, for that would take more than one of those two page novels that John E. complains about.
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I seriously doubt that you know whether the majority of America has seen the cartoon, much less whether they disapprove of it as tasteless or racist. I have already explained why a fair examination of the circumstances reveals the cartoon was not delivered with any racist intent. Thus, to the extent that people immediately link the cartoon to some form of racist attack against the President, it is clear that it is a knee-jerk reaction, and not one arrived at logically. Unlike you, I am not willing to denounce artists because their work product offends non-thinking people.
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I might add that, anyone familiar with Delonas’ cartoons (as you appear to be) would know that his sense of humor is very UN-subtle, and that he has depicted Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey in very unflattering ways. Thus, it’s a fair bet that, had he intended to equate Obama or any African-American with the chimpanzee, the cartoon would have reflected that notion. You can find all of his cartoons for the past several years on the New York Post web site. But, what do you know; you are happily freezing in the great up north.

This is racist, obstensibly outrageous, vicious, vile and repulsive.

Posted by: Leemarkus Pegues | February 19, 2009 2:39 PM

Congratulations...you win a hole award.

Jeff,

I would like to believe it's that simple but given Delonas' history, I have a hard time believing there isn't an intended racist angle behind it. In his previous works, most of which are equally racist, sexist or homophobic, he labels his targets with a banner. If it is so obvious that the chimp represents congress, why not simply banner him like he has in the past? I would like to think it's an intentional omission designed to inspire open debate on racism but given his history, I doubt that's the case.

I've called Bush many names, including chimp, but would never make the same inference to an African American. If you need the difference explained to you, you shouldn't be discussing the topic.

To publish this cartoon as satire saddens me, though I'm not surprised. For I perceive a large segment of White America (even those that voted for,and support him) are seeminly ignorant of the depth and scope of the effects of 400 yrs.of a psychological raping of her citizens of color- Black America. A people who went from Chattel slavery to occupy-agrubably the most powerful seat on the world stage- President Barrack Obama is the embodiment of that struggle.
President Obama is widely viewed as the executor of the stimulus plan, and as America's Cheif Executive he will be held accountable for it's success, or failure.
It is within this context that ALL Americans should be offended. But, if you have not walked in my shoes, nor shared my experiences personally, or through the generations- I can see why you would have no clue.
But, don't you dare try and quantify my pain, and anger. For as a Black man I find that cartoon DESPECIABLE.

Thank you Bill.

Like I always says, a hole award is better than a half award.

Bad: US lawmakers wrote the stimulus bill; they're compared to a monkey.
Worse: US lawmakers wrote the stimulus bill; they're compared to shot dead monkey.
Worst: President Obama signed the stimulus bill.

I think the Jews can never get along with Blacks.

Doesnt anyone know that Nancy Pelosi authored this stimulus bill?
she is white and female?

This cartoon was just thoughtless. I am black man and don't really think that the cartoonist meant for this to be racial, but it was thoughless. Trust me, a black cartoonist would have made it very clear that this cartoon is referencing a chimp in CT. Someone else said it better, "Obama will have to get someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

People, John W is never wrong because his "Conservatism is just the best Evah!" playbook tells him that he's not wrong. You can't argue with a guy who has deluded himself for so many years that he doesn't even know which way is up anymore. In John W's world Ronny Raygun isn't dead, he's just resting and waiting for the right time to come back and save the world with more and better Conservatism.

I don't recall our leftist friends complaining when the Wash. Post cartoonist Pat Oliphant depicted Condi Rice as Aunt Jemima.

"Sorry Phil no go.
If it walks and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. Your defense of this has NO merit.
Only insensitively, uncivilized people don't get the implications of this. What camp do you fit in?"
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I'm not sure that you read the entirety of my comment. You appear to be doing exactly what I begged everyone not to do, which is fail to consider the full range of possibilities. The categories you have offered are inadequate to describe reality. The result, at least from where I'm standing, is (ironically) not far from the very thing you are protesting. Please. I've yet to call anyone a coward or uncivilized because I disagree with them. Perhaps you might try considering, even for a moment, the possibility that your two categories (civilized and uncivilized) are not adequate.
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In any event, you have not explained WHY my argument has no merit; I'm more than willing to engage in any discussion that is carried out on a rational level, so why not at least make the attempt? I've laid out the logic of my position, why I believe this outrage to be unjustified and irrational (both on the face of it and with respect to the intent behind any such protest). Will you please do me the courtesy of laying out the logic of yours?
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For the record, I'm not trying to say that this cartoon is funny or clever or even worthy of publication. I'm more interested in hearing why people seem determined to misinterpret it in a way that outrages them, and why some choose to channel that outrage into unproductive, irrational pursuits such as labeling everyone who disagrees with them racist, insensitive, or whatever. Persisting in outraged misinterpretation in order to fuel statements which merely alienate those who represent the future everyone professes to want to attain strikes me as self-destructive - and if I'm wrong, I'd certainly like to see a strong argument as to why.

The racist aspect didn't occur to me at all. I thought the artist was referring to that chimp who plays the stock market and often does better than financial analysts. This picture, I thought, represented the Stimulus Bill Chimp (which has the level of intelligence necessary to write that bill) versus the Stock Market Chimp. Sheesh.

For shame on the New York Post, no wonder they are considered 2nd class. I guess for their yellow, biased journalism. You have to be stupid or have your head up your **** to not know what it means. The cartoonist should be fired for his stupidity and obvious racism. Someone should draw him as a pig waddleing in mud. Maybe he was mentored by Rush Looserbaugh?

Gee, why am I not surprised that another Murdoch Repuglican propaganda outlet (NYPost) would post a racist cartoon and think it was funny...

That's the Reuglican m.o. these days, heck you can turn on Faux Noise almost any night of the week and catch Bill-O the Clown and Seany Vannity going off on some insane rant against the black, brown, gay, poor people etc etc.

The GOP is going under and racist stuff like this from their echo chambers (NYPost) is just speeding up that process.

The casual racism allowed on all Murdoch right-wing "news" outlets is shocking... when will someone challenge the man himself to rid his organization of this dangerous, insulting stupidity?

What amazes me is how the same people who are outraged by something they've determined as "prejudice," are at the same time assuming that those of us who disagree are all Republican! Quite prejudice, don't ya think? Look in the mirror, people... because I'm not the person you've "prejudged" me to be. I'm as left-wing liberal as you can possibly get... but also feel that anyone who thinks this is a racist cartoon is simply either a fool or guilt-ridden.

Practice what you preach and don't assume that people are what you're ignorance has decided them to be... or you are just as judgemental as the you claim the cartoonist to be.

(and for the last time... chimps are NOT "monkeys" you f**king imbeciles!!)

Frank, I read your response about how this cartoon made the bile rise in your stomach. First and foremost, I highly doubt with all the bones in my body that any bile actually rose in your stomach. You are a rich man with a good job and more than likely ate a healthy breakfast. In order for bile to rise you must have an empty stomach. End of subject. Secondly, we shouldn't all be so offended. When someone is offended at something it only creates division. The response to the cartoon was completely inappropriate. I could imagine what Louey Faraquan is thinking down on Blue Hill Ave., "Let's issue a fatwah against the New Post." We white people have an expression for how y'all handled it so far. "You could fuk up a free lunch"

Who's being racist here, the artist or the people reading something into his work that's not there. The monkeys that wrote the stimulus bill were Pelosi and Reid.
The policemen look Italian, maybe the cartoonists is making fun of organized crime..
Someone in this blog said 'yellow' journalism. Are they making fun of the asian community?
People grow up, or at least find something better to do than look for connections that aren't there.

Unbelievably the effects of a racially charged campaign are playing out in the new consciousness of America. Suddenly, there is racism in every word and every image. We are further from our greatness today they we have ever been. We are called cowards! But, those who call out the charges, are now in charge.

Calling success greed. Questioning the patriotism of opposing thinkers. Mocking those who look to God for reason. Reminding everyone who the winner is, will always label the other side as losers. Listen to yourselves, filled with hate calling others hateful. A government filled with a condescending attitude towards 'We The People'. And we the people separated, by an agenda of the Greed for Power.

Welcome to The new era of Us & Them.
This will only end in a New American Revolution!

Let the Tea Party begin!

The shooter appears to be biracial to me. What does that mean? NYP endorsed BHO. Libs eat themselves and blame their failures on others.

Hello Phil-
Your argument has no merit because it is based on a position that I’m misinterpreting the symbolic meaning of the cartoon. Fortunately I have history on my side where reference to Blacks as monkey, chimps and apes by Whites and others were and still is common place. That factual history supports my position. Whites have given me no evidence that they’ve changed. And considering the scale of evolution, I would suggest that any ethnic group who routinely uses tools of domination, (one of which could be considered mass media ownership), to suggest committing violent acts upon others (animal or humans), is not living up to its evolutionary potential thus uncivilized. Sorry Phil, there’s no misinterpretation here and remember, reality is relative.

Then I suppose we have a fundamental philosophical disagreement here. Reality is not relative. There is objective reality that is independent of any one person's interpretation. In this case, what the author intended to say is an objective fact - nothing you say changes the reality of what he tried to do - but how you interpret what he said is up to you.
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If the cartoon actually intended to imply that the chimp was Obama, then you would at least be basing your position on a true premise. But that's simply not true - the author has stated as such and the cartoon itself references the writer of the bill, who was not Obama. It's not that your misinterpreting the symbolic meaning of calling Obama a chimp, which would be fairly obvious given our country's history, it's that the author didn't call Obama a chimp in the first place.You are forcing that interpretation on the cartoon and pretending as if it's the only valid interpretation, when it clearly is not and when there is some basic evidence pointing otherwise. I say clearly, because so many other people have interpreted it differently from you, which proves the existence of at least one interpretation that differs from yours.
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So I question why you choose to pick an inflammatory position based on a false premise. It seems self-defeating - all you manage to do is piss yourself off and confuse anyone who didn't see it that way. If you're angry at racism in general, it's self-defeating because your response perpetuates racist interpretations of things that otherwise would not be seen as such. Which future would you prefer: one where everyone is constantly outraged by references to the past or one where people don't even know to be outraged? Which one implies actual equality?
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Racism is dead when we can call a white president a chimp for eight years without having to re-write the satire books when his skin color changes. The only way that can come about is if people stop looking for racism in all places and instead respond only to actual occurrences - because the next generation isn't born racist. They have to be trained into it. If you teach them to seek outrage in all corners, they'll do so. If you teach them to look only where it actually exists, they'll find it where it does - and ignore it where it doesn't. That's the future. If you let it come about.

God created all of us equal and trust me he made no mistake in his creation.Racism is not the purpose for our lives,but we are to love,respect,and treat others the way we ourselves what people to treat us.The best moment in my life is when I lift someone higher.My question to the person who wrote this cartoon is "who stole your joy and passion for life".Please know this life we have is so not about us,but it is about how we choose to live each day that we are Blessed with and the people we encounter on a daily basis.We all see the outside,but it's what on the inside that's really important.

Phil
Reality is based on one’s experience and the objectiveness of that particular environment at that moment in time, thus reality is relative. Let me conclude our discussion by saying that White’s inherently pathologic behavior of creating chaos, strife and world destruction, I consider business as usual, so your assumption that I’m “pissed off” is false. It’s what I expect. One of the fundamental differences between the thought processes of Blacks and Whites is that Whites tend to look at things objectively and Blacks are considerably intuitive. We tend to be quite a bit more holistic in our world view. This allows us to incorporate depth and feeling into our world view with considerable accuracy. Our generations to come will always be cognoscente of the concept of “Race” simply because we carry a different vibratory energy than Whites. It’s inherent in us. The idea that you see future generation in a non-racial context is based solely on the premise that everyone will adopt the White way of thinking and behaving. If Blacks did that, we might as well go the way of the dinosaur.
Best to you…

It depresses me when I have to side with conservatives on an issue, but so be it. Given the context, it seems unreasonable to refer to the cartoon as racist. I support the stimulus bill, and I think the cartoon was lame, but it wasn't about President Obama, it was an on-topic criticism of something written exclusively by legislators. I'm as leftist as they come, but there's nothing offensive about it, unless you want to be indignant about something. Really, Political Correctness is more harmful to multiculturalism and tolerance than anything else, because it alienates everyone who believes that the truth is better than shibboleths and outmoded ideas about what can and can't be said. For instance, the cartoon argues that the Stimulus Bill was incompetently written. Instead of responding with a well thought out rebuttal proving it wrong, it becomes about race. Admittedly, I am white, I could be missing something, but I have yet to hear a good reason to consider this racist. As others have pointed out, Bush was depicted as an ape with a fair degree of consistency, so it's absurd to claim that Delonas made it as a symbol for Obama. He based it on the aforementioned ape mauling incident. In conclusion, the cartoon sucked, the point it makes is bogus, and it's a bit tasteless in light of the suffering the victim of the attack is going through, but comparing a white congressman/woman to an ape is not racist.

This cartoon is pretty comical for the sole fact that it does come across as being racist. Why is it that in the black media and on black television programs the white people can be made fun of and be the punch line of their jokes but if a white person does the same he is a racist? Give it a break folks, you can't have everything always handed to you and you have to learn not everything that you see is racist or in meant to be racist. Grow up America!

I think that in a non-racial future, all significant racial distinction would go the way of the dinosaur. Being black or white wouldn't be any more meaningful than tall or having blond hair or brown eyes or whatever. Perhaps that's not a desirable future, but I do believe it to be an inevitability, and one that is not a disaster. Differences wear down with time, and whether it's thirty years or three hundred years from now, skin color will stop mattering. It's just a matter of time.
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I disagree that there exists some sort of white way of thinking... hell, I disagree that race even really exists in any meaningful biological way, and would argue that such distinctions are mostly convenient social inventions from a by-gone era. You and I are human, and our differences cosmetic - our differences in thinking aren't genetic or determined by skin color. What you term white pathology I see as human abuse of power, with examples to be found in every culture of every color. But that's another debate, I suppose.
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I appreciate you taking the time to discuss your position. All the best to you as well.

In this day and age, it's easy to claim something is racist, or sexist, or politically incorrect. But this cartoon is fine in my book. First, none of those guys at the NAACP understand that the cartoon is not speaking against President Obama, or promoting any kind of racist violence towards him. It's simply a satirical view at the new stimulus bill, with added reference to the chimp incident.

Second, I think they just want attention. Who doesn't these days? But going on the racism issue, which is STILL (and always will be) a sensitive subject isn't the smartest thing.

I don't know anymore, why do people make such a big deal about political cartoons? First it was the Muhammed cartoon, now this. Geez!