February 19, 2009

Sharpton Goes Bananas Over Chimp Cartoon



Racist? Or just another convenient excuse to claim as such?

Al Sharpton, surprise, thinks it is. But is he so obsessed with victim-hood, he can't see the big picture? The NY Post chief editor thinks so.

H/T Huff Po

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah! It's racist. But then look at who the Post's owner is. Hasn't this country come far in 240+ years....

page13 said...

Was this racists too???

http://www.bushorchimp.com/


Was this hate?

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/10/12/crush-the-obamedia-narrative-look-whos-gripped-by-insane-rage/

page13 said...

And did the President "write" the bill? Or simply sign it?

Words means things.

You and Sharpton assumed the Chimp was Obama.

Did you ever consider the creator may be referring to Congress?

Who exactly is obsessed with race again?

Anonymous said...

There is an old saying that goes something like: "this document is so screwed up a monkey sitting at a typrewriter could have done better." I don't think the cartoonist was specifically targeting anyone in particular, just observing that the stimulaus bill is so incomprehensible that a monkey sitting at a keyboard must have done it.

Radu Gherman said...

Ed, you're right. This kind of humor was pointed at Bush many times over. And if you do take the position that the cartoon was lampooning Congress, or Pelosi, then it does touch on humor.
But as a recent grad with experience in the fine art of communication, you don't have to struggle to reach the conclusion that at least one person on the paper's staff looked at this and thought that it may be taken as a racist insult. So I'd say that the editors chose to publish with that consequence in mind. And the public is reacting. After all, that's what they're supposed to do. That's the nature of the business. So they'll just have to suck it up, and I'm sure this will all blow over. The only side effect of this whole thing is that it adds to the Post's reputation; those that find it racist will boycott, and those who don't see an insult will defend.
The only thing that's left to see is the impact on the bottom line. That should be a good indicator on where the public stands.

Anonymous said...

Ed,

There is one big difference with the website with the chimps...in that one, none of the chimps is DEAD! There were very obvious implications.

page13 said...

Radu,

...until you read the words a second time.

If you understand the process by which the stimulus happened, then the word "write" takes on a very specific meaning.

I saw this story first on tv and heard about an uproar over a cartoon. That's all I heard, 15 seconds of entertainment news. Yes, at first glance (and hearing the way the story was presented) I drew the same conclusion and winced.

But after I checked the story out I saw it differently.

I think this cartoon is an example of the ignorance (or opportunism) of people like Sharpton when it comes to race issues.

I also think Sean Delonis intended it that way. Had he used the word "signed" or "sold" I would agree with Sharpton's protest.

But as a previous commenter noted, the phrase "monkey with a typewriter" is a somewhat well-known insult.

There's even a blog by a similar name...
http://monkeyswithtypewriter.blogspot.com/

But the public in general will never reach that depth of understanding about any issue. Sharpton knows this and uses it to his full advantage.