Our dear friend at the White House apparently thinks that the key to addressing the energy crisis is to change the psychology of it all. I seem to remember somebody, oh, who was that, saying something about mental depression, recession, something like that. And it certainly went over well, so I totally understand why we would, again, be talking about psychological reasons for creating huge environmental problems.
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I haven’t been writing because my life has not been my own for the past two weeks. Sorry Sarah and Dad! (My only audience.)
It isn’t neo-Nazi, or even necessarily racist. But it isn’t as funny or as trenchant or even as self-deprecating as Jon Stewart, either. The New Yorker cover heard round-the-world is just a specimen of poor taste and badly executed satire. It’s a shame, because frankly, inserting a grinning caricature of the person who originally called this a terrorist fist-bump would have undoubtedly resolved the issue and frankly, made the satire more pointed.
And, by the way, Gawker (and David Remnick) there are reasons to object to this cover that have nothing to do with lowering expectations of critical thinking in America. The reason the potential for offense seems not to have occurred to anyone at the New Yorker before now is because they suffer from a narrow, white elite, worldview which ensures that they will always declaim racism without having to actually think about racism. Why don’t they think about racism at the New Yorker? Because to them, it just isn’t something that concerns them on a day-to-day basis. And that’s really a shame, no matter what way you want to slice this. But hey, why talk about an actual issue when you can talk about a fake one?
As Mark Twain once said, “I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.“
(Stolen from someone else, of course, but this is going to be in my repertoire forever.)
