See, I tried to set up my post from Monday with a LONG preface suggesting that the Muslim rumor thing is uniquely dangerous and ought to be handled with a little more care than other political satire because:
(A) Americans often try to assassinate charismatic leaders, plus
(B) too many Americans are deathly paranoid about Muslims and want to kill them, plus
(C) a totally false rumor suggesting that a charismatic political leader wants to take over the government in the name of al-Qaeda, plus
(D) too many Americans believe these rumors to be the truth.
A+B+C+D=Not a good combination.
And then I went on to suggest that, by mishandling it, the New Yorker probably augmented the rumors, rather than helping to quash them.
Tom Tomorrow, however, thought I was being too much of a simpleton in my evaluation of the New Yorker cartoon on Monday. I say "I" because Tom's punchline is an exact illustration of my speech-bubble suggestion, so it's reasonable to assume it's partly directed at me.
Well okay, Tom. But in my defense, if SNL aired a sketch showing the Obamas wearing militant Islamic regalia and burning a flag for eight minutes without saying a goddamn thing and without any set-up or context whatsoever, then... cut to commercial... I would be equally as harsh in my reaction.