Much ado about nothing

So there's the expected hue and cry over the latest cover of The New Yorker which shows a cartoon depicting Obama in the oval office, dressed in the republican-fantasized MuslimTerroristAttire (good detail. The shalwar is just a tad above the ankle). Bumping fists with him is an angry Michelle Obama with a menacing afro, touting a machine gun and caustic smirk that seems to transmit a call for the white man's blood. Burning in the fireplace beside them is the American flag.

I personally thought the cartoon was funny when I first saw it. It isn't much of a work of art really, that should even warrant the disussion that it has sparked. In fact the joke's rather simplistic. A no-brainer for the average reader of the sophisticated magazine; just poking a bit of fun at the the outrageous Obama rumor-brigade run by the right-wing media and politicians throughout the country.

The cartoon would have made no story if it had in fact been limited to the eyes of the readers of The New Yorker which, incidentally, is not even usually available at your average newsstand, especially not to the innocent, easily-led sheep in the rural heartlands of America.

But as it goes, it's four months to the election and anything smelling of Obama controversy is tasty meat for the media at this time. Obama campaign issued a hurt, angry response; Obama supporters called for an apology and rejected the 'satire' arguement. Some furiously explained why an exaggeration of untruths about Obama does not compare up to older cartoonic depictions of exaggerated truths about Bush and Cheney that have graced the magazine's covers in the past.

Of course, many left-wingers are less perturbed. That's The New Yorker for you, they say. They're just making a joke which isn't even very new.

Here's what I think: I understand the fears of Obama supporters, that the monstrous Fox News and its followers won't get the satire and instead probably end up using the cartoon as their desktop backgrounds to remind them of Obama's general badness.

Yes, they will.

But, as Taimoor pointed out to me earlier this morning, the publicizing of the cartoon keeps Obama on the cover and for most part, does make everyone who might have forwarded an Obama rumor email in the past look like an idiot. At least to the others, if not themselves. Unfortunately though, satire is not the most popular medium of information and most popular media like Fox News are very literal and easy on intellectual stimulus. So for all those who watch Fox News for News, nothing much will change. The cartoon will just be a minor reinforcement of beliefs which weren't going anywhere anyway.

For those who don't watch Fox News for their news though, one look at the cartoon should just make them smile derisively and consider the ridiculous in the Anti-Obama rumor machine. Again, a minor reinforcement of an opinion they probably already had.

Obama's burden

Dana Milbank, in his column ‘Washington Sketch’ in the Post writes today:

"Here are some things we can look forward to learning about Barack Obama:
• That he was mentored in high school by a member of the Soviet-controlled Communist Party.
• That he launched his Illinois state Senate campaign in the home of a terrorist and a killer.
• That while serving as a state senator, he was a member of a socialist front group.
• That his affiliations are so dodgy that he would have trouble getting a government security clearance.
• That there is reason to doubt his "loyalty to the United States."
The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy took a blow with Hillary Clinton's collapse. But it is regrouping, and finding plenty of sinister things to say about Obama -- even if he didn't trade cattle futures.”

I have finally found a couple of silver linings about Hillary Clinton staying longer in this race.

a: No matter how harmful the aspersions cast on Obama by the Clinton campaign were to the now presumptive Democratic nominee, they couldn’t have beaten what the Republican Party would do to him in the general. But they were good practice to prepare him for the future.

And b: Hillary’s staying in the race actually lengthened the time where Obama had to mostly contend with the Clinton Camp and not the much more vicious Republican camp. That of course ended with the arrival of Reverend Wright at the party. If he had become the nominee earlier on, they (the republicans) would have had much more time to denigrate him.

Well hello denigration.

Uncomfortable Comparisons

It feels strange, somehow not right, to be so out of touch with news you once devoured, and almost militantly kept up to date with. I learn my news about Pakistani politics now from my mom (carefully chosen snippets), my friend Tazeen's blog (frustrated forecasts for impending doom) and from the Pakistani newspaper Dawn's website (never replaces reading the actual paper, never satisfies).

American political commentaries (these days broadcast ad nauseum since tis the election season)- fit easily into the gap, and are definitely more entertaining than vomit inducing as was the case with Pakistani politics. Plus politics here comes with its own shock stock – the prostitution rings, the random gay governor, the resident pothead ex-mayor, the increasingly frightening ambition of Hillary Clinton...

In short, there is plenty to enjoy and learn an odd lesson from.

However, what's more interesting is the comparison of perspectives that this naturally brings. As a former resident of a third world nation, I had wildly different notions of what was 'hopeless' before, or what was considered extreme corruption, injustice, economic downturn, and so on. It is certainly the media's job to report on these, and here it does so with a flourish that is so unguarded and seemingly all-powerful...that it is a stark comparison to the 'unnamed perpetrators of injustice' carefully reported (protected) in Pakistani media's investigative reports. Granted much of the empowered American media is owned by corporations which render them pretty impotent, but Still, it is hard to turn up your nose at freedom of media in America if you've moved from Pakistan. Especially if you are aware that there is always going to be a Progressive Talk Radio for every Fox News, and a Moveon.org for every neo-con puppet.

Then, you will come across complaints about the system which sound rather similar in words to the stuff back home---about the public school system, the homeless, the corrupt politicians, the overcrowded prisons, the healthcare system. And yet, apart from seeing how different definitions of a truly 'bad' state of affairs can be in two countries, and I say this without undermining in any way the ills of the American healthcare system and public schools, there is always a hint of optimism. You know, the kind associated with the 'next government'. The next leader still brings hope to Americans, who can not only afford to have hope, but also avail the opportunities literally thrown their way to make intelligent comparisons between the policies of their candidates in tens of publicly broadcast debates.

It is such a terrible shame then that most Americans would not give up watching American Idol for a Presidential Primary debate. How wonderful would just ONE such debate be among the politicians of Pakistan...who are never really asked any hard questions at all. How ironic it is that despite the privileges of information that it enjoys, American public would rather read the emails proclaiming the black guy in the running is a secret Muslim. Nothing can replace the surreal feeling every time I see two solemn looking news anchors discussing why it is important to the 'average Americans' to think of their President as someone they could have a beer with...or that the people in Ohio really did vote for Hillary Clinton because they thought Obama was a secret Muslim.

These comparisons are just too discomforting to my re-sensitized brain that had not long ago become the exact opposite solely by reading the Pakistani newspapers each day.