RUSH’S WORST NIGHTMARE

BARRY BLITT, WHO OFTEN has pitch-perfect ideas, nailed it when the
election pundits started debating which candidate was best suited to answer the
White House’s red phone in the middle of the night (right). I kept hoping for
images that would satirize the bigotry, illustrate intangibles such as the reaction
to Michelle’s “proud of my country” remarks, or the fact that Obama was referred
to as “articulate” or as “Barack Hussein Obama.” Blitt said something about
Barack and Michelle exchanging what was then deemed a “terrorist fist jab” in
the White House; it sounded funny so I asked for a sketch (below). It made the
July 21 cover with the title “The Politics of Fear” (opposite). Many readers object-
ed, explaining that they understood the joke but were afraid that lesser souls
might not. On Fox & Friends, Gretchen Carlson was asked why she had not
found Blitt’s earlier red-phone cover just as offensive as the fist bump. “Yes,” said
Carlson, “but everyone knows that’s not happening!” So we gathered that, for her
at least, a first lady sporting a machine gun or a president burning an American
flag were simply not as ridiculous a thought as Hillary and Barack in bed.

A CONVERSATION

FRANÇOISE MOULY: What do you remem-
ber of the reaction when your “fist-bump” cover was
published?

BARRY BLITT: I remember sitting here play-
ing music with a friend and the phone started
ringing a lot. First it was you calling, “They’re
talking about it on CNN.” Then The Huffington
Post called asking for a quote—and then there
were hundreds of e-mails coming in.

FM: What did you say to your friend?

BB: Well, I was freaking out, but he was like,
“It’s a cartoon, so don’t worry about it.” The
Huffington Post asked if I regretted it, on Sunday
night at 10 p.m. The issue hadn’t even come out
yet. And I said, “How can I regret it before it’s
hit the newsstand?” I tried to explain what it was
that I was making fun of—the perception of him,
not him. I wish I hadn’t said anything and just let
it sit there. If I really believed in the image, I
shouldn’t have had to defend it. If you have the
strength of your convictions . . .

In the first sketch ( above), Michelle is also a Muslim, and Ann Coulter, Bill
O’Reilly, and Rush Limbaugh are looking aghast through the window at their
“worst nightmare.” But it didn’t seem correct to attribute the prejudices and hidden
fears to only those three pundits, so I asked Barry to refine the image to its essence.

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