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FM: David Remnick used the word satire
when he went out to defend the cover;
that’s a tough argument to make because
satire has an object—and if the object of
satire here is Rush Limbaugh, it’s not shown.

BB: I don’t think it has to be shown.
I’m sure I could think of a satirical situa-
tion where the object isn’t shown—if
you give me a couple of months. The
image probably is clumsy, but it does
make me laugh.

FM: A suggestion came in one of the ten
thousand e-mails and letters of protest,
someone suggesting we should have put the
Fox News logo in the corner. My problem
with that is similar to the one I had with
putting three right-wing talk show hosts
looking in through the window: It restricts
the target of the satire to a narrowly
defined culprit. One proof to me that your
image is not clumsy is that it was effective.
The talk of Obama being a secret Muslim
abated, and I know of no instances of the
image being used by the right wing as a
rallying cry.

BB: The New Yorker sure sold a ton of
prints. I called Remnick and I said,
“David, I worry I’m going to be the dar-
ling of right-wingers and skinheads!”
And he wrote me back and he said,
“Barry, it’s a beautiful day, why don’t you
go out and enjoy it.”

FM: You think the only person who would
want to frame this image is someone who
believes that it denounces Obama? It was
cited in The New York Times as the most
significant image of the 2008 election.

BB: I play piano with a guy—his father
is a fat old Italian guy, very right-wing.
The father said to me, “Hey, I got that
picture up on the wall in my office!
People look at me, but I say, ‘Hey, it’s
The New Yorker!’”

FM: In 2006, Obama did what all
American politicians visiting foreign coun-
tries do: He was photographed in local garb,
wearing a turban and native Somali cloth-
ing during his first visit to Kenya. All poli-
ticians do such things but it doesn’t make
them anti-American; still the National
Enquirer and Drudge published the photo
as if it was damning evidence. I think your
drawing is clear—but obviously . . .