Friday, February 20, 2009

That Chimp Cartoon: I Had Hoped I Could Just Ignore It

Jules Crittenden linked to a HuffPo story about how the chimp cartoon is causing embarrassment, shame and unhappiness in the staff at the NY Post. That might be true but who knows. Huffpo quotes two Post staffers. And one of the two is an anonymous source. And out of this tissue they construct a story whose main character is the HuffPooish guilt laden PC drama that is the blight of their lives. So at this point I only know something about HuffPo and one, possibly two people who work at the NY Post. So much capital out lay, so little information.
The cartoon is not even funny. I would never have given it a moments thought if it hadn't been for the martyr drama spun by Reverend Al, HuffPo and who ever else. The cartoon has nothing to do with Barack Obama. And the mental gymnastics that have been employed to make that connection have been either sad or ludicrous.
The POTUS chimp nexus is interesting. So many people give loud approval to anyone who will 'speak truth to power' and call Bush a chimp. The moral courage in spite of great danger to life and career involved in that very old joke is admirable. Oh, yes, the intellectual and moral reach required for that has been mastered by only 93% of most third grade classes (the rest are reading books or otherwise improving themselves).
Now maybe we could turn public discourse to something that matters or is reality based. Or a cartoon that is funny.

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