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I don't think this was aimed at Obama at all. Obama didn't write it and neither did any one individual so nobody in particular should be taking offense.
The cartoon can be read in different ways too, but no surprise everyone thinks that it is automatically making fun of our black president. Believe it or not, and especially in NY compared to some states, blacks are not looked at like chimps. The chimp was also very smart and loved by many before just one misstep caused it its life. Perhaps the cartoonist is saying that we should treat the stimulus bill as a wild creature and although it looks tame right now we should be careful that it doesn't come back to bit us big one day?
Then again it is just as rational to say that the stimulus plan sucks and could have been written by a chimp that was forced into living in modern society. In other words politicians and the drafters of the bill are really idiots but we have become so accustomed to treating them as humans that we can't see it any other way.
The real shame so far is that nobody cares about the woman that was mauled by the chimp! Doesn't anybody care if this insults or offends her? Presidents should expect some nasty cartoons, but should an innocent women expect them? I think there are too many people looking to find a way to interpret this cartoon as racist and I just don't see it.
My personal opinion is that the cartoon is only mildly offensive. It doesn't target Obama in my eyes and because of its obvious political overtones it really doesn't feel like it was intended to hurt the woman hurt by the chimp.
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After a bit more research, I see that this cartoonist is normally sick, hateful, and bigoted as well as right wing and unfunny. His usual targets are Gays and Blacks. So the cartoon should not surprise anyone.
Take a look at some of his other cartoons, if you have a strong stomach. This latest cartoon is not a fluke.
I also found that the right wing cartoonists in general haven't been able to come up with anything sane to complain about on this issue, they seem to think it's Communist, Nazi, and a disaster. But they don't have anything constructive to say or any explanation about how the Republican years got us into this economic situation.
Source(s):
http://gawker.com/5155855/ten-masterpieces-from-sean-delonas
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tracebooks
The thing is huge, and I've heard several commentators say that they doubt any congressman or the President actually read it, although doubtless countless aides and lawyers did.
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I'm not exactly sure (even after pondering the "joke" for a few minutes) what the writer was thinking here!!
The only thing I could come up with is maybe.... Well.... Maybe he was trying to convey.....
Man, I don't know - I can't think of anything else that it could possibly mean. That's pretty offensive.
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Clearly no cartoonist would characterize Obama as a monkey, so I'm going to negate that as a possibility even though Obama is the key player in the writing of the stimulus bill and that's where people's minds would immediately go.
Second, I'm guessing this is some sort of connection to the chimp that was shot for attacking a woman COMBINED with the fact that some would consider politicians a bunch of "monkeys" -- or that the bill is so bad in the cartoonists opinion that it was made by monkeys?
Can someone email the person who drew this and ask them to comment?
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I am not saying that a stimulus wasn't needed but we entered this with the thought that speed was more important than content.
Source(s):
I'm a "brain dead" conservative
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This does not mean it's a good cartoon...It's far too cryptic, and I agree that it could be taken the wrong way, implying that Obama himself is some sort of a primate. But I don't think that's the primary meaning behind it. I just think it's kind of awkwardly presented and poorly-conceived as satire.
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2) The cartoon doesn't provoke positive thought or add anything meaningful to the debate about the validity of the bill, unfortunately.
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But many people have pointed out the "1000 monkeys banging on a typewriter thing", and I've noticed for the first time that it does not say "someone else to *sign* the next stimulus bill", but to *write* it. Something in my brain, probably all teh recent news stories, made me think it said "sign", which was clearly an Obama thing. Now that I realize it says *write*, and Obama didn't write it - a bunch of politicians did - I agree that it's not the racist thing I thought it was. Although I'd certainly hope that if the cartoonist has any brains in his head that he knew how close to the line he was walking, and did so on purpose.
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It is hands down, offensive. Sad that racism is alive and well and living within the pages of the NYPost.
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Without the filter of all the offended references to it, I have to say I don't understand the cartoon. Fail - How it passed muster at the Post is beyond me.
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Answered Question
M$1
February 18, 2009 07:37 PM
Do you think that this NY Post cartoon by Sean Delonas is offensive?
I personally find it extremely distasteful. 
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Best Answer Chosen by Asker
| February 19, 2009 04:44 AM |
The cartoon can be read in different ways too, but no surprise everyone thinks that it is automatically making fun of our black president. Believe it or not, and especially in NY compared to some states, blacks are not looked at like chimps. The chimp was also very smart and loved by many before just one misstep caused it its life. Perhaps the cartoonist is saying that we should treat the stimulus bill as a wild creature and although it looks tame right now we should be careful that it doesn't come back to bit us big one day?
Then again it is just as rational to say that the stimulus plan sucks and could have been written by a chimp that was forced into living in modern society. In other words politicians and the drafters of the bill are really idiots but we have become so accustomed to treating them as humans that we can't see it any other way.
The real shame so far is that nobody cares about the woman that was mauled by the chimp! Doesn't anybody care if this insults or offends her? Presidents should expect some nasty cartoons, but should an innocent women expect them? I think there are too many people looking to find a way to interpret this cartoon as racist and I just don't see it.
My personal opinion is that the cartoon is only mildly offensive. It doesn't target Obama in my eyes and because of its obvious political overtones it really doesn't feel like it was intended to hurt the woman hurt by the chimp.
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Other Answers (20)
February 18, 2009 07:50 PM
I know that the police shot a chimp that went berzerk recently and some people (conservative Republicans) don't like the stimulus package (they only like tax cuts and bank bailouts). However, this cartoon seems pretty dumb and is not a rational way of expressing any political opinion. On the other hand, cartoonists have to keep churning out cartoons, they can't all be good. Or even half-way decent, it seems. I'm surprised a newspaper printed it. After a bit more research, I see that this cartoonist is normally sick, hateful, and bigoted as well as right wing and unfunny. His usual targets are Gays and Blacks. So the cartoon should not surprise anyone.
Take a look at some of his other cartoons, if you have a strong stomach. This latest cartoon is not a fluke.
I also found that the right wing cartoonists in general haven't been able to come up with anything sane to complain about on this issue, they seem to think it's Communist, Nazi, and a disaster. But they don't have anything constructive to say or any explanation about how the Republican years got us into this economic situation.
Source(s):
http://gawker.com/5155855/ten-masterpieces-from-sean-delonas
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tracebooks
February 18, 2009 07:55 PM
Most of the conservatives I know were *against* the bank bailouts, but I agree: the message of this cartoon is pretty muddled. Perhaps if we saw it in context on the page where it was printed it would make more sense.
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February 18, 2009 08:06 PM
The cartoon is stating the stimulus bill was written by someone with the intelligence of a monkey and/or went berserk. Thus contrary to your comment on conservatives, the cartoon is making the case that the democrats who authored the bill were brain dead/out of control and should be stopped hopefully to allow more intelligent action to be taken.
The cartoon takes a recent presumably well known event and uses it as a metaphor for expressing unrelated political opinion. The message was not muddled at all, but was a pretty clever juxtaposition of two unrelated concepts to create an expression of opinion.
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The cartoon takes a recent presumably well known event and uses it as a metaphor for expressing unrelated political opinion. The message was not muddled at all, but was a pretty clever juxtaposition of two unrelated concepts to create an expression of opinion.
February 18, 2009 07:52 PM
I don't think it's supposed to be Obama. I think it's more a reference to the old saying of "if you give 1000 monkeys typewriters" type thing. The thing is huge, and I've heard several commentators say that they doubt any congressman or the President actually read it, although doubtless countless aides and lawyers did.
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February 18, 2009 08:24 PM
Take a look at some of this guy's other cartoons. I'm sure he has never heard of Shakespeare and wouldn't get the 1000 monkeys and typewriters gag if you told it to him.
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February 18, 2009 07:53 PM
Wow, that IS shocking! I'm not exactly sure (even after pondering the "joke" for a few minutes) what the writer was thinking here!!
The only thing I could come up with is maybe.... Well.... Maybe he was trying to convey.....
Man, I don't know - I can't think of anything else that it could possibly mean. That's pretty offensive.
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February 18, 2009 07:56 PM
I don't really understand what the cartoon is saying, so it's failed as a cartoon. Clearly no cartoonist would characterize Obama as a monkey, so I'm going to negate that as a possibility even though Obama is the key player in the writing of the stimulus bill and that's where people's minds would immediately go.
Second, I'm guessing this is some sort of connection to the chimp that was shot for attacking a woman COMBINED with the fact that some would consider politicians a bunch of "monkeys" -- or that the bill is so bad in the cartoonists opinion that it was made by monkeys?
Can someone email the person who drew this and ask them to comment?
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February 18, 2009 08:41 PM
I don't agree that, "no cartoonist would characterize Obama as a monkey." He was associating Obama to this crazed monkey clear as day.
I can rally for just about anything that is actually humorous and clever regardless of being tasteless (I am so proud), but this is neither. Likening a black person to a monkey is like calling them a n----r. It's gross.
And where is the typewriter if that was the joke?
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I can rally for just about anything that is actually humorous and clever regardless of being tasteless (I am so proud), but this is neither. Likening a black person to a monkey is like calling them a n----r. It's gross.
And where is the typewriter if that was the joke?
February 18, 2009 08:04 PM
The racial nature of the reference is unfortunate and wrong but the sentiment about the "stimulus" is dead on. It could have been written by a chimp. I don't think there was enough thought put into this bill. It became a pet project wish list for Congress. No one in Congress had read this bill. Some of the details were actually pencilled in the margins at time of passing. I am not saying that a stimulus wasn't needed but we entered this with the thought that speed was more important than content.
Source(s):
I'm a "brain dead" conservative
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February 18, 2009 08:05 PM
I don't think the chimp is meant to be Obama. I think it's a reference to Travis the Chimp, who went on a crazed violent spree and had to be shot by police. So I suppose the chimp in the cartoon symbolizes Congress, or perhaps the entire US government, "running wild" with people's money. This does not mean it's a good cartoon...It's far too cryptic, and I agree that it could be taken the wrong way, implying that Obama himself is some sort of a primate. But I don't think that's the primary meaning behind it. I just think it's kind of awkwardly presented and poorly-conceived as satire.
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February 18, 2009 08:08 PM
1) You would hope it's related to the escaped chimp story - implication the stimulus package was written by monkeys as someone already said. Given that Obama is so closely associated with that bill, it is potentially offensive. 2) The cartoon doesn't provoke positive thought or add anything meaningful to the debate about the validity of the bill, unfortunately.
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February 18, 2009 08:23 PM
When I first saw it I thought, one of the most racist things I've seen in a long time, because clearly the cartoonist is taking the recent monkey rampage news story to sneak in the "black president is a monkey" cheap shot. But many people have pointed out the "1000 monkeys banging on a typewriter thing", and I've noticed for the first time that it does not say "someone else to *sign* the next stimulus bill", but to *write* it. Something in my brain, probably all teh recent news stories, made me think it said "sign", which was clearly an Obama thing. Now that I realize it says *write*, and Obama didn't write it - a bunch of politicians did - I agree that it's not the racist thing I thought it was. Although I'd certainly hope that if the cartoonist has any brains in his head that he knew how close to the line he was walking, and did so on purpose.
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February 18, 2009 09:15 PM
I do believe that the cartoonist knew exactly what he was doing and that any thought that creeps into ones head that it might be our President was intentional. He tries to hide it by not giving the chimp any features that suggest that it is President Obama, but the man is NOT that stupid. He just wants to assume that we ARE that stupid. It is hands down, offensive. Sad that racism is alive and well and living within the pages of the NYPost.
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February 18, 2009 09:46 PM
I hope it's a misinterpretation. I've seen numerous references to it today - from Digg to Breaking News on Twitter - that characterize the cartoon as comparing President Obama to the chimp. If that was the intent of the cartoonist, it's distasteful at best. Without the filter of all the offended references to it, I have to say I don't understand the cartoon. Fail - How it passed muster at the Post is beyond me.
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February 19, 2009 01:07 AM
Obama didn't even write the bill, so it wouldn't make sense to assume he's the chimp. The chimp that was shot in CT was out of control, so I think this cartoon means that the people who wrote the stimulus bill were out of control. $1 Trillion -- I would agree.
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February 19, 2009 11:52 PM
Why is it that every little thing people do raciest? If I white guy don’t like someone that is black it’s because he is raciest. Maybe he is just an a**. Was every person that worked on the stimulus plan black? Don't get me wrong the caroon is in poor taste. A woman was attacked. But hey Obama was the victim here (sarcasm if you missed it).
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February 22, 2009 10:50 AM
At first when you read the caption it is quite shocking. Then after the initial shock wears off then you see the double-entendre and it makes more sense. I "think" the purpose is to show displeasure with the stimulus bill or at least that that is what you hope. I do agree with @jasoncalacanis, it does fail as a cartoon.
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