Obama Unhappy With 'Tasteless and Offensive' New Yorker Cover

Update at end of post: Netroots up in arms over this, artist explains!

He's wearing Muslim attire. She's dressed as a terrorist. And there's a flag burning in their fireplace.

Is this cartoon of the Obama's on the cover of a conservative publication?

Nope. It's the next issue of The New Yorker.

Of course, this is supposed to be a satirical representation by a liberal magazine of how conservatives view Barack and Michelle Obama.

Regardless, according to Politico, the Obama campaign is quite displeased (h/t Hot Air, photo courtesy Politico):

The Obama campaign quickly condemned the rendering. Spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement: “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree." [...]

The magazine explains at the start of its news release previewing the issue: “On the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue of The New Yorker, in ‘The Politics of Fear,’ artist Barry Blitt satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama’s campaign.”

It's going to be fascinating to see how this is received by other media outlets in the coming days:

*****Update: The Netroots aren't happy. Take a peek at DKos and HuffPo.

HuffPo got in touch with the artist, Barry Blitt, who explained: "I think the idea that the Obamas are branded as unpatriotic [let alone as terrorists] in certain sectors is preposterous. It seemed to me that depicting the concept would show it as the fear-mongering ridiculousness that it is."

This is going to get interesting.