Like MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, who on Monday worried that the magazine cover was "too sophisticated" for the American public to understand, Giles similarly fretted: "But the thing about this particular cartoon is that I think for the people who really already believe that Barack Obama is Muslim...because of the fear that this country has, this will maybe reinforce that fear. They -- I don't think they'll see that as satire." When Smith described how the cartoon was meant to mock Obama’s critics, Giles added: "I get that...but I think that there may be people who just look at the cover and see it for what it is."
For his part, Smith actually defended the New Yorker and suggested the Obama campaign was overeacting: "Why's everybody going crazy about this?...Front page story in the New York Times this morning is people are trying to figure out what's funny about this campaign and so far nothing has been funny about Obama. Is Obama off-limits?...what we're returning to the age of absolute political correctness?"
Giles made some suggestions on how the New Yorker could have improved the cartoon: "Or maybe I read this on a blog, as a thought bubble of like the right wingers, like 'ooh, this is our fantasy, that he really is that.' Or of the Obamas watching, seeing that image on TV while they're eating apple pie and there really this all-American family, It might have just straightened it out a little bit. You know?"
Here is the full transcript of the segment:
7:20AM TEASER:
MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: Coming up, more on the magazine cover everyone is talking about, is it funny? We'll ask a comedian.
7:30AM TEASER:
RODRIGUEZ: Remember these cartoons in the New Yorker? [picture of President Bush as a maid cleaning up after Cheney] they're by Barry Blitt, the same guy who did the cartoon that's now sparking intense outrage with Barack Obama and his wife dressed as radicals. Ahead this morning we'll talk to a comedian who says no matter how you feel about the cartoon the timing is just plain wrong.
7:30AM SEGMENT:
HARRY SMITH: Let's talk about that New Yorker cover that everybody in the country seems to be talking about. Nancy Giles, commentator from Sunday Morning is with us this morning.
NANCY GILES: Hey, Harry.
SMITH: How are you?
GILES: I'm fine.
SMITH: You know, the New Yorker is very interesting because David Remnick came out yesterday. He's been the editor of the magazine for ten years.
GILES: Right.
SMITH: Couldn't be more successful. Smart stuff in had that magazine. He says, listen, these are 'fantastical images about the Obamas and shows them for the obvious distortions they are.' Why's everybody going crazy about this? Does it make you crazy?
GILES: It did make me crazy and I'm an admirer of the New Yorker, I used to subscribe. I mean, I stopped subscribing not because of this particular cartoon, but because they have these great articles that sometimes are 40 and 50 pages long and I would burst into tears because I'd never finish them.
SMITH: [Laughter] Okay.
GILES: But the thing about this particular cartoon is that I think for the people who really already believe that Barack Obama is Muslim, and by the way, if he was Muslim, there shouldn't be a problem with that. We should have religious freedom in this country.
SMITH: Right.
GILES: But because of the fear that this country has, this will maybe reinforce that fear. They -- I don't think they'll see that as satire. And the interesting thing is the title of the cartoon is 'The Politics of Fear.'
SMITH: Right.
GILES: Even if that were somehow maybe on the cover or, you know, I wouldn't want to try to tell the cartoonist how to do his piece.
SMITH: But clearly, it was not intended to make fun of the Obamas. This was-
GILES: Right. Satirize-
SMITH: -intended to satire those who would portray them in the way the cartoon shows them.
GILES: Right, absolutely, I get that. I get that-
SMITH: Right, okay-
GILES: -but I think that there may be people who just look at the cover and see it for what it is. I mean, there's so many elements that could really get somebody, a framed picture of Osama Bin Laden on the wall-
SMITH: Flag burning in the fireplace
GILES: A burning American flag.
SMITH: Yeah.
GILES: Michelle Obama with a fro and an AK-47. And you know, I mean, there's a lot going on there. And you've got to wonder, like, is the New Yorker -- this is a candidate. This isn't a guy that's already president.
SMITH: Right.
GILES: So is the New Yorker at some point going to do a similar wild interpretation of the rumors about John McCain or have him holding his wife as a trophy, stepping on his ex-wife? Something like -- I mean, you know, I'm just -- I'm you know-
SMITH: Sure.
GILES: -or when Bush was a candidate-
SMITH: Well, it becomes -- it brings up the subject of what is or isn't fair game.
GILES: Right.
SMITH: Front page story in the New York Times this morning is people are trying to figure out what's funny about this campaign and so far nothing has been funny about Obama. Is Obama off-limits?
GILES: No, I don't think that that's true. And I have a very good sense of humor. And years ago I used to be at Second City, which is in Chicago, which is a famous political satirical comedy group.
SMITH: Right. Yes.
GILES: I would have died to have played somebody like Michelle Obama-
SMITH: Yeah-
GILES: Once -- either now or when she's president. But Second City gives you-
SMITH: When she's president?
GILES: 'When she's president' [fake cough] I -- you know-
SMITH: Okay, I understood what you meant.
GILES: When she's First Lady. Second City gives you already the context of comedy and satire so you know going in what you're going to get. This was just -- it's so much more confusing.
SMITH: Yeah?
GILES: Considering, I think-
SMITH: You know, the blogosphere-
GILES: Even if-
SMITH: Is filled with all of this stuff-
GILES: I know.
SMITH: I'm sitting there saying so we have -- what we're returning to the age of absolute political correctness, that-
GILES: No, no, no. Because even years ago they had a political cartoon of Grover Cleveland, who was suspected of having a kid out of wedlock-
SMITH: Yeah.
GILES: And there's this very famous cartoon going 'I want my ma,' of him, you know, the baby-
SMITH: Yeah, sure.
GILES: -it always existed. But this, without the context of that particular title, 'The Politics of Fear.' Or maybe I read this on a blog, as a thought bubble of like the right wingers, like 'ooh, this is our fantasy, that he really is that.' Or of the Obamas watching, seeing that image on TV while they're eating apple pie and there really this all-American family, It might have just straightened it out a little bit. You know?
SMITH: Right, yeah.
GILE: I, its-
SMITH: Maybe they need editing.
GILES: Yeah, maybe.
SMITH: That sounds -- you're doing your own edit. We all do our own edits.
GILES: I know, I know, flesh it out.
SMITH: Nancy Giles, great to see you.
GILES: You too, thank you.
SMITH: Thanks for coming in.
