Editor defends toon, says it's not an attack on Obama

OUTRAGE OVER SATIRE: The objectionable cartoon on Barrack Obama has stirred outrage in America.

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Keywords: The New Yorker, Cartoon

New Delhi: A magazine's satire has stirred an outrage in America with a objectionable cartoon on Democrat Presidential candidate, Senator Barrack Obama.

As if the Obama-Osama comparision was not enough, there is a new hurdle that the Obama campaign must overcome. The latest New Yorker magazine cover cartoon depicts Barack Obama as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist.

The New Yorker magazine cover portrays the Illinois senator in a fez and robe bumping fists with his wife Michelle, who is shown with an Afro, a rifle and military garb. In the background, an American flag burns in the fireplace.

The Obama campaign is obviously not amused with the magazine cover. They have released a statement that most readers and supporters of Obama would consider it tasteless and offensive.

And it is not just his supporters who are backing him up. His political rival John McCain also shares that view.

"I just saw the cover. I think it's totally inappropriate and I understand if Senator Obama and his supporters find it offensive," McCain said.

The Editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, meanwhile maintains that the cover is not an attack on Obama, but an attack on rumours about the presidential contender.

"I respect everybody's point of view whether it's the Obama campaign or the people complaining about this, or the people who are supporting it. All I can tell you is what we intended and the cover is titled The Politics of Fear. It is about the politics of fear, it is not an attack on Obama, just the opposite. It is an attack on those who would manipulate and lie about him and we are holding a mirror up to that," said Remnick.