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The cover of the July 21 New Yorker depicts Obama in turban fist bumping his wife who is complete with an afro and automatic weapon while an American flag burns in the fire place and picture of Osama Bin Laden on the mantle that is getting all the attention.

Both presidential campaigns have denounced this cover. Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said, “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.”

Here is the cover:

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McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds agreed, “We completely agree with the Obama campaign, it’s tasteless and offensive.” The New Yorker has defended their cover as satire, and even if you can get past the hatchet job this does on Obama, what bothers me most is the burning of the American flag, and picture of Osama Bin Laden over the mantle.

To me that image is a slap in the face to all of those who were injured, died, or lost loved ones on 9/11. I don’t think it is appropriate to joke about Bin Laden in such a personal and political sense. People who see this cover won’t see satire. What they should see is a shameless attempt by an irrelevant magazine to get some cheap publicity.

In politics, presidential nominees deal with this kind of trash all of the time. Obama is a big boy, he can take it, but I think this cover shows a great deal of insensitivity towards the troops who are overseas, because of 9/11, justified or not, and those who were harmed by the attacks masterminded by Bin Laden. I just don’t see any humor in terrorism.

Campaign quotes came from Politico