The Politics of Fear

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The Politics of Fear
Barry Blitt , 2008

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The Politics of Fear ( German  "The politics of fear" is) a caricature of the Canadian-born American cartoonist Barry Blitt that on the cover of New York appeared on 21 July of 2008. It shows the then presidential candidate Barack Obama as an Islamist and his wife Michelle as an armed fighter in the Oval Office and was intendedto caricaturevarious conspiracy theories surrounding the Obamas. However, many saw it as a confirmation of these theories or saw the danger that it could be interpreted as such.

background

Barack and Michelle Obama at a campaign rally in Des Moines in January 2008

Barack Obama , who had previously represented Illinois in the United States Senate , had prevailed against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Party's longest primary election to date and had been the Democratic nominee-designate since June 4, 2008 . He was on the verge of becoming the first African American presidential candidate for a major party in US history. At this point in time, various conspiracy theories had already developed around Obama's origin and religion. One of them said that Obama was secretly a Muslim . The reasons for this idea were, among other things, the Muslim upbringing of his Kenyan father and his Indonesian stepfather and his stay in Indonesia during his childhood. As early as 2004, shortly after Obama's speech at the Democratic nomination convention , the relatively unknown Republican politician from Illinois, Andy Martin, raised this charge. The theory was taken up again in the 2008 presidential election primaries and was spread in e-mails in December 2007 by supporters of Hillary Clinton, among others. In addition, Obama's Christian faith has also been characterized as extreme and beyond the American mainstream. The background to this was a controversy surrounding Pastor Jeremiah Wright , who, among other things, married the Obamas and baptized their children. In recordings of Wright's sermons, he sharply criticized American politics and changed the phrase God Bless America (God bless America) to God Damn America (God curse America). Others accused Obama of being a militant atheist or even the Antichrist . All of these conspiracy theories were reflected in the opinion of the American people. According to a poll by the Pew Research Center in March 2008, only just under half of Americans accepted that Obama is a Christian. 34 percent were unsure about his religious affiliation, while 10 percent thought he was a Muslim. A total of 79 percent had heard of the theory that Obama was a Muslim.

In addition, Obama was also accused of having had close contact with Bill Ayers , a founding member of the radical left-wing militant underground organization Weathermen , which operated in the 1960s and 1970s . Obama and Ayers lived in the same neighborhood in Chicago and had both worked in two charities as of 1995. It was alleged, among other things, that Ayers wrote Obama's 1995 autobiography Dreams from My Father . Contact with Ayers was also taken up in October 2008 by Sarah Palin , the Republican vice-presidential candidate: She accused Obama of being friends with terrorists.

Obama's wife Michelle has also faced serious allegations. She was presented by the right-wing press as an example of the stereotype of the “angry black woman”. One of the reasons for this was a speech she gave during the primary campaign. In it, she stated that she was proud of her country for the first time in her adult life. This has been criticized by opponents as anti-American. In addition, she was also accused of adhering to radical and militant ideas. The conservative radio presenter Sean Hannity wanted to have found evidence in her thesis that she adhered to ideas of black separatism and militancy. However, in these passages she had only discussed views of black students at Princeton in the 1970s.

description

Angela Davis (1972), who has been compared to the portrayal of Michelle Obama in the cartoon

The cartoon shows Barack and Michelle Obama in the Oval Office, the office of the President of the United States. The two greet each other with a fist salute (Engl. Fist bump ). This gesture, previously used by the Obamas at an election rally, was called a terrorist gesture by Fox News host ED Hill. Barack wears a traditional Muslim robe, sandals, and a head covering that resembles a turban. His left foot stands on the neck of the bald eagle of the American coat of arms on the carpet. Michelle wears a paramilitary uniform, which includes camouflage pants and boots. She also hung an AK-47 over her shoulders. She reminds of a fighter of the Black Panther Party or the Weathermen . Her big afro , which she doesn't actually wear, is reminiscent of Angela Davis' hairstyle . The US flag burns in the chimney and a painting by Osama bin Laden hangs above it .

Creation and publication

The Politics of Fear appeared on the cover of the July 21, 2008 issue of The New Yorker , which went on sale July 14. In the first draft of the cover, Barry Blitt also portrayed Michelle Obama as a Muslim. Ann Coulter , Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh also looked horrified through the window at the Obamas. At the request of his superiors Françoise Mouly, however, Blitt removed the three, as it did not seem right to ascribe the prejudices only to these three critics. According to Blitt, the aim of the cover was to expose the conspiracy theories surrounding Obama as ridiculous scaremongering. Part of the issue was an 18-page report by Ryan Lizza about Obama's political career in Chicago . In it, Lizza makes the unflattering statement that Obama is not the anti-establishment revolutionary that some see him as. Instead, he always tried to adapt to the institutions instead of tearing them down or replacing them.

Reactions and reception

There were already reactions before the edition went on sale on July 14th. When Barack Obama was asked at a press conference the day before for an opinion on the cover, he replied that he had none (“I have no response to that.”). The campaign spokesman announced on the same day that most of the New Yorker's readers would see the cartoon as “tasteless and offensive” and agree with it. The spokesman for Republican presidential candidate John McCain also shared this opinion. In an interview with Larry King on the talk show Larry King Live on July 15, Obama was of the opinion that the New Yorker had not been completely successful with the aim of his satire. Nonetheless, he defended their right to publish the cover on the basis of the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution , and was convinced that Americans would probably be more concerned about current political problems than about the cartoon. He also saw the allegations against him of being Muslim as an insult to American Muslims. In connection with The Politics of Fear , Kareem Shora, the chairman of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee , cited this by asking in a letter to the New Yorker why the term “Muslim” is such a powerful weapon against Obama be. He demanded that instead of the caricature one should rather discuss why Muslim is equated with terrorist, violent and un-American.

The reactions in the media and letters to the editor to the New Yorker were diverse. While some praised the cartoon and the irony it contained, the majority of opinions were negative. Many took the content of the cartoon literally and were shocked that the New Yorker was suggesting that the Obamas are dangerous terrorists. According to linguist Robin Lakoff, this reaction is very surprising. For one thing, the caricature is so exaggerated that it is difficult to imagine anyone really guessing that it is trying to portray the truth. On the other hand, the New Yorker is known to be very liberal and has been a supporter of Obama's candidacy from the start. So it is surprising that his readership, considered hip and educated, could seriously assume that he supported the conspiracy theories surrounding the Obamas.

Other critics, while asserting that they themselves understood the irony of the caricature, expressed concern that many other, less educated people might believe the caricature's contents to be the truth. That in turn was criticized as elitism . Robin Lakoff also notices a secondary irony in it. The critics of a caricature that allegedly divide America into white and not-white or loyal and treacherous, even used such a division into the educated, who can be trusted to understand irony, and the others who do not.

In addition to this form of criticism, voices were raised in many African-American media and blogs, which in turn accused the editors of the New Yorker and its readership of not understanding something completely different. They were accused of being clueless and arrogant about racism and historical accounts. For example, it is self-righteous to claim that it makes a difference whether a statement comes from an enlightened or unenlightened person.

In addition, the cartoon has been criticized by conservative commentators for portraying Republicans as bigoted. Philipp Klein of the American Spectator was of the opinion that the caricature, by classifying the conservatives as ignorant racists, marginalized any form of criticism of Obama as idiotic.

A poll by the Pew Research Center showed that the cartoon had caught the attention of many Americans. She found that 51 percent of Americans had seen the cover. Of these, 70 percent of Democratic supporters found it offensive (“offensive”), while only 41 percent of Republicans saw it that way.

Adaptations

In the days after The New Yorker was published, various cartoons appeared that adapted The Politics of Fear and replaced the Obamas with other people. A parody of The Politics of Fear , drawn by Thomas Boldt , appeared in the Calgary Sun , in which George W. Bush and the Grim Reaper greet each other with a fist bump. Instead of the American flag, the American constitution burns in the chimney, above which hangs a picture of an oil barrel. Next to Bush are torture tools for waterboarding and electric shocks.

John and Cindy McCain at the Republican Nomination Party in September 2008

Several adaptations replaced the Obamas with his Republican challenger John McCain and his wife Cindy . For example, a cartoon by David Horsey that appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on July 15 showed the two of them on a fictional cover of the conservative National Review newspaper . It shows the drooling John McCain sitting in a wheelchair , babbling “Bomb Iran ” in front of himself. His wife pours out a large amount of pills and tells him to take some of her medicine to survive the inauguration parade . The portrayal of the two is an indication of McCain's old age of 71 as well as his wife's previous drug addiction. Instead of the American flag, the American constitution burns in the fireplace, over which a painting by Dick Cheney hangs. The cartoon includes the original from The Politics on Fear . It is also pointed out that the caricature would be for anyone who had no sense of irony and took the cover of the New Yorker seriously ("irony-challenged literalists").

The cartoon by Bill Bramhall, published in the Daily News , shows a meeting of the New Yorker's editorial team evaluating a new cover. It shows McCain with a diaper and a walker, a typical American walking aid . His wife is sitting on several money bags and is throwing medication into herself. One man describes the cover as edgy and ironic ("Edgy. Ironic.") And recommends choosing it.

On July 22nd, Vanity Fair posted another spoof of the cover on their website. McCain also uses a walker on her and his wife Cindy has a bottle of pills in her hand. Here, too, the American constitution burns in the fireplace. A painting by George W. Bush hangs above him. In a winking comment, the editors described the publication as a “selfless act of solidarity” with their colleagues. Both magazines are owned by Condé Nast Verlag .

Stephen Colbert as Michelle and Jon Stewart as Barack Obama re-enacted the cartoon on the October 3 cover of Entertainment Weekly . Part of the issue was an interview with the two of them about the upcoming presidential election.

Two years later, the issue of appeared on the cover New Yorkers of 15 November 2010, the cartoon Bumped by Barry Blitt that of The Politics of Fear recalls. Barack Obama can be seen in the Oval Office with Republican Congressman John Boehner . While Obama offers Boehner his hand, Boehner holds out his fist. Boehner was after the success of the Republicans in the congressional elections as the upcoming speaker of the House of Representatives , which he was in January 2011.

literature

  • Safiyya Hosein: A Rhetorical Schema for Evaluating “The Other” in Satirical Imagery: The New York Cartoon on Barack Obama . In: Conference Proceedings - National Communication Association / American Forensic Association (Alta Conference on Argumentation) . 2010, p. 187-193 (English, academia.edu ).
  • Martin A. Parlett: Demonizing a President. The “Foreignization” of Barack Obama . Praeger, Santa Barbara / Denver / Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-1-4408-3055-6 (English).
  • Jason Zenor: Politics of Fear? Reception Analysis of the New York Obama Cover's Meaning, Effect and Editorial Decision . In: Operant Subjectivity . tape 36 , no. 1 , October 1, 2012, p. 25–46 , doi : 10.15133 / j.os.2012.002 (English).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jason Zenor: Politics of Fear? Reception Analysis of the New York Obama Cover's Meaning, Effect and Editorial Decision . 2012, p. 28.
  2. ↑ Victory in the primary marathon: Obama becomes the first black presidential candidate in the USA. In: Spiegel online . June 4, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Jim Rutenberg: The Man Behind the Whispers About Obama. In: New York Times . October 12, 2008, accessed November 25, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Ben Smith: Clinton staffer on anti-Obama email chain (UPDATED). In: Politico . May 12, 2007, accessed November 25, 2018 .
  5. ^ A b Martin A. Parlett: Demonizing a President. The “Foreignization” of Barack Obama. 2014, p. 126.
  6. ↑ Martin A. Parlett: demonizing a President. The “Foreignization” of Barack Obama. 2014, pp. 82–83.
  7. ↑ Martin A. Parlett: demonizing a President. The “Foreignization” of Barack Obama. 2014, p. 127.
  8. ↑ a b Fact Check: Is Obama 'palling around with terrorists'? In: CNN. October 5, 2008, accessed December 1, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Martin A. Parlett: demonizing a President. The “Foreignization” of Barack Obama. 2014, pp. 114–115.
  10. ↑ Martin A. Parlett: demonizing a President. The “Foreignization” of Barack Obama. 2014, pp. 88–90.
  11. ↑ Matthew Biedlingmaier: After asking, "Do the Obamas have a race problem-of Their Own?" Hannity continued to smear Barack and Michelle Obama. In: Media Matters for America. March 5, 2008, accessed November 25, 2018 .
  12. ↑ MJ Stephey: A Brief History of the Fist Bump. In: Time . August 5, 2008, accessed November 4, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Ted Gournelos, Viveca Greene: Introduction: Popular Culture and Post-9/11 Politics. In: Ted Gournelos, Viveca Greene (Eds.): A Decade of Dark Humor: How Comedy, Irony, and Satire Shaped Post-9/11 America . University Press of Mississippi, Jackson 2011, ISBN 978-1-61703-006-2 , p. Xix ( digitized from Google Books; English).
  14. ↑ Martin A. Parlett: demonizing a President. The “Foreignization” of Barack Obama. 2014, p. 123.
  15. ↑ Julia Quante: Drawn into the Heart of Europe? British European policy in the mirror of cartoons (1973–2008) (= Media & Politics. Volume 44). Lit, Berlin / Münster 2013, ISBN 978-3643-11538-6 , p. 126 ( digitized from Google Books).
  16. ^ Françoise Mouly: Blown Covers. New Yorker Covers You Were Never Meant to See. Abrams, New York 2012, ISBN 978-1-4197-0209-9 , pp. 57-60 ( digitized from Google Books).
  17. ↑ Nico Pitney: Barry Blitt Defends His New Yorker Cover Art Of Obama. In: Huffington Post . July 21, 2008, accessed December 1, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Ryan Lizza: Making It. How Chicago shaped Obama. In: The New Yorker. July 21, 2008, accessed August 8, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Marc Pitzke: Turban and Terror Bride: Obama cartoon provokes protests. In: Spiegel Online . July 14, 2008, accessed August 8, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Mike Allen: 'Scare tactic' - Obama slams Muslim portrayal. In: Politico . July 13, 2008, accessed August 4, 2018 .
  21. ↑ Interview with Sen. Barack Obama; Mortgage Crisis Affects Thousands of Homeowners. In: CNN . July 15, 2008, accessed December 1, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Kareem Shora: Judging a Cover. In: The New Yorker. July 28, 2008, accessed December 1, 2018 .
  23. ↑ a b c Robin Lakoff: “Laura! Laura! Wake up ”: The politics and pragmatics of intertextuality and appropriation. In: Michael Meeuwis, Jan-Ola Östman (Ed.): Pragmaticizing Understanding. Studies for Jef Verschueren . John Benjamin, Amsterdam / Philadelphia 2012, ISBN 978-90-272-1191-0 , pp. 139–150, here: 147–150, ( digitized from Google Books, English).
  24. ↑ a b Ted Gournelos, Viveca Greene: Introduction: Popular Culture and Post-9/11 Politics. In: Ted Gournelos, Viveca Greene (Eds.): A Decade of Dark Humor: How Comedy, Irony, and Satire Shaped Post-9/11 America . University Press of Mississippi, Jackson 2011, ISBN 978-1-61703-006-2 , p. Xxii ( digitized from Google Books; English).
  25. ↑ Ted Gournelos, Viveca Greene: Introduction: Popular Culture and Post-9/11 Politics. In: Ted Gournelos, Viveca Greene (Eds.): A Decade of Dark Humor: How Comedy, Irony, and Satire Shaped Post-9/11 America . University Press of Mississippi, Jackson 2011, ISBN 978-1-61703-006-2 , p. Xxv ( digitized from Google Books; English).
  26. ↑ Jason Zenor: Politics of Fear? Reception Analysis of the New York Obama Cover's Meaning, Effect and Editorial Decision . 2012, p. 26.
  27. ^ Robert Busby: Republican Mavericks: The Anti-Obama Impulse in the 2008 Election. In: Mark Ledwidge, Kevern Verney, Inderjeet Parma (Eds.): Barack Obama and the Myth of a Post-Racial America. Routledge, New York / London 2014, ISBN 978-0-415-81393-8 , pp. 43–64, here: 56 ( digitized from Google Books; English).
  28. ^ Bludgeoning Barack and Bush. In: Tri-City Herald. July 16, 2018, accessed November 25, 2018 .
  29. ↑ Alex Koppelman: The McCain cartoon satire. In: Salon.com . July 15, 2008, accessed November 25, 2018 .
  30. ^ Tom Hachtman: The New Yorker. In: Michael Sporn Animation's websites. June 17, 2018, accessed November 25, 2018 .
  31. ↑ Rebecca Sinderbrand: Vanity Fair out with New Yorker parody. In: CNN politics. July 22, 2008, accessed August 5, 2018 .
  32. ↑ Josh Wolk: Stewart & Colbert: Exclusive Q&A. In: Entertainment Weekly . September 30, 2008, accessed August 5, 2018 .
  33. ↑ Samantha Henig: Cover Story: Approval Bump? In: The New Yorker. November 5, 2010, accessed December 2, 2018 .
  34. ↑ John Boehner Gives Obama 'Terrorist Fist Bump' On New York Cover. In: The Huffington Post. November 7, 2010, accessed December 2, 2018 .