THIS MODERN WORLD

The internets are full of declarative statements about satire these days, the most common of which being that “satire does not work unless it portrays its intended target.”

So let’s consider this image:

Clearly this cartoon doesn’t work at all, because there is no way for the reader to understand that its intended target was not Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden themselves. So let’s see what we can do to clarify things:

That makes the intention of the cartoon clearer — but there’s still room for improvement.

There! That’s much better! But maybe, just to be safe, we should take it one step further:

Okay then! With no room for misinterpretation whatsoever — that’s comedy gold!

Remember: satire does not work unless it literally portrays the intended target!

Jimmy Carter delivered his so-called “malaise” speech 29 years ago today. What we wouldn’t give today to have done what he advocated (except perhaps the expanded use of coal):

CARTER: Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 — never…

Point two: To ensure that we meet these targets, I will use my presidential authority to set import quotas…

Point three: To give us energy security, I am asking for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our nation’s history to develop America’s own alternative sources of fuel…

I will soon submit legislation to Congress calling for the creation of this nation’s first solar bank, which will help us achieve the crucial goal of 20 percent of our energy coming from solar power by the year 2000.

These efforts will cost money, a lot of money, and that is why Congress must enact the windfall profits tax without delay…

Point four: I’m asking Congress to mandate, to require as a matter of law, that our nation’s utility companies cut their massive use of oil by 50 percent within the next decade and switch to other fuels, especially coal, our most abundant energy source…

Point five: To make absolutely certain that nothing stands in the way of achieving these goals, I will urge Congress to create an energy mobilization board…

Point six: I’m proposing a bold conservation program to involve every state, county, and city and every average American in our energy battle. This effort will permit you to build conservation into your homes and your lives at a cost you can afford.

To further conserve energy, I’m proposing tonight an extra $10 billion over the next decade to strengthen our public transportation systems…

Our nation must be fair to the poorest among us, so we will increase aid to needy Americans to cope with rising energy prices. We often think of conservation only in terms of sacrifice. In fact, it is the most painless and immediate way of rebuilding our nation’s strength. Every gallon of oil each one of us saves is a new form of production. It gives us more freedom, more confidence, that much more control over our own lives…

I do not promise you that this struggle for freedom will be easy. I do not promise a quick way out of our nation’s problems, when the truth is that the only way out is an all-out effort. What I do promise you is that I will lead our fight, and I will enforce fairness in our struggle, and I will ensure honesty. And above all, I will act. We can manage the short-term shortages more effectively and we will, but there are no short-term solutions to our long-range problems. There is simply no way to avoid sacrifice.

Thanks, America’s crazy right wing. We couldn’t have ignored our most important problems for three decades and thereby made them much worse without you.

(The speech can be watched here.)

In discussing a controversy about a political cartoon (or at least, an illustrator’s attempt at political cartooning), the New York Times quotes three late night talk show hosts and several more of their writers … and not a single political cartoonist.

Though due to my “deadline schedule” there wasn’t time to include the most recent example of … Obama Phenomena ….

Much attention has been paid to Barry Blitt’s shocking attempt to destroy the candidacy of Barack Obama with his so-called “cover illustration” for the New Yorker this week. But no one has yet mentioned the same artist’s earlier cover, in which he portrayed Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton sleeping in the same bed:

Is this appalling image meant to invoke racist stereotypes about the sexual prowess of black men? Or is it an anti-feminist swipe at middle-aged women comfortable with their own sexuality? Or maybe it’s meant to suggest that all Democrats are promiscuous adulterers who can’t be trusted with the responsibility that comes with the President’s hot line!

Whatever his intentions, Barry Blitt obviously drew this cover because he hates Democrats, and wants John McCain to win.

And then there’s this cover, published shortly after Hurricane Katrina:

Clearly, the “artist” is expressing his deep sympathy for the members of the Bush Administration, who — he suggests through his visual trickery — felt such deep compassion for the victims of Katrina that they might as well have experienced the flooding first hand.

Why not just draw George Bush with a halo while you’re at it, Democrat-hater Barry Blitt?

Maybe you could get away with biased commentary like this in the olden days — but this is the 21st century, and the Internet has your number now!