Chimpin Ain't Easy

Is it ever okay to joke when you know because of a certain implication it could be seen as offensive? Or do we do it anyway because we think the joke is so clever and hope nothing controversial comes of it? Good question for The New York Post.

Today they are under scrutiny for a cartoon depicting police officers with a chimp lying on the ground who they just shot with the caption, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill". This cartoon was inspired by a combination of current events as yesterday the stimulus bill was officially signed by Barack Obama and and a chimp was shot and killed by officers in Connecticut after it attacked and mauled a woman.

Insiders claim the cartoon has no racial connection to referring to African-Americans or more so the president as a chimp, but is poking fun and calling the writer of the stimulus bill a chimp, not the president. If that was the case, then yes people would be overacting.

Of course Reverend Al Sharpton's spider sense went off when he heard about this and he released a statement saying, "Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama ... and has become synonymous with him, it is not a reach to wonder: are they inferring that a monkey wrote the last bill?... The Post should at best clarify what point they were trying to make, or in fact reprimand their cartoonist."


I doubt Obama will speak on it, but there's also a chance he's personally not offended by it and doesn't think it was in reference to him. But as intellectuals on staff, I'm surprised no one raised any flags about how this might be perceived or maybe they didn't care. The average person when they see that cartoon will not assume they're referring to the writer of the stimulus act, but of the president who has been the main person involved with pushing it. Even if someone was sitting back there giggling at the implication of the chimp representing Obama, we'll never really know the truth or they'll never admit it.

Update: They issued an apology to anyone who was offended, but then in a very backhanded way said that anyone who has it out for them they are not apologizing to. That's like being a schoolyard bully being forced to apologize to a kid you beat up and saying, "I'm sorry, but I'm really not apologizing because those kids over there beat me up too"....best analogy I can think of at the moment, but definitely not sincere.

But the original article is here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/18/new-york-post-chimp-carto_n_167841.html


Article on Woman Attacked by Chimp:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/16/chimp.attack/