Cover of the New Yorker from July 21, 2008.
George Carlin died just when we needed him. The comedian made a career out of saying the things you were not supposed to say: on TV, in polite company, in the political arena. Now, the summer he left us, politicians and their followers are on a taking-offense offensive, adding more by the day--earnestly or with calculation--to the list of forbidden humor.
The most glaring recent example was the New Yorker cover that satirized the smears against Barack Obama and his wife. In a Dagwood sandwich of stereotypes, cartoonist Barry Blitt drew Barack (dressed in a turban) and Michelle (with an Angela...
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