Chimpanzees

[canadageorges]

When the former president was called a chimp, it was an attack on his intelligence and big ears.
When the current president is called a chimp, it is an attack on his race.
Discuss.

Edited To Add Link : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7898845.stm

Comments

you're missing the point

[gaiusc]

Sorry for this but I seem to need my soap box time. Here is what i got from the cartoon in question:
There is no comparison to of Obama as a chimp in this cartoon. period. This is meant commentary on the Post itself. The idea being that the stimulus package is HUGE frickin news, and that everyone in the World is talking about is ramifications on tomorrow and a hundred years from now. HUGE NEWS. But what did the Post(and other news agencies) see fit to plaster the front page with? news of a monkey being shot. Yes it is a tragic story, but is it THAT newsworthy? Now granted the cartoonist in question did a poor job conveying this idea, that the cops who were part of the news story seem to get what is important. I will concede that this commentary could have been made with a different leading news story, maybe if Britney Spears had just had Octuplets the cartoon would have been better received, but i think the point is still valid. Here we are facing a huge economic crisis, and a chimp is front page news. Now i read the story of the poor chimp and i understand the tragedy, but its more of a filler story than a leader. To make matters worse, now we are going to spend time (and yes, i see the hypocrisy in this statement) arguing about a comic, and its implications. I think the cartoon's point was missed by almost everyone i have heard comment on it, and unfortunately it has become an example of the very problem it was trying to lampoon.
That's my opinion, what's yours?

Re: you're missing the point

[canadageorges]

I was hoping I was missing the point, so I went and looked at it again. I just don't see it as commentary on news coverage. The Post's apology implies that it is commentary on the stimulus package, meant to say that it was written poorly. I suppose that if the author meant to imply that the writing of the bill had been outsourced to a chimp, then perhaps no racism was intended.
If the author really did mean that the stimulus package should have garnered more attention than police putting down a dangerous animal, then I am sad that he didn't do a better job, and happy that I get my news from a source that covered the stimulus package instead of the chimp. BBC ftw!