Lest We Forgot, David Horsey.

Here’s a satirical cartoon from David Horsey, cartoonist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in response to The New Yorker cartoon where Barack and Michelle Obama were depicted as terrorists. This image depicts a wheelchair-bound McCain, slurring “Bomb bomb bomb—bomb bomb Iran,” as his wife Cindy pours pills into her hand saying “Take some of my meds to get through the inaugural parade!)

Horsey, states his purpose for drawing the cartoon clearly, “For all you irony challenged literalists who were upset by The New Yorkers Obama as a Muslim cover, here’s one for you.”

I don’t know about you but I’m no “irony challenged literalist” in fact, Horsey understands my uproar over The New Yorker cartoon quite well. See, back in March Horsey apologized for offending the Jewish community when he originally drew a cartoon depicting two prodigal sons. The first prodigal son’s father accepts his long lost son back while the yarmulke skullcap wearing Jewish father says “Tough luck kid, life is unfair.”

Alan Gardner of the Daily Cartoonist writes:

Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial cartoonist David Horsey found himself in an uncomfortable situation when one of his cartoons unintentionally offended many of the Jewish faith. The cartoon which ran last Thursday depicts two prodigal sons. The first, representing investment firms returning to a receptive father willing to bail him out and a second an individual home owner who lost his house with a “risky loan” and receives a cold shoulder. The point of contention was that the father was originally drawn wearing a yarmulke - “is a thin, slightly-rounded skullcap traditionally worn at all times by Orthodox Jewish men.” Many felt that identifying the father as Jewish continued the stereotype that Jews are money handlers.

Horsey responds to Jewish community with this:

“I am mortified to learn that a number of people in the Jewish community around the United States read into a recent cartoon a meaning I never intended. While there have been times that folks with an axe to grind have purposely misread my work, in this case I can fully appreciate the cause of concern. It was a complete failure on my part to comprehend how the mix of symbols in my cartoon could summon up historical libels against Jews This seemed to help clarify my intent, but I also realized that one little detail in my cartoon — the yarmulke — had clearly identified the characters as Jews, not as mere ancient residents of the Middle East. It was a dumb, thoughtless, unnecessary addition that was easily remedied.”

Ummm, flip flopper or anti-semimtist? Take your pick. Read entire article here. David Horsey apologizes for misinterpretation of his cartoon