NY Post Chimp Cartoon: A Caveman Could Do It?

The New York Post is in a heap of hot water tonight.  They ran a cartoon likening the creator of the new stimulus bill (President Barack Obama?) with a wild chimpanzee, parodying yesterday’s headline-grabbing chimpanzee attack in Connecticut.

Famed cartoonist Sean Delonas wrote is the author responsible. The cartoon ran on both the New York Post website and on page twelve of today’s newspaper.

“They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill,” the caption reads.

Is the cartoon basically just saying that the stimulus bill is such a mess that “a caveman could do it”, much like the popular GEICO commercials?  Or is it instead a sinister attempt to convey that the racism surrounding this presidency will only end in violence?

Rev. Al Sharpton has weighed in (of course):

“The cartoon in today’s New York Post is troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys. One has to question whether the cartoonist is making a less than casual reference to this when in the cartoon they have police saying after shooting a chimpanzee that “Now they will have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill.”

“Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama (the first African American president) and has become synonymous with him it is not a reach to wonder are they inferring that a monkey wrote the last bill?”

Tonight, the NY Post has also issued a surprisingly brazen statement regarding the chimp cartoon. Here is the full statement by Col Allan, the editor-in-chief of the NY Post:

“The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut. It broadly mocks Washington’s efforts to revive the economy. Again, Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist.”

For once in my life, I actually agree with the Reverend on this one. The NY Post should think twice before issuing such a bold statement.

Cartoonist Sean Delonas went on to call Sharpton’s accusations “absolutely friggin’ ridiculous” during a phone interview with CNN Wednesday afternoon.

“Do you really think I’m saying Obama should be shot? I didn’t see that in the cartoon,” he said. “It’s about the economic stimulus bill. If you’re going to make that about anybody, it would be [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, which it’s not.”

This one’s only going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

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