I’m a subscriber to The New Yorker, and, since we’re away for the summer, and our magazines are being forwarded, I probably won’t get my current issue (the Obama cover) until December. But, I’ve been following the furor over it.

I am reminded of an incident about which my husband told me. Years ago, in Florida, there was an exhibit called, “Dinosuars Alive,” and one patron demanded his money back because there weren’t any actual living dinosaurs in the exhibit.

When ignorant people view satire, or a facsimile thereof, they miss the irony, and they take it literally. And that is what is happening with Barry Blitt’s very smart, excellent cover. His attempt is to display what fearful and ignorant people see when they see the Obamas. And when the fearful and ignorant people see this cover, they see what they’ve always seen: Their own fear and ignorance, staring right back at them!

The saddest fallout of this event is that the Obamas and the campaign appear to be too afraid to NOT care what those people think. They are still trying to win the votes of the ignorant and fearful, and, once they start trying to please those people, they lose not only their senses of humor but their freedom to be who they are, which includes people who appreciate satire. My guess is that the Obamas and the Obama campaign are not so much offended by this cover as they are afraid that the people who don’t get it will take it literally and not vote for him.

If you’re going to sit on the fence you’re either going to fall off or get really uncomfortable sitting up there. Pick a side and stay true to it. 

(By the way, if someone who doesn’t appreciate satire reads this, he or she might think that I referred to Hitler in the first paragraph. That’s a different Fuhrer.)