I see plenty of evil in New York Post cartoon

Hat tip to Wayne of Electronic Village who tipped me off to the above cartoon early this morning.

There is no excuse for this image which was printed in the New York Post. You can call it satire or comedy, I call it it ignorant and stupid. To associate gunshots and a monkey with President Barack Obama’s first major piece of signed legislation act is tasteless at best.

Anyone who wants to call cartoonist Sean Delonas’s work racist can feel free. New York Governor David Paterson and Rev. Al Sharpton have both called upon The Post to clarify its meaning. In a statement, New York Post Editor-in-Chief said the following:

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.”

Is Allen’s statement a surprise, as The New York Post is owned by News Corp. which is also the parent company of Fox News? Allen didn’t waste anytime passing the buck from Delonas – who last year plagiarized his own cartoon– onto Rev. Sharpton.

Allen will soon realize that his answer is unacceptable. I mean we all are willing to give you one shot to explain yourself, but when you fail to take one ounce of responsibility for this violent, abrasive, and arguably racist image, that we can’t look past.

Mr. Allen has taken a page right out of the Fox News Playbook: First do harm, then blame someone else, and take no responsibility. Does anyone remember a Fox News Analyst joking about a Barack Obama Assassination last year (they did have to apologize for that one).

The Post will find that they will have to do a little bit more than that. They may feel trivializing Rev. Sharpton will focus the spotlight on something else, but I say they need to do better.