ROFL!
It’s a collector’s item, for sure!
Still trying to settle in my mind exactly what their thinking was in putting it out there.
I’m gonna go with the theory of innoculation, at least as far as the intent of TNY staff. It may well be a wink and a nudge among TNY and its regular readers ... but apparently the image is spreading like wildfire beyond that enclave. Entirely possible when you enclose yourself into an echo chamber of the like-minded.
Hey, from the magazine’s perspective, they’re picking up a lot of business. For this week, anyway. It’s edgy, it’s witty, and they get to snicker at the humorless knuckle-draggers who out themselves when they don’t recognise the art form. Meanwhile, they have plausible deniability.
“We *meant* well. How’s it *our* fault you misunderstood our meaning? Why you unsophisticated rube [reaches out and tussles the rube’s hair] how dare you question our intent? our superior intellect and finely honed sense of taste?”
And. Well. As long as the ignernt bigots who wanted the cover PAID for it, who cares.
I’ll leave it to you how the “ignernt bigots” split between Obama fans and detractors. Hah!