To the left you see a depiction of Barack and Michelle Obama – who are sharing a celebratory fist-bump in the Oval Office. Apros pro of the occasion, an American flag is burning in the fireplace, beneath an attractive portrait of Osama bin Laden. As is Barack Obama's wont, he wears the traditional Islamofascist garb of his madrasa youth. Michelle – with her hand defiantly placed upon her hip – sports a terrorist's fatigues, an oversized Angela Davis afro and a Kalashnikov rifle slung over her shoulder. Click to enlarge.

This cartoon has ignited a storm of indignation and a put-down from the Obama campaign. Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said, "The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."

I disagree. I think the cartoon is exactly the kind of full-bodied satire the public needs to see published in the national press – in general and specifically in reaction to right-wing polemics (which cry out for mainstream, push-backing parody).

The alternative press has always published cartoons this biting – as its mission and bread and butter, but that's not the case with the timorous mainstream press. And so, criticism of the New Yorker is not surprising. But as far as I can see, critics of the New Yorker and of the cartoon should remember how to take a joke.

Did I mention I'm a New Yorker subscriber? Bravo to the New Yorker.