As someone who has been on the recieving end of discrimination before in the past (just last week in fact) I can say that it is very hard to overlook certian visual presentations in the media as being anything other than veiled forms discriminatory evocations.

Blatant in many regards considering this very same depiction has been used so often in the past in a racist manner and is paticularly sensitive to the people aginst which it was used.

Now there is a difference as Thorne pointed out between looking for the tiniest slight and reading between the print so to speak. IMHO this is not one of those times.

If the cartoon had been made during any other Presidents administration would it have had a far different meaning? Perhaps not but it was printed during this presidents admisistration just hoping for an inflamatory response.

Ole Abe for instance was often portrayed by his detractors as a long armed babboon.

Of course the use of our less developed evolutionary cousins (all animals) in getting a point accross is commonplace.

The way its done however and the message such images portray should be thought out much more closely as they will have lasting effects in some cases on our culture.

Intelectual disconectedness aside, there is no one that could convince me that the cartoon in question was not willfully depected exactly the way it was on purpose (borderline rasict depection at best) knowing exactly how inflamatory it would be precived.

Regardless of which scource the Times or the Post (both of which in my opinion are two sides of the same evil coin in every way) the cartoon was just plain wrong.

Several people I am sure had to sign off on it before it hit the public via what is supposed to be a respected news scource. rme &smh

(On a side bar: If your wanting to pick favorite fish wrapers mine was allways the "Cristian Science Monitor", I know I know it doesnt have the magazine high gloss form but at least its not 100% biased in all of its reporting like so many of its counterparts.)