If a satirist has to go public to explain "it was just a joke," as the New Yorker did, then it was poor satire. This magazine appears on racks all over the country and many people have no idea what the New Yorker is, what its political leanings are or anything else. This was an irresponsible and tasteless act and it has lowered the standing of a great magazine.

BTW there is a counter cartoon going around the net depicting McCain as a senile old coot with his wife handling and popping all kinds of pills, a constitution burning in the fireplace and a picture of Cheney on the mantle. It is equaly tasteless.