The provocation: A new, comprehensively anti-Obama billboard in Grand Junction, Colo., is outraging both sides of the aisle. (For a look, check out the video below.) The image portrays a poker game attended by four Obama caricatures that appear to depict, respectively: A bomb-wielding Islamic terrorist, a Mexican bandit, a mobster, and a flamboyant gay man. Rats and vultures — labelled "IRS," "the Fed," and "trial lawyers" — surround the table while the top of the billboard reads, "Vote DemoRAt: Join the game." Editorial cartoonist Paul Snover (who reportedly posts his work on Tea Party websites) told local station KJCT that he created the billboard for an anonymous client: "We wanted to get people to think a little deeper."
The reaction: "Oh, really Paul?" asks ChattahBox Political News. This xenophobic, homophobic, and otherwise hateful billboard seems designed to "get people to do anything but 'think.'" The image is "beyond disrespectful," Martelle Daniels, the Democratic Party chairwoman for Colorado's Mesa County, tells The Daily Sentinel, which quotes her Republican counterpart, Chuck Pabst, voicing his own disapproval: "That kind of political positioning and statements, I think, are in bad taste," Pabst said. "It’s reprehensible...." Watch a news report on the billboard (coverage starts at 00:40):
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Zack Polanski: the 'eco-populist' running for Green Party leaderIn The Spotlight 'Insurgent' party deputy is making a bid to take the Greens further to the left
-
Do smartphone bans in schools work?The Explainer Trials in UK, New Zealand, France and the US found prohibition may be only part of the solution
-
Doom: The Dark Ages – an 'exhilarating' prequelThe Week Recommends Legendary shooter adds new combat options from timed parries to melee attacks and a 'particularly satisfying' shield charge
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are the billionaires backing?The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
-
US election: where things stand with one week to goThe Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
-
Is Trump okay?Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
-
The life and times of Kamala HarrisThe Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
