I’m puzzled by the Obama camapaigns response to the new Yorker cover. To me this seemed pretty clearly an effort to mock Obama’s tormentors, not Obama. The depiction of the Terrorist Fist Jab mocks Fox News, not Obama or Muslims. The Michelle Obama afro mocks those who equate any African American with H. Rap Brown, not the bourgeois Obamas. The flag burning in the fireplace mocks those who claim that by criticizing Bush, Obama is being anti-American.

Candidates need to demonstrate they have a thick skin. Feeling aggrieved at slight attacks (especially ones that were intended as defenses) makes the candidate seem overly sensitive and insufficiently tough.