Long Island Newspaper Gets Only The "Sexist And Racist" Part Of "Making A Sexist And Racist Joke...

Long Island Newspaper Gets Only The “Sexist And Racist” Part Of “Making A Sexist And Racist Joke” Right

A Smithtown, N.Y., newspaper is under fire for publishing a photo spread comparing Barack and Michelle Obama to Fred Sanford and “Aunt Esther” from the ’70s sitcom Sanford & Son. The Smithtown Messenger spread was entitled “Before And After,” and in it pictures of recent Presidents and their spouses on Inauguration Day were compared with current photos. But the “After” photo for the Obamas is not some sort of Photoshop Aging Filter wonder; instead it’s a shot of Fred and Esther seemingly about to come to blows. A scan inside.

In the wake of much fury regarding this ham-handed attempt at lulz, the paper released a statement:

“The publisher of the Smithtown Messenger regret [sic!] any offense taken by our readers at the photographic political satire depicting the current and past presidents on the editorial page in the April 29th, 2010 issue. While we have grave disagreement with the policies of the current Administration, we hold the office of President of the United States in great respect.”

Oh, so is this another “we respect the office of the President, but that doesn’t mean we have to be nice to his wife (or him as a person since we only respect the office not the man)” sort of thing? Fantastic. The ’90s really are back. (Does this mean that it’s a sign of slight progress that Hillary Clinton was spared the stock-photo swapping?)

[Scan via]