NY Daily News: looks like Obama's responding more or less sensibly to the New Yorker cover:
"I know it was The New Yorker's attempt at satire. I don't think they were entirely successful with it," Obama said. "But you know what? It's a cartoon ... and that's why we've got the First Amendment."
[...]
"Ultimately, it's a cartoon, it's not where the American people are spending a lot of their time thinking about."
Obama has spent the better part of the past 18 months debunking false Internet rumors that he's Muslim and defending his patriotism. He's Christian, but Obama said he's been derelict in pointing out how hurtful these attacks are to Muslim Americans.
These fallacious e-mails and The New Yorker cartoon are "actually an insult against Muslim Americans," he said. There are "wonderful Muslim Americans" across the country, Obama said, and "for this to be used as sort of an insult, or to raise suspicions about me, I think is unfortunate."
I haven't changed my opinion -- the New Yorker cover is obviously satire, and the only people too dumb to tell would never have seen it if not for a ridiculous liberal hue and cry about it -- but, that aside, he makes a good point. It's not that big a damn deal, and anyway, just because he's not a Muslim doesn't mean there's anything wrong with being a Muslim. I was frankly bothered by the story the other week about his campaign aides shooing a woman in a head scarf away from a photo op with him.
It's been a tough fucking 7 years for anyone who looks even remotely Muslim or middle-eastern (and they didn't exactly have it easy before then), and while Obama needs to respond to the absurd rumors circulating about him, he should also damn-well use his bully pulpit to stand up for the American Muslim population.