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When I lived in New York I avoided The New York Post. I respect journalism after all, and there were much better sources for news. So it does not surprise me that the daily tabloid-style newspaper would publish a controversial stimulus-bill cartoon* in which police shoot a monkey and say, “They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”

Cue Rev. Sharpton.

The cartoon fails miserably at bringing together two news headlines - the passage of the stimulus bill and a Connecticut woman's mauling by her friend's pet chimpanzee. Police shot the chimp to death, and the woman suffered extensive facial and hand injuries.

Critics: ‘What About a “No York Post” Day?'

Although The New York Post says the monkey in question is really a reference to Washington's attempt to repair the economy, some people think the cartoon is racist. Their arguments are girded in the fact that many people (rightly or wrongly) consider the stimulus bill to be synonymous with President Obama. And, historically, racist attackers often equated African-Americans with monkeys. And since President Obama is the nation's first African American president, well …

Cue the protesters.

But can we put aside the racism debate for a moment to discuss the fact that the cartoon is way too inappropriate to even be remotely funny? Have you listened to the (Note: very graphic) 911 call that the chimp's owner made during the attack?

And, as I type, a woman is lying in a hospital having undergone hours upon hours of surgery just to stabilize her condition. Where is the humor in that?

* I purposely did not link to The New York Post or to the cartoon.