A cartoon that may or may not be vaguely racist is being called definitely racist by the loudest people with an opinion, including Al Sharpton, a representative of the National Association of Black Journalists, and other generally angry folks that get press coverage.

The cartoon, which appeared in the always reliable New York Post, depicts two police officers wondering who will write the next stimulus bill after they gunned down a chimpanzee who apparently wrote the first one. Col Allen, editor in chief of the post, defended the cartoon and its creator, Sean Delonas, citing the chimp as a reference to recent Post-newsworthy events in Connecticut, where a person was mauled by a monkey that had to be shot repeatedly by police.

Despite a somewhat satisfactory explanation of the non-bigoted nature of this tasteless cartoon, many were quick to recall the racial epithets and slurs that likened monkeys to people of African descent. Though there is no evidence that the monkey in the cartoon was made to look like Obama, the Post did not consider the suggestive nature of the situation pictured before running it in their quality publication, which has adorned such frontpage headlines as ‘Spitzer Swallows!’ and ‘Lindsay Lohan Stole My Coat!’ The backlash, while at times unreasonable, could have easily been predicted.

Protestors outside the Post’s headquarters in Manhattan picketed and chanted “Shut the Post down!” - a reaction that never occurred against the administrators of bushorchimp.com.