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i think hart has the right to do what he wants with his cartoons, and the Islamists have the right to object. death threats are another thing,
i think they may be right about the cartoon, given the matching crescent moons in the sky, and the weird placement of the word "slam", as well as the earlier cartoon where hart appeared to be knocking Judaism. if you read the entire article, especially about the knocking of Judaism, it is hard not to conclude that he is knocking Islam in this one.
at first i thought the Islamists were just being paranoid, but i think they are right.

Having been a long time reader of BC, I would not say there is proof that Hart was implying all this. His humour is often so sublime that I fail to get it, so taking it at its face value and deciding it is simply an unfunny joke is not really out of line.
The comic that got people riled up a while back was not anti-Jewish unless one takes the position that the essential tenets of orthodox Christian teachings concerning the person of Jesus are anti-Jewish (though many of course do).
Also, "slam" "poof" and other such things frequent his comics.
Now, it is possible that he could have been inferring just what everyone is in arms about, maybe, but I wouldn't bet on it. It is equally possible that he was prophesying, after a fashion and didn't even know it.

As a person who has traipsed up and down the Appalachians for years, I find the New Yorker's (didn't say if he was upstate or NYC) expertise on the nature of outhouses sadly lacking. Moons are the decoration of choice, on outhouses and even sheds. Many of them are spring loaded, too, so of course they slam. Given this, and the fact that it is not unsimilar from a lot of his other work and humour, I incline to doubt. Of course, it could be that I have been failing to read deeply enough all along, especially as all these other guys are quick to point the finger, makes me wonder what they are saying underneath their stuff.