I understand that The New Yorker Magazine is planning its next cover that will feature John McCain this time. It will show Mr. McCain in the Oval Office with one foot on a banana peel and the other foot in a coffin. The "Nuclear Football" attachй case is open and he is moving a finger toward a button that is labeled bomb bomb Iran. Mrs. McCain is looking at her credit card bill that includes the cost of a jet plane that is listed as "The Flying Straight Talk Express."

Will this cover be considered funny or too far over the top? I suspect that both campaigns will condemn it as they did with Mr. Obama's cover. My rhetorical question is: Has our nation lost its collective sense of humor when it comes to this presidential campaign? In the past comedians and political cartoonists have lampooned our politicians with good-natured skits and sketches that have brightened what otherwise would have been long dreary slogs toward Election Day.

By condemning the New Yorker cover, Mr. Obama was saying he didn't get the joke. Mr. Obama has thus missed a chance to address these false caricaturist views of himself and his wife that so many Americans still believe. He could have rejected these false images with a smile that said "I get the joke."

Will Mr. McCain do any better with his cover?

And what of the rest of us? Could it be that our nation is too overly concerned that Mr. Obama is black and that Mr. McCain is old to have any fun with this campaign?

P.S. I made it up about the next New Yorker Cover