Mad #476 (John Ficarra) - Rosie & Donald Issue - April 2007

Roseann O'Donnell was a very good stand-up comic from Long Island, New York before she became a talk-show personality.  Donald Trump from Queens, New York is the son of wealthy real estate developer Fred Trump (1905-1999).  In 2006, O'Donnell called Trump a "snake-oil salesman".  Trump called O'Donnell "fat" and "crude, rude, obnoxious and dumb".  O'Donnell has acted in 15 movies and 30 television series.  Trump is a real estate developer who also produces beauty contests and reality shows (The Apprentice).  I have no problems with the sexual orientations, marital problems, eating habits and comb-overs of various individuals but I have nothing but disdain for right-wing selfish jerks who perpetuate viral lies and conspiracy theories to gain media exposure.  Mark Fredrickson's cover drawing "Gone with the Windbags" depicts Rosie & Donald as equal offenders.  This of course is far from the truth.  It is also certain that both parties hated the cover and you can be sure that they have both seen it.  This is well-drawn humor in the Mad tradition but I hate to see it on the cover, and I hate to see Mad reduce itself to the talk-show-reality-show level in a really lame attempt to sell more magazines.  The cover completely ignores a better television parody "The Amazing Rut" and three excellent army recruitment poster parodies by Jacob Lambert ("The U.S. Army: You're Never Too Old", "Mess By Rumsfeld.  Cleanup By You!" and "Don't Make Us Draft You!"

While the Mad editors were seemingly obsessed with petty gossip fodder, the 2008 election cycle was in full swing.  See Barack Obama in the Fundalini Pages ("Meet the '08 Presidential Candidates"); Hillary Clinton in "Hillary's World Redux"; and Obama, Clinton, John McCain & Mitt Romney "getting set for the next great race!"  [JAM 11/6/2014]

Departments:
Random Acts of Mindless - The Fundalini Pages
Playing Posse - Entergarbage
Armed Farces - Rejected Army Recruiting Posters
All the Noose That's Fit to Print - Tips for a Successful Hanging
Serge-In General - A Mad Look at Easter
Road to the Wyeth House - Hillary's World Redux
Kiefer Madness - Mad's Less-Than-Action-Packed Outtakes from 24
Clash Dismissed - Startling Similarities (and Differences) Between Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell
Dull And Droid - You've Definitely Bought the Wrong Robot If
Angster's Paradise - Monroe & ... The Big Freeze
Bris Congeniality - Mad Looks at the Nation's Friendliest Mohels  [fake department]
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Get Rich or Die Buying - The Mad World of Shopping
That's Infotainment - Fascinating Music Factoids
Winter, Spring, Summer And Rall - 7 Periods Closer to Death
Kazakhstan And Deliver - Boratz Dolls
Compete Morons - The Amazing Rut

Fold-In - Singers