This cartoon by Schrank from The Independent on Sunday relates to the ongoing scandal over the bugging of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone by the US security services.
The cartoon is based on the traditional children's fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood about a young girl who visits her grandmother, only to find she has been eaten by a Big Bad Wolf. In Schrank's version, the role of Little Red Riding Hood is played by Angela Merkel (note the mobile phone in her basket). The wolf is U.S. President Obama (note the listening equipment on his bedside table and the stars and stripes bedclothes). Merkel tells Obama (in a strong German accent), "Mr Präsident ... vat big ears you hef!" (Mr President ... what big ears you have).
COMMENTARY
In the original fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood notices that her grandmother looks very strange (the wolf has disguised himself as the grandmother after eating her). She then says, "What a deep voice you have" ("The better to greet you with"), "Goodness, what big eyes you have" ("The better to see you with"), "And what big hands you have!" ("The better to hug/grab you with"), and lastly, "What a big mouth you have" ("The better to eat you with!"), at which point the wolf jumps out of bed, and swallows her up. The cartoonist adds the line about big ears because Obama is known for having big ears, and because his big ears are a metaphor for the NSA's listening activities ("The better to hear you with!").
NOTE
Bob Englehart used a similar idea in a cartoon published back in June, when the spying scandal had just broken.
