NY Post Cartoon - Racist?

What do you think? Is this racist?
I think there are a few options for explaining this political cartoon:

1. Straight-up racism: Throughout history, African Americans have suffered the insult of being portrayed as monkeys. Some may see this cartoon as an attempt to call the first black president, President Obama (so fun to type) a monkey. It is Obama who was the chief promoter of the simulus bill. This also wouldn't be the first time that Obama has been called a monkey. Check out YouTube for a quick reminder of the presidential campaign.
2. Extreme ignorance: Maybe the creator of the cartoon and the Post's editor didn't know the history of comparing blacks to monkeys.
   
3. Connecting politics to current events: Apparently, some lady's pet chimpanzee recently went wild and decided to attack her. In an effort to save her, police officers shot the chimp dead. Maybe this was just a lame attempt at combining two news stories.
4. The monkey wasn't meant to be Obama, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or just Democrats or liberals in general.

Personally, I think anyone who doesn't know better than to publish a cartoon that potentially portrays the first black president as a monkey who's just been assassinated doesn't deserve a job. In an economic downturn like this, I'm sure that there is some unemployed person out there with more than three working brain cells, giving them the mental capacity to avoid this catastrophe.