I’m sure this has a lot to do with being involved in lots of conversations about the declining budgets in print media lately, but my first thought was “Wow, Newsweek had to recycle somebody else’s photo for the cover? They must be hurting.”

Ok, I’ll weigh in.

Meacham shouldn’t have used that picture for the cover.  I won’t make excuses for him other than sensational covers sell.  Not a new concept. If he was too dumb to know he and his publication would get poutraged blowback, the he deserves whatever gets heaped on his smarmy ass.

That said, Palin posed for that picture.  If SHE was dumb enough not to get Runners World to make that photo one-time use in a standard contract and unable to be reused/resold, then SHE deserves to be mocked.

I’ve heard people comparing this to never seeing the beach beefcake pics taken of Obama on the cover of anything other than a tabloid.  BIG difference.  If Obama had posed in an American flag speedo, a la G. Gordon Liddy, in DC with the Lincoln monument as a backdrop and it showed up on the cover of US News and World Report, then we could have a conversation.  The thing is he didn’t and never would. Why?  Intelligence and integrity - something our Moosie Mama has not made acquaintance with.

Also.  I’m getting truly bored with Siskind’s whining knowing it will continue, unabated, for years to come unless people like Tina Brown and Arianna Huffington realize what a one-note, concept-free, intellectually stagnant, poor writer she really is.  They need to catch a clue and realize they could get the same tripe much cheaper (and honestly) by signing on Darragh Murphy or Riverdaugher.  But that won’t happen because Amy sez she ain’t PUMA and they believe her.

/rant

Thank you for your time. :-)

Sounds like they’re gonna be hurting even more if this is true.
Comment by Betty Cracker on 11/19/09 at 09:00 AM

Ok then. Thanks, Betty.

If that is true, I take back all of paragraph 3 above.

If this wasn’t sexist cheesecake when it was used in Runner’s World, it ain’t sexist cheesecake now.

Calling out the Sound of Music song reference as sexist is even more of a stretch.

If there’s an issue, it’s that this is an obviously partisan shot at Palin by a pub that purports to be a “news magazine.” That’s a legitimate violation, and rightly decried. But, in truth, only the headline is out-of-bounds, and only in its flat assertion that Palin is “bad news” not just for the GOP but for “everybody else, too.”

As for the image itself, it might have been disingenuous to use it had it been an embarrassing candid or an intentional “goof” shot of Palin in a Halloween costume or sitting in the “Dunk the Clown” booth at a charity event for Cystic Fibrosis.

But it’s not. It’s a Palin-approved portrait that inadvertently reveals exactly what she is—a would-be WWII bomber pin-up who uses the flag as a wrinkled prop in a one-woman show that’s all about Sarah.

Oh, and gimmeabreak—that was written before I read your post, and was not drafted as a rebuttal. Which, in fact, it isn’t.

I can’t defend Newsweek making partisan hits. But I do reject the notion that the image becomes somehow “sexist” whenever it’s not illustrating an article on running.

The machinations of print journalism aside, this is where Palin (and presumably her handlers) seem pretty tone-deaf to me.

Forgive me for my own rant here, but that Runners’ World/Newsweek photo looks like a freaking JOKE. The Blingee fun that Wonkette, Kevin, etc. have had with it just gild the existing all too gaudy lily.

I mean, just look at it, FFS! If it wasn’t posed and shot in a lighthearted vein, then what in the name of hell were Palin and everyone else involved in the shoot thinking?

So the consistent—and I’d argue, adult—thing to do would be to laugh it off, not whine when it’s reproduced “out of context.” That would demonstrate some maturity and a lack of insecurity. And if you’re looking for a place on the political stage—as Palin was only too happy to lecture Hillary Clinton about last year—you need a thick skin and you don’t whine. Otherwise, say in my wildest nightmare Palin did become US President and was engaged in sensitive international negotiations (I’m cold sweating here), all an adversary would have to do would be drop some barbed comment and all hell would let loose. Jeez.

Not surprisingly,Erick Erickson of RedState looks at the Newsweek cover and sees a liberal fascist conspiracy: 

So the consistent—and I’d argue, adult—thing to do would be to laugh it off, not whine when it’s reproduced “out of context.”

This is the thing that drives the psuedo-feminists at NAG and the rest of the Palin fans crazy - the use of the photo on the Newsweek cover is perfectly in context. Take away her looks, and Palin has absolutely zero to offer.

And all this bullshit about how Palin is “one of us” is infuriating. Yes, she’s strikingly (and depressingly) average, but I don’t WANT a strikingly average person in a position of power. I don’t WANT someone who can’t hold more than one thought in her head at the same time. I don’t WANT someone who’s political views are culled from the lowest common denominator of class-warfare fetishists. Fuck that.

And all this bullshit about how Palin is “one of us” is infuriating. Yes, she’s strikingly (and depressingly) average

In terms of curiosity and general knowledge, she may fall somewhere in the range that counts as “average,” but—forgive my using you good folks as informants here—are multimillionaires average in the US nowadays?

If he was too dumb to know he and his publication would get poutraged blowback, then he deserves whatever gets heaped on his smarmy ass.

I believe Newsweek, which like Time has shrunk to pamphlet size, will benefit much more than suffer from poutrage blowback.

If I were the editor, I would choose that cover, because a. my magazine would sell, and that’s my job, and b. my duty to my gender doesn’t include covering for idiot (and sexist) decisions made by members of it trading on their looks and then whining about being portrayed that way.

It’s hardly the Grave Affront to All Womankind that some of Palin’s more hysterical defenders are making it out to be. And of course, sexist jackasses like Meatprod and mindless Palin fangrrls like Siskind have zero credibility on the issue, so they can be safely ignored (or better yet, mocked!).

That said, I still say choosing the cheesecake photo for the cover of a prominent news mag to illustrate supposedly serious political analysis was a poor move, and I don’t think you have to be crazy or oversensitive or a Palin fan to see it as sexist.

It looks like some of us may have to agree to disagree here, Betty. Which I think is fine.

How about if Newsweek had used one of the stills of Palin winking during the VP debate?

It seemed to be a tactic she was all too happy to deploy more than once that night, which most politicians in her shoes (I’m stuffed if I’m going to cut her slack on this after her attitudes to other women, including Hillary and Green, or allow her to let her own stupidity and lapses be overgeneralized to other women, especially those seeking office) would have seen as make or break and a chance to shine on the national stage.

Otherwise, as a magazine editor, what non-sexist, representative shot of her would be preferable?

Perhaps, Betty. It is exploitation of a woman’s body to sell mags, yes. But if Obama had posed in short-shorts (aside from the flag firestorm that would have been engendered, you should pardon the expression) like that, or Mittens, during the primary when he was newsworthy, or Edwards, Newsweek would have definitely gone with it, don’t you think?

  Palin isn’t a rocket scientist. But I believe the onus of responsibility (what a laugh in connection with her name at all) still falls on the Governor of Alaska for that image. And the point made by the caption, that she has utterly wonky, ego-driven and inappropriate judgement, co-exists with whatever sexism there might be, so it can’t simply be attributed to exploitive motives.

I believe the sexist here ultimately is Palin herself. If she were really interested in promoting running, she would have been photographed running.

@Betty—I guess my question would be: What, in the final analysis, makes this a “cheesecake” photo?

It’s not her clothing, which is nicely-cut but still rather modest, despite the folks who claim she’s wearing short-shorts.

That leaves her pose—in her Governor’s office, surrounded by official Governor stuff and an unwadded, cast-off US flag used as a furniture-throw. Was this photo-shoot directed by Russ Meyer? Did she think she was posing for Jogging-Slut Quarterly? Or when she struck the Mae West “Come up and see me” pose—and then later approved the image—was she thinking, “Yeppers—that’s what a serious trail runner and Conservative icon should look like”?

Sorry—I can only conclude that this is how she sees herself, and she thinks that’s just fine. And in that sense it’s much more honestly illustrative of the “real” Sarah than any staged-by-handlers image.

Patty Hearst had an excuse for the “Tanya” photo that haunted her through the years. But nobody was pointing a gun at a Sarah.

Then again, I’m just a guy—and, as always, I’m happy to be re-educated on this score by those of you aren’t disadvantaged by man-blinders.

What all of this really proves is that Siskind is just a terrible writer.  She wrote that last, highlighted idiotic sentence, and she also used the phrase “Obama could care less about women’s rights” in her idiotic Daily Beast column from the other day.  She has a really bad habit of contradicting her own arguments via mangled English.  She shouldn’t be writing anything professionally.  It’s embarassing.

I could see the use of the picture as being sexist if Palin was an otherwise serious person with a great track record of political success and a grasp of policy matters, but she isn’t. The picture represents who and what she is - a giggling cipher who plays off her sexuality when it suits her.

@Betty—I would like to now publicly retract my last post, lest it somehow bias the judging of the Going Rogue Mock Book Review competition.

I agree with everything you wrote, and I’d just like to say I’ve always admired the cut of your jib and your courageous sense of independence. Also your writing style and gift for digging diamonds of insight out of the muddy ore of political discourse.

Truly, you deserve every good gift life can grant. God bless and keep you, always.

Good questions, all. For me, Palin herself and her use of wingnut sex appeal is kind of beside the point, and maybe that’s why we’re seeing it differently. Yes, she posed for the photo. Yes, she appears to consciously use her looks to generate starbursts. Yes, she doesn’t give a shit about sexism directed towards anyone but herself.

But the overarching point of the analysis contained within the mag the cover was supposed to illustrate is that she’s divisive and polarizing and may cause the GOP to fall apart (godspeed!) by winnowing it down to its craziest core. A more appropriate shot for that might have been a photo from one of the ‘08 rallies during which she whipped the faithful up into a mindless froth.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I honestly don’t think Newsweek would have used a photo of Obama or another male politician in shorts to illustrate an analysis of his overall political impact. And even if they did, I don’t think it would carry the same baggage because men aren’t judged as often for their appearance and what they wear. The message that photo conveyed was, at least in part, I think, “oh look at this hawtt bimbo.”

I dunno, it just strikes me as inappropriate in that context from a major news mag. I think “Frozen Cheesecake Goddess” and the many Palin blingees are funny as hell. And believe me, I’m hardly losing any sleep over the Newsweek cover. I’m not even 100% sure it’s sexist. But I think it’s a legitimate point for debate.

Now, can we go back to talking about what a bonehead Siskind is for making the exact opposite point of the one she intended to make? Sheesh. ;-)

A more appropriate shot for that might have been a photo from one of the ‘08 rallies during which she whipped the faithful up into a mindless froth.

I can’t think how a shot of Palin herself on stage would be able to capture the hatred and threats of violence etc. she whipped up. The disjunct between the polished exterior and the hatespeak was what freaked and appalled me, especially during her convention speech, and I think excited her base (in which I include the PUMA and ex-PUMA neo-Fourth Wave feminist exceptionalist lamebrains).

There are a number of unflattering photos of her face which have featured on various blogs etc. that might fit the bill in terms of conveying something of the venom of her words, but I doubt they’d meet her or Siskind’s approval either. I doubt anything short of the legendary guberbatorial airbrushed portrait she’s evidently so fond of would have. Unless a shot of her in waders or with a dead moose could be considered to sum her up, and I’m sure there’d have been complaints about that too (I doubt they could have used a photo of her carrying her baby because the squawking about “exploiting the kid” would have been audible clear across the Atlantic).

In some ways, that cover photo’s a photo editor’s dream—if it didn’t exist, to have the same impact, they’d have had to Photoshop it.

But again Palin gets to set the (not so new) agenda. It’s her lies, hatefulness, ignorance, sockpuppetry—all things I’d never give a male politician a free pass for—that disturb me. Like most of us, I’d imagine, I long ago learned not to judge a book by its cover, and to resist having my sexuality etc. manipulated against me. It seems there are too many people out there who haven’t done the same, or even welcome it.

So, if I can be devil’s advocate here for a minute, perhaps it’s not such a bad thing to subvert that tactic in a situationist sense. The cover image is so OTT that it’s laughable. So laugh. What’s not laughable is the number of people who still think she’s fit for high office because of the very looks she exploits and the Rorshach-like utterances she comes out with when she strays from the neocon script.

Yes, I agree, women in the public eye do have a much harder time than men finding a style of dress that isn’t going to overshadow what they do or say. But Palin’s done nobody any favors by playing that game to the full when it looked like it was to her own advantage—precisely by distracting from the hatred and lies she spouts.

@Betty—I would like to now publicly retract my last post, lest it somehow bias the judging of the Going Rogue Mock Book Review competition.

Oh figgety fuck! I forgot all about the contest! What a flibbertigibbet, a will o’ the wisp, a clown! I am. Okay then, without further ado:

1) Humboldt made a very strong case here: “For months I tingled and I tingle to this day… , remembering those feelings, that special touch brought forth by creator that will ensure that Godliness, familiness and tax cutliness will reign over the land and all the haters will die of hate and the cynics will perish from boils sent by our all-loving father, who will not only make them suffer from boils and frogs on earth, but will then condemn them to a hell filled with moose jerky and Limbaugh re-runs for all eternity.”

2) John Ball’s entry was thrilling: “The thrilling tale of the thrilling life of the thrilling VP-candidate!  It’s thrilling!”

3) Justlen killed with this aside: “...and of course, Wheel.”

4) Markg’s “This book has changed my life.  I can’t wait to read chapter two” was life-changing.

5) Gimme’s astringent metaphor demands consideration: “That awful interview with “Orca” yesterday had left a bad taste in my mouth and this book was the refreshing, minty mouthwash I needed.”

6) Ripley’s pet names alone puts him in the running: “my dog Elbow…my cat, Pipe Wrench…”

7) And Strange, well, this was pure genius: “...Silence of the Sheep (“It rubs the lotion on its skin, or else it reads the book again.”)—but to them I say “Starve me skinny and wear me like a man-skirt, Momma Bear. I was born to adorn you!”

8) Cameron offered the perfect Palin patois: “Sarah Palin’s record is out there and her life is out there and the world is literally her oyster also.  Alaska is all over the world map right now and Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who’s more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who’s actually done it?”

It’s like Sophie’s fucking Choice! I can’t pick just one! Cupcakes all around!

Inspiring to see the linked “liberal” denunciations of NEWSWEEK’s horrid sexist exploitation of Sarah Palin’s shins, knees and the lower third of her (ghasp!) thighs. Especially since the first one is a screed by none other than Joan Walsh, the exemplary airheaded Depublican warmonger who supports the continued mass slaughter of women villagers in Afghanistan and Pakistan (along with their husbands, fathers, brothers, and of course, children), largely in the name of defending women’s rights. But whatsamatter—hasn’t Code Pink posted a defense of poor victimized Sarah yet?

Oh, I’m sorry—you only want to talk about whatsherface’s writing error. OK. Nyah nyah, she’s stupid and we’re smart, so there! That what you had in mind?

It’s like Sophie’s fucking Choice! I can’t pick just one! Cupcakes all around!
Comment by Betty Cracker on 11/19/09 at 12:55 PM

Oh, you must front-page the finalists - perhaps in conjuction with the live blog Palin family kids’ names.

Inspiring to see the linked “liberal” denunciations of NEWSWEEK’s horrid sexist exploitation of Sarah Palin’s shins, knees and the lower third of her (ghasp!) thighs.

Just curious. Did you actually bother to read the thread before commenting? Because the only link to a “denunciation” I can see is that Joan Walsh one you—for all I know, rightly—excoriate in an ad hominem stylee.

Did you actually bother to read the thread before commenting?

This is trick question, isn’t it?

Hey Pete? Fuck you sideways with a rusty oil derrick, you brainless, humor-impaired, self-righteous, idiotic dolt of a piss-ant troll. That’s what I had in mind.

If Siskind The Inadequate White Female actually did work on Wall Street, it makes the economic meltdown a lot easier to understand. It’s a world populated with people who mean the exact opposite of what they say. Oh, and Pete? Here’s your bowl of diseased cocks. Start choking on them, twatwaffle.

We need our own bumper sticker:

Pray for Sara Palin Ezekiel 23:20

Len, I had to look that up. And now I can’t stop laughing. Well played, sir!

I stole it from Wonkette.

‘Jogging-Slut Quarterly’!! BWAAAA!!

Sneaker Sniffer Journal
Moose Hunter Monthly
Trip-Track Trip-Track Children’s Almanac

Sorry, need my meds

Sorry: Trig-Track Trig-Track Children’s Almanac