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FrICTION Election 2008 |
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FrICTION Election 2008 |
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Sarah Palin Waits For God's 2012 Signal Katie Couric interviews Sarah Palin |
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| Palin's Medical Records |
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Is Sarah Palin Un(re)touchable? The Newsweek Cover Scandal by Athina Simonidou
Newsweek has caused a storm in a porta potty by publishing a cover photograph of, wait for it, Sarah Palin's real face, i.e. what she looks like in the flesh, warts and all. Republican pundits, strategists, and rent-a-rants are complaining that the magazine did not make Palin look less like Palin.
What's so bad about the Newsweek cover? I've studied it up close and, sure, you can see dark hair on Sarah Palin's upper lip, quite a lot of it in fact. There's at least one pimple on her face; you can see her pores, red skin around her nose; you can see the dental work that's been done on her bleached teeth; there's hair on her chin, her eyes are bloodshot, but there's nothing extreme or distasteful about the photograph. Sarah Palin is a healthy, attractive, middle-aged woman. That's what the photograph shows. It's real. It's a news photograph taken in harsh, unflattering light. It is not a glamour shot. This is Newsweek, not Vogue. The point of the shot is to show that Palin is one of the people, an ordinary woman -- which is exactly the problem. We want extraordinary people as VP, not any old person dragged in from the street.
Besides, attempts to cover up flaws and aging only backfire as Cindy McCain's famous mask shows us. We know that Mrs McCain, a naturally beautiful woman, is not 25 so why does she need to trowel on the make up -- as her own husband once said -- in order to appear several decades younger than she is? It only works from a distance, and then not for long. Photoshopping has become a disease. It makes us afraid to be human. Women are terrified of being seen in public without make up. That's a tragedy. Already, Sarah Palin jogs in a ball cap and big sunglasses so as not to be photographed without make up. Is she a model? NO. Is she a Hollywood actress? NO. Why does she feel the need to behave like one? Hmm, perhaps she sees herself in the same league as a supermodel or Hollywood diva? Perhaps she, like the rest of us, does not see her as a heavyweight politician, more as a lightweight, fluffy addition to McCain's ticket. He's the age and experience, she's the youth, looks, and legs.
I respect Newsweek for resisting Photoshop and for rapping Palin on the knuckles. As Newsweek puts it: "Yes, she [Palin] won the [VP] debate by not imploding. But governing requires knowledge, and mindless populism is just that—mindless." Newsweek has a giggle, as many of us did, at Palin's inability to name a Supreme Court decision with which she disagreed. Here's her horrendously feeble attempt to bluff her way past Couric's question: "There's, of course in the great history of America there have been rulings, that's never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade, where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So you know, going through the history of America, there would be others but …"
(By the way, and it has nothing to do with this, did you notice during the VP debate that Palin during the VP debate didn't know what an Achilles heel is? She probably thought he was an Afghan warlord or Pakistani general. After all she did get her generals mixed up, and gentleman Biden didn't correct her.) In an interview with conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt, Palin attempted to explain why she thought the press is critical of her. In typical Palin style, she uses 100 words when 10 will do, but here's her musings for what they're worth: ""I think they're just not used to someone coming in from the outside saying, 'You know what? It's time that normal Joe Six-Pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency.' I think that that's kind of taken some people off guard, and they're out of sorts, and they're ticked off about it, but it's motivation for John McCain and I to work that much harder to make sure that our ticket is victorious, and we put government back on the side of the people of Joe Six-Pack like me, and we start doing those things that are expected of our government, and we get rid of corruption, and we commit to the reform that is not only desired, but is deserved by Americans."
nothing more than a megaphone for her inane ramblings: no analysis, no tough questions, no follow-ups, just plain old Wasilla common sense from plebian Palin to the public. Sorry, Sarah, that's not what the press is for. I like my news the way I like my coffee: strong but filtered.
Jim writes: "No candidate for President, let alone Vice President, has ever been an expert in all of the fields that the Chief Executive has to deal with. That's why they have a staff of advisors. Does anyone honestly think Reagan or Bill Clinton, two governors, were foreign policy experts before being elected President? Before all you holier-than-thou Palin bashers get lost up in the rarified atmosphere of your Ivory Towers, ask yourselves if, under your own terms of judgment, you could do a better job. And be as harsh with yourselves as you are with Gov. Palin. My guess is that, if you're honest, you are certainly no more qualified, and therefore unfit to pass judgment." Gerry writes: "It is really a sad day for women in this country that the only woman to run on the Vice President ticket is Sarah Palin. This woman is dumb, dumb, dumb. Such a slap in the face to educated women." Read Guestbook comments here What must the GOP be thinking now? Get Out Palin
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Sarah Palin Playlist What could be a better song for Sarah Palin than 'Brick in the wall' by Pink Floyd -- remember the line "We don't need no education", so apt for Palin. Then there's "Lyin' eyes', 'C--nts are still running the world', 'Everybody wants to rule the world', and 'Upgrade', for the woman who would be president.
We're doing a Newsweek. Here's Cindy McCain unretouched, blemishes and all. This is what middle-aged women look like. She's still beautiful. Get over it!
Janet Huckabee, Mike Huckabee's wife, Will she be on the cover of Newsweek? Why not? This is what women look like. This could be your mom or aunt. Get over it!
Linda Lingle, popular Republican governor of Hawaii. When will we see her on the Newsweek cover? Judge women by their work, not wlooks. This is what women look like. Get over it!
"Oh darn it, those pesky varmints at Newsweek photographed me before I had my lips waxed. They tried to make me look like Adolf Hitler. That's the mainstream media for ya. They won't use Photoshop on a conservative. You betcha!"
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