Thank you, John. This is exactly how I felt when I first saw the photo IN RUNNER'S WORLD. It was a bad move to be the sitting governor and have THAT photo taken in her office (the flag as a prop? pageant posing?).
She wants to be taken seriously and then pulls stunts like this. Would Condoleezza Rice have done this at her office when she was Secretary of State? Not in a million years.
Newsweek was making a point. And I got it.
Edited by Little Green Frog (Wise Latina) at 11/18/09 9:46 AM
Little Green Frog (Wise Latina) was starred
Little Green Frog (Wise Latina) was unstarred
I first saw this shot in Time, when they ran the cover of her walking in the woods as she was stepping down as Governor. Exact same cheesy shot. No griping from her then, although I guess it wasn't the cover and didn't have the blythe text next to it.
Bottom line: the reason they chose this shot is its extreme cheesiness factor. So posed, unnatural, yet gleeful and begging to be loved, just like Sarah. "I always suck in my gut and pose like this, while leaning on an American flag holding my blackberries! It's what real Americans do!," egads. The lighting alone makes it look like the start of a really bad porno from the '70s.
To me, the ineptitude of her posing in such a tasteless manner make it fair game. Shiny legs come in a close second.
Oh, and Sarah? Don't want to be judged on your looks? Stop winking at the Goddamn camera during the Vice-Presidential debate. #sarahpalin
The Palin problem, then, might be that she cynically incites a crowd that she has no real intention of pleasing. If she were ever to get herself to the nation's capital, the teabaggers would be just as much on the outside as they are now, and would simply have been the instruments that helped get her elected."
How can he be so sure? She's an idiot, with loyal to no one. Why not be loyal to idiots? She's insane, a brat.
I will say this--in that "sexist" Newsweek close-up of her face, she looks pretty good. I don't hold it against if she has some (minor) flaws...God knows my own 20-something face would look much, much worse in a close-up, and I don't smoke or go out in the sun that much. So good for her. She's over 40 but fit and relatively unwrinkled.
Good piece, Gawker. There might be a [inch of real sexism in coverage of her, but she herself is a misogynist...or, if not a misogynist, misogynist-by-proxy by virtue of her toxic, frightening stupidity. Between that and the fact that she's a "victim" when anyone calls her out for her bald-faced lies, her lack of qualifications to hold public office, the things she says about her designated media/political foes (about ANYONE..."real America," my ass).....she's hard to take seriously as a human being, let alone someone running for public office. Cry us a river, Sarah. I take her seriously because I am afraid of her and the people who support despicable candidates like her. Afraid, and repulsed.
The perfect Republican woman is a brainless one who has a shitty record on issues that directly affect (and involve actual penalties for) women. #sarahpalin
This is just Boy Scout/Girl Scout 101: you simply do not use the United States flag as a casual prop draped over a chair and lean up against for a photo shoot. Ever. And for a politician to do it, and an overtly stars-and-stripes one like Palin, is really rather shocking.
My favorite cover pic of her is also from Newsweek. I don't know if it has an official title but I call it 'the hairlip heard around the world' (well, I guess seen would be a better choice of word.) That was perfect! Did it suck and would it kill me if I was in her shoes, absolutely, but it spoke so true to what they were trying to say and expose about her in that article. Remember that quote from Clueless? "From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big old mess." - it couldn't have been a better choice for the cover!
Here's the thing, if you're going to capitalize on your looks to get ahead in any aspect of your life then you need to be prepared to be judged by them in all venues and from all angles. If you're going to be open to the positive then you have to equally accepting of the negative both when you're looking good but especially when you're looking bad. It's like the actresses who go out of their way to cultivate the image of being the most beautiful or sexiest woman in the world (yep, I'm talking about you Megan Fox) but don't spend any time improving their craft and yet have the audacity and ignorance to get upset when they're only talked about or offered roles b/c of their body and basically expected to do nothing except stand/sit/bend over/lay there looking pretty. She'll start bitching soon enough, if she hasn't already.
Some knee-jerks are too blinded by rage, snark, and, in some cases, hate-fueled sexual arousal, to recognize a simple truth: attacking Palin the wrong way - the cheap, classist, sexist way - only makes her stronger.
It may feel good to rant and snark and insinuate about white trash moose MILF, but there is a cost.
It gives the appearance of vindicating Palin's complaints about media unfairness. It makes her look like a righteous victim. And that invigorates her base all the more and even expands the number of her sympathizers. #sarahpalin
@glucious: Republicans have been complaining about the alleged liberal media even as they controlled it, for example the many years after 9/11. Anyone in the GOP can take that position and has for a long time, both men and women. Her trump in this case is the sexism card but really anyone, especially a woman, with a little bit of intelligence knows better than to fall for it otherwise McCain would've gotten the female vote the first time around.
As for her sympathizers, many of them are men who seek to demean, dominate and oppress women and she's the perfect representative b/c she's equal parts beautiful and ignorant, the holy grail for conservative men and even some more liberal ones. She can play big boss all she wants but we all know if she were to ever reach a high office outside of the sticks of Alaska that it would be the men behind the curtain pulling all the strings and she would just be the puppet out in front pretending to be a real girl. #sarahpalin
@glucious: Oh please. Palin complained when Newsweek didn't retouch her photos enough so that it showed that-gasp!-she has hair on her face like every other mammal on the planet. She is going to complain about whatever anybody prints about her that is not 100% part of the image she wants to create (as this post so eloquently puts it).
I have no problem with Newsweek calling a spade a spade. If that makes the wingnuts go "omigosh, you called her spade!" then oh well. She was going to complain about it regardless, so I'm glad that Newsweek did it with a certain flourish. #sarahpalin
Look, Obama's popularity is down, and some people are having this so called "voter's remorse." People are saying he is either doing enough, or too much, and are whining about the change they expected to see half a year into a presidency.
My real point is this: Jesus-Fucking-Christ! This! This is the reason to be but fucking happy Obama won because god help our corner of the galaxy if she occupied office.
And I mean, she would. Like the wise and eloquent Chris Rock said, if you die at 72, no matter what you died of, it's natural causes, (and I had a 76 y.o. friend who died recently who proved me that), especially with the shit Mr McCain would face in office.
I swear, every time I see her, I cringe a little, knowing that this rolling-joke-reality-TV-inciting woman almost became (one of) the most powerful people on the planet. #sarahpalin
Here's the thing: does anyone doubt that the Newsweek staffers had a plethora of choices of dumb Sarah Palin photos? It's not like it's a "gotcha" paparazzi pic. This photo of Sarah is TYPICAL. As in so many other shots we've seen, she looks phony, posed, cutesy-pie, trim, and hot. I don't think the white men who run the GOP admire her for her phoniness, posedness, or cutesyness. They just have a boner for her. I hope she does run for office, I want to see her resignation speech played on national tv over and over and over.
@eventodd: Do you really mean resignation, as in you hope she actually wins an election or a concession speech? I hope the former. Please don't let this stupid idiot waste of space thing be the first elected woman president of the US, not even if it's just to watch her fail. How many steps backwards do women in America have to take b/c of her and others like her in the republican party? #sarahpalin
Sweet Jesus, does this woman know how to play the victim card or what? I'd be more willing to laugh at all this if I didn't have the sinking feeling that's all going to work like a charm to get her dumb ass into office in 2012. #sarahpalin
@sweet_communist: Which I thank Katie Couric and Tina Fey for pointing that out to Middle America. Otherwise I think we'd be in a world of hurt. #sarahpalin
@Atilla the Bun: I wish I had visited the Brown University library and looked at those three human skin books while I was dating my ex-boyfriend, who attended that school. I wonder how those tomes are handled. #sarahpalin
@gooneruk: Yeah, that was the joke I was going for, except I felt like it was already way too bleeding obvious without making the rogue/rouge thing explicit. Thanks for the correction!
It's cold, but it's the truth, therfore it is fair game. They would (and should) give the same treatment to Joe the Plumber, who has about as much to offer the nation as Palin. They are both cartoon characters. #sarahpalin
09:42 AM
07:14 AM
09:22 AM
11/18/09
11/18/09
She wants to be taken seriously and then pulls stunts like this. Would Condoleezza Rice have done this at her office when she was Secretary of State? Not in a million years.
Newsweek was making a point. And I got it.
11/18/09
11/18/09
Bottom line: the reason they chose this shot is its extreme cheesiness factor. So posed, unnatural, yet gleeful and begging to be loved, just like Sarah. "I always suck in my gut and pose like this, while leaning on an American flag holding my blackberries! It's what real Americans do!," egads. The lighting alone makes it look like the start of a really bad porno from the '70s.
To me, the ineptitude of her posing in such a tasteless manner make it fair game. Shiny legs come in a close second.
Oh, and Sarah? Don't want to be judged on your looks? Stop winking at the Goddamn camera during the Vice-Presidential debate. #sarahpalin
11/18/09
How can he be so sure? She's an idiot, with loyal to no one. Why not be loyal to idiots? She's insane, a brat.
I will say this--in that "sexist" Newsweek close-up of her face, she looks pretty good. I don't hold it against if she has some (minor) flaws...God knows my own 20-something face would look much, much worse in a close-up, and I don't smoke or go out in the sun that much. So good for her. She's over 40 but fit and relatively unwrinkled.
Good piece, Gawker. There might be a [inch of real sexism in coverage of her, but she herself is a misogynist...or, if not a misogynist, misogynist-by-proxy by virtue of her toxic, frightening stupidity. Between that and the fact that she's a "victim" when anyone calls her out for her bald-faced lies, her lack of qualifications to hold public office, the things she says about her designated media/political foes (about ANYONE..."real America," my ass).....she's hard to take seriously as a human being, let alone someone running for public office. Cry us a river, Sarah. I take her seriously because I am afraid of her and the people who support despicable candidates like her. Afraid, and repulsed.
The perfect Republican woman is a brainless one who has a shitty record on issues that directly affect (and involve actual penalties for) women. #sarahpalin
11/18/09
11/18/09
Here's the thing, if you're going to capitalize on your looks to get ahead in any aspect of your life then you need to be prepared to be judged by them in all venues and from all angles. If you're going to be open to the positive then you have to equally accepting of the negative both when you're looking good but especially when you're looking bad. It's like the actresses who go out of their way to cultivate the image of being the most beautiful or sexiest woman in the world (yep, I'm talking about you Megan Fox) but don't spend any time improving their craft and yet have the audacity and ignorance to get upset when they're only talked about or offered roles b/c of their body and basically expected to do nothing except stand/sit/bend over/lay there looking pretty. She'll start bitching soon enough, if she hasn't already.
11/18/09
It may feel good to rant and snark and insinuate about white trash moose MILF, but there is a cost.
It gives the appearance of vindicating Palin's complaints about media unfairness. It makes her look like a righteous victim. And that invigorates her base all the more and even expands the number of her sympathizers. #sarahpalin
11/18/09
As for her sympathizers, many of them are men who seek to demean, dominate and oppress women and she's the perfect representative b/c she's equal parts beautiful and ignorant, the holy grail for conservative men and even some more liberal ones. She can play big boss all she wants but we all know if she were to ever reach a high office outside of the sticks of Alaska that it would be the men behind the curtain pulling all the strings and she would just be the puppet out in front pretending to be a real girl. #sarahpalin
11/18/09
I have no problem with Newsweek calling a spade a spade. If that makes the wingnuts go "omigosh, you called her spade!" then oh well. She was going to complain about it regardless, so I'm glad that Newsweek did it with a certain flourish. #sarahpalin
11/18/09
My real point is this: Jesus-Fucking-Christ! This! This is the reason to be but fucking happy Obama won because god help our corner of the galaxy if she occupied office.
And I mean, she would. Like the wise and eloquent Chris Rock said, if you die at 72, no matter what you died of, it's natural causes, (and I had a 76 y.o. friend who died recently who proved me that), especially with the shit Mr McCain would face in office.
I swear, every time I see her, I cringe a little, knowing that this rolling-joke-reality-TV-inciting woman almost became (one of) the most powerful people on the planet. #sarahpalin
11/17/09
11/18/09
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11/17/09
11/18/09
11/17/09
That's where you're wrong. Sarah Palin is a devoted practitioner of anthropodermic bibiopegy. #sarahpalin
11/17/09
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