There really IS a first time for everything

I agree with Sarah Palin.

I am not in any way, shape or form a supporter of Palin's political agenda or her personal ideology. In fact, as a registered independent voter, if there was one single thing (there was more than one, though) that put my support solidly behind Obama, it was the McCain campaign declaring such an obviously unqualified candidate as the most suitable choice for vice presidential running mate. And since there are millions of people out there who for some God-knows-why reason still feel that she has what it takes to lead our country at some point in the future (maybe they approved of the way she "handled" the David Letterman situation and they'd like to see her go head-to-head with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a thought that keeps me up at night now, and she's not even holding office), I guess I can never sleep in on an election day for the rest of my life.

But she's right about this photo that was chosen by the editors at Newsweek for this week's cover. It's inappropriate, in that it has nothing to do with the story inside. It's from a photo shoot she did for Runner's World magazine, for crying out loud. Newsweek editor Jon Meacham defended the use of this particular photo in this official statement: "We chose the most interesting image available to us to illustrate the theme of the cover, which is what we always try to do. We apply the same test to photographs of any public figure, male or female: does the image convey what we are saying? That is a gender-neutral standard." Is the "problem" mentioned so prominently on the cover her passion for physical fitness or the inappropriate usage of a wadded up American flag as set dressing? No, I'm pretty sure they're addressing the fact that the GOP's most prominent figure right now is basically an outlandish cartoon character, in which case they should have just used, you know, a cartoon. Instead, out of all the millions of photos that surely must have been at their disposal, they went with one that showcases Palin's sexy gams. They devote their cover to questioning the viability of a vapid media personality who's more akin to Kate Gosselin than (insert any great, or even mediocre-to-adequate, American leader's name here) and they choose to sell it with cheesecake. Oh well. At least it isn't Time magazine...