Sarah Palin vs. Newsweek: Jeff Weiss

I'm surprised Newsweek magazine chose to put a “pin-up” photo of Sarah Palin on it's cover. The headline screams “How do you solve a problem like Sarah? She's bad for the GOP – and for everybody else, too.” Clearly with a headline like that, readers will know the article isn't favorable. By using an image of Palin that was intended for a fitness magazine, Newsweek took what could have been a hard hitting essay on a political figure and turned it into a battle of the sexes.

Would Newsweek have put a photo of male politician clad in running shorts on it's cover? Probably not. I don't think we'll ever see a shirtless Barack Obama on the cover of Time magazine, or Tim Pawlenty clad in swim trunks on the cover of US News and World Report. However, if anyone had photos of Nancy Pelosi wearing a bikini, it would probably be the on the cover of all three news magazines. In a matter of weeks we'll be entering the second decade of the new millennium. Last year a woman came this-close to being the Democratic candidate for President of the United States and is now the Secretary of State. Another woman was the GOP candidate's choice for his running mate. And now a major news magazine – which has an almost limitless amount of images at it's disposal – picks a photo of Sarah Palin in short running shorts that was taken for fitness magazine to put on it's cover.

I've said before that I'm tired of hearing about Sarah Palin and that's because I feel after she left her job as governor of Alaska she stopped making “real” news. If she runs for president that will again put her in the spotlight as a news maker. And when and if that happens, she should make headlines for where she stands on issues that matter to our country – not for having great legs.

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