I'm gonna say this once: My biggest problem with the Bachmann Newsweek cover is that she's on it at all.
Did they deliberately choose a photo that made her look bonkers? Of course. What do you think they do, sit around and throw darts at page proofs until somebody scores a bulls-eye and that's the one they use? Of course they used a photo that made her look like a lunatic, and of course they did it for the LULZ and the clicks and attention. They did it hoping she'd make a big fucking stupid deal out of it for her mouthbreathy followers and oh, hey, look at that, suddenly somebody gives a flying fuck what Newsweek is doing again.
Would they treat a male presidential candidate like that? No, but the real sexism here is that the only female presidential candidates, the only female politicians, who get this kind of treatment are the ones they want to single out as nuts or movie stars.
There are lots and lots of hardworking, smart, interesting women in politics today. They're just not celebrities, not on the scale of Bachmann or Hillary (everybody's other favorite punching bag), and so not as worthy of attention.
It's not that they only treat female politicians with scorn. It's that they ignore the fucking club of the most of them until one opens her mouth and says shit so mind-blowingly stupid that Republicans in Iowa want her to be their president.
A.
One of the first blog-based books, the anthology Special Plans examines Feith's role in misleading America into war. Buy from 
Right on.
If I could turn your question around, why is it that when McCain took a female running mate, he took a twit ? And Bachman's constitutional scholarship is now entering the fray. With all the competent women out there, how come they don't nominate someone with some skill ?
Posted by: MapleStreet | August 10, 2011 at 20:05
I agree with this but I'll throw in Howard Dean as a counter-example, maybe one that proves the rule.
Then again, the "news" media tend to look at men they consider to be liberal as effeminate, so.
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Posted by: spork_incident | August 10, 2011 at 20:39
I guess that means we can expect Christ. O'Dumbbell to enter the race any day now.
Has Bachmann declared that she's "not a witch" yet?
Posted by: Snarki, child of Loki | August 10, 2011 at 20:57
Hi Maple Street, I think I can take a stab at the McCain choice of Palin. Age was a problem for McGrumpy so he wanted someone younger. He wanted a woman because he thought it would take Dem votes, the majority of Dems are women. Looks matter when you are voting for someone you have probably never met in your life. Governors in many states are little more than ribbon cutting figureheads so they are whatever they say they are and being a twit is not readily visible so long as they stick to the script. In choosing a VP they usually have the job of throwing red meat to the base and she had a proven record there.
You may recall that Dan Quayle seemed like a fair choice until he went off script and people began to get a clue.
Given how long the election season lasts you would think we would get a clear idea of who they are, but we do not. The WI governor is an excellent example of how well liars do in elections.
Anyway, that's my take on it.
I blame the corporate media for almost everything because I remember when politicians had to do their own lying.
Posted by: thebewilderness | August 10, 2011 at 22:50
TheBewilderness said, "I blame the corporate media for almost everything because I remember when politicians had to do their own lying."
OUCH! And unfortunately, probably true.
Posted by: MapleStreet | August 10, 2011 at 23:32
Oh, I think they've picked unflattering photos of male politicians for magazine covers before. I think it is actually impossible to find a photo that doesn't make Michelle Bachmann look insane because she is, in fact, insane.
Posted by: mothra | August 11, 2011 at 11:02
i question the word rage.
Posted by: pansypoo | August 11, 2011 at 12:05
This is great A. Spot on, for sure. If they aren't talking about Michelle's picture, Palin's suits or Hillary's headbands, what would they actually talk about? Maybe something intellectuals could actually debate? No. That would be too easy.
P.S.- Hillary is the most unbelievably strong-willed/intellectual female in politics to date. Besides Eleanore Roosevelt, she was pretty badass.
Posted by: ErinBanco | August 11, 2011 at 13:23
Dammit, I'd hoped that Newsweek had died. I mean they went bankrupt or something.
This was a rightist propaganda rag 40 years ago. Anyone that would get information from this POS would do better to plagiarize articles about alien space monsters from The National Enquirer.
Posted by: evil is evil | August 12, 2011 at 01:51