Happy Independence Day!

To connect with your previous thread, I posted this picture at a discussion board that draws a good share of both conservative and liberal oriented posters. I was instantly accused of being a liberal attacking Palin with the added comment that I would never have posted this picture if it was Michele Obama instead of Palin. Then a few posters flat out denied that the pose was intended in any way to be considered sexy and was simply one of a mom who likes to run and stays in shape.

JE: I submit that if this picture were of Michele Obama it would be on the front page of every newspaper in the country and politicians and pundits would be calling for her husband to denounce the disrespectful treatment of the flag, which violates the rules of the United States Code.

Shut up she's hot!

Seriously though it's kind of spooky. Is she showing us her wallet?

JE: I'm not sure what that thing is she's holding.

The cynic in me immediately sees the US flag rather carelessly flung over the back of a chair, not even properly unfurled. Surely the decision to show the flag in a haphazard way was intentional to some degree, but come on. The message is that much more attention has been spent on the governor's wardrobe, hair, and pose than on the flag. Perhaps not unlike during the campaign Palin's smile and legs are put on display, propped up rather unconvincingly by barely considered patriotism.

Jim, I suggest -- to deepen the exercise -- that you ask each commenter to also list how they identify themselves -- Democrat, GOP, Independent, Libertarian, etc.

That way, we'll be able to interpret the interpreter's comment through their own frame of reference.

Given the Palin's involvement with the the Alaska secessionist movement, it would appear that Sarah has just come back from a run during which she tore the US flag off of an offending pole.

The footprints in the oatmeal colored rug indicate that there were other poses that didn't make the grade. The balance between looking gubernatorial and athletic must be tricky!

Oddly cheap photo shoot. All the stiff artificiality of a posed studio shot, with the weird cheapness of a real-life generic office... The childproof outlet protector only covers one outlet! Perhaps Tramm (?) is only grabbing things that are exactly that high.

I don't know a lot about a lot, but I do know this much: The picture of her with her baby immediately (and disturbingly) brought to mind those scenes of Sacha Baron Cohen holding his own adopted prop baby in the trailers for "Bruno." At least she isn't covered in bees...

Palin in 2012: The Revenge of the Fallen!

Is she holding a blackberry or two?

First of all, I'm Republican, and although I'm not exactly a Palin fan, I've been quite stunned at the vehemence of the anti-Palin attacks. Some of them flirted with misogyny, and a few of them gleefully crossed the line. Conservatives are not altogether insensitive to calumny, and I'd say their support for Palin is their way of sticking a thumb in the media's eye.

As for the flag, I suspect the RUNNING WORLD photographer deliberately arranged it, draping it at a right angle with a slight twist. Whether or not you believe its presence in this photo is appropriate, the red and white stripes nicely complement the colors of Palin's running suit, counteracting the overall sterility of the room and the drabness of the background. (This time of year, the weather in southeast Alaska tends to be drizzly and chilly -- something you may wish to consider when you book an Inside Passage cruise.) The military banner also adds a splash of red and blue in a portion of the photo which, again, desperately needs the color. They're both good design elements. The photo's a bit small for me to tell for certain, but it looks like Palin is holding a pedometer.

A few more observations, because I can't help myself:

1) I'm pretty sure that thing she's holding is a Patriotism Meter. It works kind of like a light meter, except it measures the cubic-metric amount of Love For Your Country in a given environment.

2) Given the conveniently placed American Flag and Service Flag, the meter is likely reading somewhere between "America, F*** Yeah" and "Reaganawesom! *High Five*"

3) There is no doubt that if Michelle Obama was the subject of this picture, she'd be lambasted for how the flag is nearly, god forbid, touching the floor. Also, there's an 80% chance that rather than the majestic Alaskan wilderness in the background, there would be a jazz session and poetry jam instead.

4) Like most advertising that uses sex to sell the product, the product itself is almost laughably beside the point in the picture. Replace the "running shoes" with high heels, and how could you ever know this was supposed to be about running at all?

5) Ewww, she wears her shoes indoors...

And finally 6) Man, suddenly I really feel like going for a run right now...

JE: The Patriometer! Of course! I found one of those as a free bonus in my bucket of Oxyclean.

Okay, this is important, I am going to demonstrate my facility for Critical Thought...

Okay...

Is she wearing pantyhose? Those look like pantyhose. That's bringing to mind Hooters. I don't think that was the purpose of this photo.

I really wish women over fifteen wouldn't put their hair in ponytails. That's just me.

It never occured to me to be offended by the flag, although its use here apparently is against the Flag Code. Hmmmm. Does this say something about Palin or not? I doubt she decorated the set, but should she have mentioned the use of the flag as a prop in this way? Of course, the flag is used as a prop all the time and is in itself a symbol of America. Is this an inherently disrespectful use?

...Damnit, those are pantyhose! I can't stop looking at them! Who wears pantyhose out running? Was it just for the picture? Use self-tanner next time! Gah!

And thus ends my critical analysis.

JE: Another theory is that the shiny stuff is OiLegs, by Oil of AK, drilled from the Arctic National Wilderness Refuge Area and applied with a Sham-Wow to the governor's stems -- another reason we need more domestic sources of petroleum products.

Is that Russia I see through her window?

Is that Russia I see through her window?

Hey - cool it with the misogynistic attacks.

Looks like Michael Bay's America. visual interpretation? I see a hint of film noir with all the shadows!

What I see is a politically savvy woman still in the making. She will keep finding ways to keep her face in the American collective thought, until opportunity opens again for the biggest best job in America.
She is going to keep learning how to avoid the never ending number of political faux pas always waiting for every politician.
Whether you agree with her or not, you have to admit she has become a prominent actress in American politics.
She is an attractive woman. Politics in any country never has many attractive women - they all usually get sucked into modeling, acting or shady-best-left-understood-kinda jobs. Not to mean that I ever let my visual pleasures dictate my politics, but my eyes welcome watching her in future debates while my brain disagrees.
She is who she is, I judge her entirely on her political opinions. She made her decision a while back to be the pretty face of conservative Republican ideas - I will always argue against those ideas. But for the rest, she is just a human like the rest of us and has to live the simple and complicated dramas of life that we all do. Except she wants to be a leader of this country. That brings a special drama still to be played out. But this country has already had an actor for a president, nothing should comes as surprise to us after that.

Kris,

You should know that any good Patriotism Meter (Patriometer) would calculate Love For Your Country by the cubic foot, not meter.

In response to the two or three times it's been said in this comment section, by Jim before anyone in fact, that had it been Michelle Obama then she and Obama would be lambasted, etc, etc.

Well, isn't that because he's the President of the United States and she's the First Lady? Are you saying that we should hold the separate Governors of each state to the same standards of the Oval Office? That's a bit ridiculous which is why some Conservatives and/or Republicans (not necessarily the same thing anymore) might think, "Geez, lay off of her will ya!" I mean, really, she's the Alaskan Governor and she is not the Vice President. Let her pose for Runner's World without over analyzing it.

And by the way, I do think she is going for sexy because the picture screams "sexy!" And again, so what? Most Conservatives (again, not Sean Hannity style Republicans, but normal moderate conservatives) don't like her anyway. She'll get about as far as Huckabee in 2012. In other words, she'll get far but not far enough.

JE: I also wondered what the response would be if it had been Joe Biden (another 2008 vice presidential candidate) or Mark Sanford (another Republican governor).

It just looks a little sloppy doesn't it? Putting aside the flag and patriometer (!!) for a moment, the image itself is pretty amateurish. Don't these sorts of magazine photos normally hit Photoshop or some sort of re-touching that makes it so the bottom third of the photo isn't almost all shadows?
It's like they shot a close up and just pulled the camera back a few feet to shoot this head-to-toe number without moving the lights. There are obvious reflections in the windows, the flag is wrinkled and it looks like someone's cell phone is sitting on the desk at the far right edge. I can't tell what's on the window sill immediately behind her, which I take a sign that it shouldn't be there in the first place.

But it is Runner's World, so maybe I should cut them SOME slack on the photo front?

As a professional fine art photographer, I'd have to say this photo shoot looks very hastily planned and executed; i.e., it looks like terribly unprofessional, as if these images were shot by the author on a pocket snappie; badly placed flash, harsh shadows, over-exposed background, poor composition, practically zero color correction and post-processing I'd expect from a major publication. The shots look rather "icy" to my eyes; the work of an antichrist Joel Meyerowitz.

Admittedly, I do find the pictures pretty, well..."chilling" -- her stale smile; the phony ballet-like pose; and one shot that seems a little too suggestive for its own good. (Any man who prefers women should know which one.)
She appears to me as a creepy anti-intellectual -- the kind of person I know would just be a complete nightmare as a dinner guest.

Stephen F: Yes, but not if the Patriometer was made in Canada!

(...Yeah, I totally should have thought of that.)

Greg F (relation?): I see what you're saying, and I think there is something to be said about Palin no longer being as big of a national figure as, say, the First Lady. But I think the bigger point being made is not the disparity in the expected code of conduct between a governor and a president (which, yes, I would hope is the same, actually), but the disparity in opinions from political pundits who start with a conclusion and work backwards to evidence. Like, say, if it would suddenly cause a "controversy" if Michelle "For the first time in my life, I'm proud of my country" Obama had a haphazardly draped flag in a photoshoot instead.

Of course, it's all theoretical, because Michelle Obama hasn't done such a thing, and no one in the media (rightly) seems to care about this Palin photoshoot anyway. But a similar thing happened back when it first came out that Palin's daughter was pregnant, and a lot people wondered what pundits would be saying if it was Barack and Michelle Obama from South Side Chicago who had a pregnant daughter instead. Would it have torpedoed their chances in ways that didn't happen to McCain and Palin? It's hard to say, but it's a question worth considering... especially in a world where a fist bump becomes a terrorist symbol.

I think the white walls symbolize her purity.

Seriously, not only would Michelle Obama be criticized for the placement of the flag, but Palin is actually leaning on it as well. Take your elbow off the stars and stripes, lady!

She has to lose some Patriometer points for those offenses.

JE: I also wondered what the response would be if it had been Joe Biden (another 2008 vice presidential candidate) or Mark Sanford (another Republican governor).

The sound of crickets.

What I see is a politically savvy woman still in the making. She will keep finding ways to keep her face in the American collective thought, until opportunity opens again for the biggest best job in America.

I think her national political career is over. If it's not, then it's only 'not' over in the sense that she'll be the sacrificial lamb on the GOP side of the next election. But I really doubt she even gets there. Not enough people would be willing to vote for her. Very limited appeal.

Isn't that the desk The Constitution was penned on? The very Constitution she and her cohorts seek so desperately to undermine? And it appears as if she is getting ready for her "run" in 2012. Oh, and that wouldn't happen to be an ion bracelet she is wearing on her LEFT wrist, would it? That is an unequivocal attack on The Democratic Party. Bill Maher has more tact than these hellions over at Runner's World.

The white patch on her shirt under her armpit makes her look thinner than she really is, creating the impression that her waist-to-hips ratio is closer to the ideal that men find most appealing. Very clever.

As a critical thinker of the most meticulous sort, I posit that Mrs. Palin is only attractive in contrast to other politicians, especially those tending towards flabbiness and/or jowliness. An unscientific survey of fellow critical thinkers at my workplace finds that at least half the waitresses are significantly more appealing on a physical as well as a spiritual level, their souls being for the most part unblackened by cynical and brazen political ambition.

Ugh. That's a pretty bad photo. That lonely little U.S. Army flag stuck to the middle of that dusty window, the bad lighting, and that stiff pose with the mystery object in her hand. This is a rush-job for sure. Something tells me that the Runner's World photographer had to make do with whatever was there and Sarah gave directions. To me, it just shows lack of professionalism from both parties.
Just a naive question from a curious Canadian: Is it really disrespectful to lean on your flag? Is there a really code of conduct about how you're supposed to touch it? I seem to remember seeing rock stars wrapping themselves in it. Mind you, that flag lazily draped on that chair does look a little sad.
To Jim, the bloggers and all my American friends - Have a great Independence Day!

Well, it's no wonder that bridge to nowhere is taking so long to build, when the governor is spending her time fooling around with the media like this!

Well, someone had to say it. Seriously though, all of the images from the shoot seem pretty ordinary to me, and not especially positive or negative. Like in this picture, her pose enhances her curves, but personally I hardly find it crackling with sexual energy. And she looks more like a cheerleader than a capable politician, but the two aren't mutually exclusive, I guess; there are plenty of thug politicians, and jock politicians, and nerd politicians, after all--American politics is a regular Breakfast Club. And the flag is treated with enough flippancy to mute any patriotic symbolic charge, but it hardly seems disrespectful.

So: not so great if she's trying to rehabilitate her image, but hardly damning if she's trying to maintain her image.

What we notice immediately, is the dominant red wardrobe, representing her conservative agenda. She is balanced on either side by a flag draped in such a way that much of the democratic blue is covered and a somewhat trivial banner for the U.S. Army, with its lone star like a bulls eye. She even supports herself more on her right leg.

Palin's elbow upon the flag suggests dominance, or perhaps a nonchalant buddy whose shoulder she may lean on. What's puzzling is the nature of the U.S. Army banner. Why, knowing Palin's political agenda, would such a prominent symbol be pushed to the background and dwarfed by both of the other red figures in the image? Even Palin's shadow shrouds it if you follow it from the floor.

However, its very presence suggests prominence. It's position over the window, when the walls are uncovered, suggests that it has been tacked on as an advertising plug. Palin is clearly being used as a sex symbol. Is she taking advantage of her attractiveness to promote her agenda? Well, obviously. But how? The shadow of a sex symbol casts a shroud over the U.S. Army banner. Ergo the aura of sexiness surrounds the Army.

I could probably contribute more if I could figure out what she's holding in her hand. I'm pretty sure it's a tri-fold wallet, but that doesn't make any sense at all.

I find it difficult to comment. I want to try to keep my reactions at the surface level - what are my first impressions? But every time I do I start digging deeper into the photo and my reactions to parts of it.

My gut impression is that Running World, who presumably commissioned the photo(s), want to have someone who will help sell magazines. So they want someone people will want to read about. This means they need someone universally popular, or universally controversial. They went with controversial.

See, here I go overanalyzing again (yes, I can hear you sigh in exasperation, Jim. Sorry).

So, whatever image the photographer is going to come up with is going to play up to those controversial angles. At the same time, Palin will want to reinforce her appeal to her constitutency, who are Alaskans and (with her eye on 2012) American neoconvervatives who are "just plain folks."

So, the symbolisms on display are:
- the obvious use of her feminine wiles, to get the attention of males (sex sells) and women (comparing her to themselves)
- the crumpled flag, which to me shows she's patriotic, but with the flag deliberately crumpled shows she's not some kind of starched-collar, elitist policy wonk from down east - she's just like "us".
- the pedometer turned to the camera is held awkwardly. It's obvious she's presenting it to the camera. This shows that whatever she undertakes, she's serious about it.
- The US Army banner again shows her patriotism, and by having the US flag on one side of her and the banner on the other, she is metaphorically "wrapping herself in the flag"

That's all sort of surface and medium-deep stuff.

Deeper in, her hairstyle is I think deliberately chosen to emphasize a youthful style. The glasses (who wears those kinds of glasses while running?) suggest intelligence. The wooden table/desk and chair suggest traditional values. I notice that the shadow of her legs goes off to the left, while the shadow of the wall sconce on the wall behind her goes off to the right. This means she's lit from the left on top, and from the right on the bottom. This creates attractive highlights on her legs, which will, regardless of what they may think of her politics, give any heterosexual male a momentary reason to pause to look at her - especially important for those who would otherwise dismiss her immediately because of her politics. Sometimes creating a threshold of acceptance can be measured in seconds.

I'm going to further assume that no element of this photo is accidental. So the backdrop again speaks to her Alaskan constituents, as do the fur-lined mocassins on the window-sill. But...the background could be almost any rural temperate zone in the United States, and the mocassins are partially obscured, so the Alaska connection isn't beating non-Alaskans over the head. The one electrical plug that is not covered by child-protector obviously indicates that there was something plugged in there recently, removed for the photo. It reminds viewers that she is a mother, and cares for her kids, and allows people to feel she's more like them - "See, she had to clean up the room for the photo op!"

Her shirt is red, because she's Republican. Her shorts are black, because she doens't want to alienate the African-American vote (and no, I'm not kidding about this). She's wearing panty hose because her legs are probably rather pale. This suggests that she doesn't get as much time to go running in shorts as she'd like, so her legs aren't suntanned. She's busy - she's a governor and a mother, for cryin' out loud, when is she supposed to find time to run? She's just like us (also, the panty hose do a better job of highlighting her legs than bare skin would, which I admit is a simpler and therefore more likely explanation).

That's about all I can get out of it for now.

What this photo says to me is Runner's World needs a new photographer. It has a terrible background, bad shadows, props haphazardly thrown in. Maybe Palin insisted Todd take the photo.

And isn't the flag superfluous, since Palin is the embodiment of everything American, at least to the target audience?

A couple of observations.

First of all, if you're a male and you don't think Palin is hot in that picture, then you are either gay or dead (picture the hilarious scene with the eunuchs from Mel Brook's History of the World Part 1).

Secondly, I just don't know how some Republicans can continue to defend her. I mean, even McCain clearly thinks she's a lightweight. She was stullifying awful in the last election. She was so bad she made Joe Biden look good.

You post this, and Palin immediately makes the news for resigning as governor (or as Bill Maher would say, "Sarah Palin resigned as governor of Alaska today because of Jim Emerson's making fun of her picture"). To focus, presumably, on a doomed run for president. I can't imagine what she thinks has changed in her public image in the months since the election, that she feels she's viable now or on track to being viable.

Still, as someone who enjoys seeing bad people fail to achieve their goals, I support the decision.

Well, if you ask me, it almost looks like a Playboy centerfold with a bit too much clothing. This might say more about me than the photo.

Palin is a great distraction with the real issues at hand in the world. The left love to hate Palin and the right love her while the false left/right paradigm is basically the matrix to the real world out there.

JE: Sarah Palin is internationally famous. Less than one year ago, she was known to relatively few outside of Alaska. What has happened between then and now speaks volumes about the world we live in today.

It means "I resign."

Maybe this photo caused her to resign. ;)

If anyone did challenge her for draping the flag over a chair she'd just say the Running World photographer was a member of the east coast liberal elite and that he tricked her into it. Her supporters would eat that story up and forgive.

I subscribe to Runner's World and this isn't the photo used in the article on the final page of the August '09 issue. They show her in running garb, sitting in the grass and stretching her legs. I had to visit this site to find out about the flag snafu. But as far as this photo is concerned, I'd chalk it up to a photographer unaware of what *not* to do with a flag. It comes off as a cheap and lazy backdrop more than it offends. Just my two cents.

"What has happened between then and now speaks volumes about the world we live in today."

This statement is an excellent example of irony.

Anyone seen any good movies?

@Aaron: Well, yes, I suppose that'll be her presidential platform. "Men: vote for me or you're gay; Women: vote for me or you're insecure about my total hotness."

@Jim: So does Palin's resignation affect your opinion of Maher's jokes at all? I was kidding in the earlier comment, but isn't the realistic interpretation here that governing was cutting into Palin's time so much, that she couldn't focus as much as she wanted on her media image?

Apart from it being a horrible photo, with tacky use of patriotic imagery, I would say that, yes, I think she looks hot. I'm a liberal and I don't like her one bit.

Really, there's nothing to actually "think" about.

It's just a crappy photo of Palin.

If you do see some sort of message in there, it's absolutely unintentional.

What you see in the photo is what the photographer visualized.

Blame the guy for the mistreatment of the American flag.

He thinks the flag is just a towel.

The sad thing is......... Palin approved the photo to be printed.

JE: Exactly. See, you saw quite a bit in this picture. Doesn't matter how much is intentional and how much isn't. Images always requires some form of interpretation from the viewer -- whether they're snapshots or feature films or paintings or...

@ Will: That attack wasn't misogynistic, but it was ignorant. One can see Russia from Alaska, as Sarah Palin stated, if the weather on Little Diomede Island is clear enough. Were it not for the geographical illiteracy of the SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE writing staff, I doubt her remark would have become a running joke. Of course it's futile to try to teach anything at all to a rabid anti-Palin crowd, but here's hoping you learned something, Will.

Misogynistic attacks on Palin would include the various conspiracy theories surrounding the birth of Trig. Andrew Sullivan still touts these canards frequently -- much to the dismay of his ATLANTIC editors, I'm sure.

JE: Actually it was one of the hosts of "FOX & Friends" who immediately cited Alaska's geographical proximity to Russia as an indication of Sarah Palin's foreign policy experience on the day McCain announced he'd chosen her as a running mate. He wasn't joking. The joke, as it developed, wasn't about geography, but about Palin's claims (notably to Katie Couric) that this geographical fact was a significant example of her qualifications for office. Palin could never quite explain its relevance, and her efforts to do so were often comically convoluted. That's one of the reasons the National Society of Newspaper Columnists recently gave her their Sitting Duck Award for “showing it's hard to put your best foot forward when it's in your mouth.” She provided so much easy material for comedians and pundits.

I saw: patriotism, nature, family, wholesome. I thought: Germany, 1930s.

Also, I would like someone to explain how the "Trig is really [whomever's] kid" stuff wsa misogynistic. Having to do with female reproduction does not necessarily mean an attack - even an unfair, malicious, irresponsible attack - is misogynistic, any more than an attack on a male politician involving something typically 'male' would be anti-male.

That was timely!

If Gov. Sarah Palin is preparing for a career as a professional pundit/host, we are in for a steady flow of crackpot, mangled, unintentionally hilarious statements. There will NEVER be a shortage. She has proven herself fully incapable of improvisation or stagecraft, with no signs of improvement. Please let it be!

(Say what you will about Rush, but the man fills his airtime with coherent thoughts. His blustering is at least professional.)

If, instead, Palin is prepping a run for the Republican nomination as an "outsider", it's a really odd strategy.

She decided not to run in the next election, so therefore she's a "lame duck," and lame ducks just waste money and go on trips and milk it, right? Well That's Politics As Usual! And Sarah Palin does NOT play the usual political games with taxayers' hard-earned money! Therefore, I Quit!

After all, Sarah Palin can effect change more effectively WITHOUT the power of the governor's office, right? (Then why did she seek that office?) More Triggs, not less! Alaska!

She's the finest example of a counterintuitionist America has ever produced. The clapping after she concluded the rambling presser could have many interpretations...

Well as a photogrpaher my first thought is "what a terrible photo" and second (as I am only starting out in photography) "I'm gonna be a millyunAire if people are getting paid good money for photos like this".

On the symbolism. Pam two comments above me pretty much hit the nail on the head.

"I'm a celebrity, get me outta here!" -- reader comment on Palin @ Andrew Sullivan's blog.

RE: Conservatives 4 Palin

My first thought is that using the number 4 instead of the word four seems tacky and unprofessional, not unlike the woman it appears to be supporting. Second I notice that they try to associate the number 4 into the words conservative and Palin for aesthetic rather than grammatical reasons... unless they were trying to say c4onservatives 4 4Palin.

Then I notice the pipeline that Palin made possible through the earmarks that McCain made a habit of railing against, making me wonder if this banner is actually satire.

Many provocative elements in the C4P logo design. I like the use of the Big Dipper and the North Star from the Alaska flag, but not so much that they're black. Why isn't Palin's face visible? She has her back to us because... she's leading us? Toward (or along) the pipeline? On my monitor, the right side of the photo is under a brown haze reminiscent of smog and it's not attractive. Why the tint?

"I saw: patriotism, nature, family, wholesome. I thought: Germany, 1930s."

Pam, google Godwin's Law.

Everyone else. Criticizing Palin is a waste of time. It's a way to feel superior with little effort. She's the I Am Sam of politicians. Much like criticizing Michael Bay, it says more about you that you're wasting your time on such stuff than it does about them. And there's a better chance of Michael Bay winning an Oscar than Sarah Palin being president.

And JE, when did you decide to give up writing about movies to shoot conservative fish in a barrel?

JE: This blog has never been restricted to movies. Look at the metadata and categories. As for this post, it began as a one-paragraph "critical thinking" item leading into the holiday weekend, but then look what she went and did. Disrupted the whole Michael Jackson entertainment news cycle! But seriously, the same critical skills that go into watching movies (I like "she's the 'I Am Sam' of politicians") go into interpreting still images of celebrities in "Runner's World" magazine. Palin is an amazing entertainer who just happens to be in politics. But is she really such an easy target? I thought so before the Republican convention last year. But they loved her. In the end, nearly 60 million American citizens cast a vote for the McCain/Palin ticket -- 46.6 percent of the total. You can argue that that's a joke, but it's true.

Re: the logo
Palin (or a photo double) is turning her back on America because she only has eyes for Alaska.

Tim Hulsey: "(This time of year, the weather in southeast Alaska tends to be drizzly and chilly -- something you may wish to consider when you book an Inside Passage cruise.)"

True enough, but the background in the Runner's World photo appears to be the lake behind Palin's house in Wasilla, which is in southcentral AK.

"But is she really such an easy target? I thought so before the Republican convention last year. But they loved her. In the end, nearly 60 million American citizens cast a vote for the McCain/Palin ticket -- 46.6 percent of the total. You can argue that that's a joke, but it's true."

Of all the Republicans I've spoken to, not one voted for McCain/Palin. They all voted against Obama/Biden. 46.6% of voters would have voted for "none of the above" instead of Obama. That's the difference that precludes any serious discussion of a Palin presidency. Sarah Palin doesn't even have the advantage of intelligence that kept conservative also-rans like Pat Buchanan perenially relevant. She's an answer to a trivia question. At best.

Of course, I could be wrong. The fact that we haven't exactly been nominating and electing the best and the brightest to any level of government over the past few decades is a point in your favor.

The logo for the conservatives for Palin website is meant to convey that Sarah Palin has turned her back on common sense and is now in complete pursuit of destroying the wilderness of Alaska in the hope of extracting oil to fund the multiple wars she is in favor of.

Jim, not that I think you've been going after Palin as hard as some others in the media, but I thought you would enjoy (or at least find interesting) this link:

http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/on-being-sane-in-insane-places-sarah-palin-and-the-rosenhan-study/

I think, with the choices we have to make between candidates anymore ("Hmmm, which one is the lesser evil? One of them has to be! Right??"), that I am going to ignore politics entirely. I can't get behind either party, I never like the candidates once the primaries are over, and the media's inability to do any critical thinking in presenting them just makes it worse. (By "media," I don't mean this blog or Jim.)

Dear Ms. Palin:

Before you endeavor to cause a rift in a political party that proves mortal, shouldn't you first have the courtesy to write a few brilliant documents and establish a new financial system for the Federal government?

Sincerely,

Alexander Hamilton

P.S. I am mortified just having my picture on $20 bills in your purse.

Well, I am Canadian, and I would never vote for Mrs. Palin, but are some of you making fun of these photos? Really? They are not Palin promotional photos, they are promoting running, which far more people have to do, by taking a popular figure and taking some photos that will get attention.

She is an attractive lady, well, physically, and the photos are not salacious or trite. Get over it, she'll never be elected president but you can still try to view some of the things she does, such as running, as insular from her deranged political views.

JE: I believe you're mistaken in this: These cutesy posed photos are promotion for Sarah Palin, not for "running." (She's not even running in any of them, now that I think of it.) That's what makes them so shamelessly hilarious. She's a political airhead, sure, but she knows what she likes: hairdos and short shorts and shiny-shiny legs and red outfits and American flag props and lots of pictures of pretty Sarah!