Sarah's gams, or, Our nation's descent into fetishism

The last few weeks, I've noticed a kind of image moving on the AP wire that I don't recall having run across in the annals of photojournalism vis-a-vis presidential campaigns.

Each time I see one of these, I go, "legs!," because, well, that's the sort of thing I notice. But then, trying to explain what on Earth caused a photo editor to post these (I understand fully why the photographer shot them, but it seems to me more like the sort of thing he would keep to himself, or just share with the guys), I think, "It's gotta be the shoes." I figure maybe there's a fashion angle to which I am oblivious. That would be acceptable to women, and therefore the sort of thing an editor might dare to post. I mean, I've read that Sarah Palin has had an impact on the eyewear industry; maybe there's something special about her shoes to which I am oblivious.

But nope; it's not about the shoes. In fact, no excuse is offered for shooting Sarah Palin in a way that it would never occur to the photog to shoot Joe Biden. Here's the caption:

Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, stands at the lectern during her vice presidential debate Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008, in St. Louis, Mo. (AP Photo/Don Emmert, Pool)

I guess, despite all these decades of being bludgeoned by the sensitivity crowd, boys will still be boys. I mean, I knew that, but most of us don't SHOW it show so blatantly.

Comments

[Brad Warthen]

Then again, maybe AP HAS been moving pictures of Joe Biden's legs, and I haven't noticed because my eye wasn't drawn to those images.

But I doubt it.

[Gary Karr]

But Brad, considering the Seinfeld-ism of your sports section today: Not that there would be anything wrong with that.

[Deborah Harry]

Her legs are hot, her mind is what turns me on.

[Ralph Hightower]

ZZ Tops's "She's Got Legs":

She's got legs, she knows how to use them
She never begs, she knows how to choose them
She only lets you wonder how to feel them
Would you get behind them if you could only find them
She's my baby, she's my baby
Yeah, it's all right

She's got hair down to her fanny
She's got a dress slit right up to her panties
Every time she's dancin' she knows what to do
Everybody wants to see, see if she can use it
She's so fine, she's all mine
Girl, you got it right

She's got legs, she knows how to use them
She never begs, she knows how to choose them
She's got a dime all of the time
Stays out at night movin' through time
Oh, I want her, said I got to have her
The girl is all right, she's all right

[slugger]

There are leg men. Then there are upper torso men. Then there are men that go for the eyes. Then there are men that go for the brain. Have you seen a picture that is going around on the net with Sarah undressed. Seems that this lady has it all.

[george32]

the way she was winking and flirting with the camera last night almost encourages some sort of sexual fantasy, bu tthis is not cute. boys may be boys, but editors run or block pictures from appearing on web sites or in newspapers unless the photographers are now masters of content decisions. it is as disrespectful of gov palin as constantly running pictures of gov schwarzenegger shirtless would be.

[Susan]

Having read many of the posts on several of the topics on here, I had a flash to one of my sophomores who will send me e-mails to ask me something and put a heart next to her name. Sweet girl, but she's failing.

Wink.

[Susan Quinn]

GAMS! SCHMAMS!
Do we REALLY need another person in high office who can't properly pronounce the word "nuclear" for crying out loud?

[Brad Warthen]

Susan, we addressed that one back here on an earlier post.

But since you bring it back up, it's IS odd, isn't it? There's nothing HARD, it would seem, about saying NUKE-lee-er. I mean, in chemistry class, did she speak of the NUKE-ee-luss of an atom, or did she say it right? It's certainly not the spelling, which is so often the problem in English, because it's spelled phonetically. It's especially odd coming from her, because she OVERpronounces so many words.

I mention it in my column Sunday, speculating that (being young and impressionable as she is) maybe she thinks if the PRESIDENT says it that way, it must be right. I mean, he oughta know, dontcha think?

Somebody mentioned earlier today that Jimmy Carter had trouble with the word, too. And HE was a nuclear engineer who once worked directly for Hyman Rickover, the Father of the Nuclear Navy. Seems like HE would know. Weird.

[p.m.]

Could Abraham Lincoln pronounce aluminum?

Did George Washington ever misspell separate?

Can Joe Biden tell the truth?

[Lee Muller]

Has Barack Obama ever had a friend who was a patriotic American?

[george32]

how about colin powell or is he not patriotic enough for you-or course he did not dump his first wife for a rich trophy blonde and rose to 4 star rank without daddy/grandaddy legacy points.

"mindless patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels" you can ask chief drug ditto who said that. he probably will tell you it was a communist raised by muslims who did not draw government checks for over half a century.

[Anonymous]

You're all sick. But at least you realize it.

[Mike Cakora]

The old historian turns to cinema -- one of the great movies of modern times -- for an explanation:

Much of Palin's appeal and much of why she apparently grates on others is her accent, colloquialisms, grammar, seeming simplicity, and mannerisms—which are a lot like the wily, sing-songy voiced hero of Fargo, Marge Gunderson. In her methodical, seemingly plodding way, the pregnant Marge systematically figures out the complex criminal labyrinth, and then in courageous fashion wades into the thicket unaware perhaps of the danger from the supposedly more clever involved, but confident that what has worked for her in the past and gotten her this far will see her through just fine as usual.

Fair or not, Palin is the emblem of underestimated Middle Americans wading in over their heads, not changing with the times, and in the end finishing the job and outsmarting the rest. Six-term Senator, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Joe Biden, once fervent supporter of an Iraqi war (dating back to the Clinton years), once fervent opponent of the war, once fervent advocate of trisecting Iraq, once fervent critic of Obama on Iraq, once fervent surge won't//will work, once fervent everything..., apparently didn't see Fargo.

So the new gal on the block is a flirt because she’s a looker? How bizarre! Given the context, was that flirting or underscoring a point?

It really doesn’t matter. Turning Palin into a sex object is more than childish. This was not funny and was just as demeaning as most of the nonsense directed Palin’s way.

But the point seems to be to demean Palin by any means necessary.

[Anonymous]

She is a force to be reckoned with, no doubt. But as a part of John McCain's Washington, she is neutralized. I almost despise him for this!!!!! He has raped the natural order of things. Sarah was most effective as he found her...kicking boo-hiny in the wild.

[Sarah]

Don't care for her, thought she looked like she was selling cars with all that winking, but I do love her shoes. Since we're on this mindless thread and all...

[Susan]

And the suit was to die for...I wish I could draw a heart on here...

Yes, Brad, "nuclear" turned out to be a bear she couldn't shoot, didn't it? And listening to her I pictured Professor Higgins taking down her language in his linguistic shorthand to try to pronounce it himself later.

[Anonymous]

The shoes are swell and all -- but shouldn't she have worn ***STOCKINGS*** for this?!?

Looks like she has bare feet in those shoes.

I don't care if it IS the style. It's not the style for the White House.

[Lee Muller]

Obama supporters are having a hard time naming any of his close associates who are good, patriotic Americans.

No shortage of terrorists, cop-killers, thieves, swindlers, communists and radical Muslims in Obama's past, present or future.

[Mike Cakora]

Uh oh, Susan, don’t read this:

Debate analysis: Palin spoke at 10th-grade level, Biden at eighth.

An analysis carried out by a language monitoring service said Friday that Gov. Sarah Palin spoke at a more than ninth-grade level and Sen. Joseph Biden spoke at a nearly eighth-grade level in Thursday night's debate between the vice presidential candidates.
[Snip]
… (Newspapers are typically written to a sixth-grade reading level.)

The winks upset a lot of folks.

[david]

Great.

More ridiculous drivel from Brad Warthen.

I'm clearly not always a B+ student, but I can usually figure things out given enough time. Warthens' motives for publishing this line of silliness about Palin escape me, I must confess.

--This stuff isn't fit to go into the newspaper, it would cause fewer of them to sell than the dismal and dwindling number that do already.

--It doesn't make the blog host look good...it is unoriginal, unbecoming and frankly boring.

--It is the kind of patronizing and sexist bullsh*t that could only be perpetrated by the cowards who do it against a successful Christian woman.

Way to go Brad.

David

[Lee Muller]

Of course Sarah Palin spoke at a higher level.

The average education of an Obama supporter is much lower that that of a McCain supporter. Far more of them never finished high school, than hold graduate degrees.

[Susan]

Link, Lee?

[p.m.]

Just drop by your local Democratic headquarters and strike up a conversation, Susan. That should be link enough.

[Lee Muller]

95% of blacks plan to vote Obama.

50% of blacks drop out of high school