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TwitterNewsweek cover shows Sarah Palin with a SHOTGUN, not a rifle!!!!
My blog item Wednesday about Newsweek using a vintage 2002 photo Of VP candidate Gov. Sarah Palin holding a firearm sure stirred up a hornets' nest of comments.
Let me make this perfectly clear. As many of you so astutely pointed out, I know NOTHING, make that LESS than nothing, about firearms.
And I hope I made that amusingly obvious by closing the item with what I thought would show my total ignorance, "Hey, is that, like, even the right way to hold a rifle? Can't you shoot your foot off like that?"
I make no apologies about my ignorance regarding guns, rifles, shotguns, water pistols. I have never held a gun. Never even been close to one. I couldn't tell a Smith from a Wesson from a six-shooter or a semiautomatic. I think I could identify a machine gun from 20 paces. But I'm not altogether sure, so don't hold me to it.
But that's not the point. The point of my blog item was to ask whether anyone found that Newsweek's use of a stock photo of Palin lugging a rifle/shotgun/whatever was designed to A. sell magazines and B. portray her as a dangerous gun-loving freak who shouldn't be next in line should anything happen to John McCain, if he were to get elected president.
The photo of her holding a gun, not talking to world leaders, was selected by Newsweek. Did any of you bother to follow the link and read the article?
Because then I couldn't blame you for getting riled up.
But not at me. At the nasty old liberal mainstream media that keep picking on the average American gun-toting -- and what's wrong with that -- maverick hockey mom.
The fact that Newsweek's photo selection and/or article questioning her preparedness for higher office didn't bother anyone but that my supreme and obvious lack of knowledge about firearms made folks furious -- spurring them to write horrified comments about my intelligence, education, upbringing, career path, employment status, etc. -- makes me think gosh, maybe gun-owners/lovers really are short-sighted. And maybe even hot-headed and dangerous.
Hey, if the holster fits.
Here, for those of you who might have missed the link in my original tory, are a few graphs from the Newsweek article on "The Palin Problem" by Jon Meachum. And here is the Newsweek piece on Sarah's history from the sept 15th issue with this cover.
"Do we want leaders who are everyday folks, or do we want leaders who understand everyday folks? Therein lies an enormous difference, one that could decide the presidential election and, if McCain and Palin were to win, shape the governance of the nation."
"Perhaps Sarah Palin will somehow emerge from the hurly-burly of history as a transformative figure who was underestimated in her time by journalists who could not see, or refused to acknowledge, her virtues. But do I think I am right in saying that Palin's populist view of high office -- hey, Vice President Six-Pack, what should we do about Pakistan? -- is dangerous? You betcha."
Hold on, now. Don't shoot the messenger. But feel free to fire off a comment or two.
Photo: Sarah Palin at the Clinton Global Initiative on Sept 25 in New York.
Photo: Sarah and her shotgun, which is "broken" and perfectly safe to carry this way, courtesy of Newsweek. Sheesh.
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First we would have to assume that Newsweek has any relevance before we would follow a link and read their tripe. That periodical and Time have been pimping the liberal plank for so long that both have been reduced to the level of mendacious, "journalistic" wannabes.
I would think that gun enthusiasts would be thrilled to have somebody as macho as Sarah Palin being their cover girl.
There are so many other reasons why a Palin-McCain ticket would be unfit to serve, that this is mere window dressing.
Is this the right way to write a blog?
Can't you shoot your mouth off like that?
Well, that explains it. So obvious. How could I miss it. You thought that accusing the Governor of unsafe weapons handling was an "amusing" way to convey your own lack of knowledge.
Right. Of course.
You're still an idiot, even if you do so self confess. Stop digging.
(btw- You LAT people are keeping those resumes updated, aren't you? "Weekly Penny Saver" might still have an opening. Cheers)
Bravo Elizabeth. As a hockey mom myself-I find her and this picture absolutely terrifying. Palin gives women a bad name. Her cutsiness, winking, etc, etc is nauseating. I wish that gun would go over and shoot her in the foot-or at least it would slip and and knock her teeth out. She and the NRA are appalling.
I love how when you are caught with a total lack of knowledge about what you are blogging about you just change the whole thing and erase comments, very nice.
Elizabeth, of COURSE we didn't follow the link. I subscribed to Newsweek for 30 years, and finally canceled it in 2004 because of their over the top, in the tank for Kerry coverage. (I'll probably cancel the NY Times one of these days, but the family has subscribed since 1911, it's hard to give up the tradition.)
Tell me there's an article about Palin or McCain in Newsweek, I can rattle off what it says to about 90% accuracy. It's the same Conservative=stupid*bad*evil story they run every week.
Which - by the way - is the same story the LATimes runs twice a week, and the reason I stopped subscribing in 2006.
And of course your commenters are dismayed at your ignorance of firearms. They know firearms as well as you know celebrities. If someone published a picture of Paris Hilton with Lindsey Lohan and seriously captioned it as Samuel Jackson - and snarkily asked what Mr. Jackson was doing away from his wife and kids with the famous homewrecker - wouldn't you have a good laugh? That's how utterly silly your post is to anyone who knows the slightest thing about guns.
No. 1: She's NOT qualified -- and thank you, Newsweek for making that front and center.
No. 2: Who gives a hoot about the photo?
i posted a comment about the question of photo usage, not the firearms gaffe. i said it is perfectly fine if it's an archival stock photo. to your points, A) OF COURSE IT'S TO SELL MAGAZINES. name a magazine cover that wasn't chosen to sell mags. every single magazine cover ever has been chosen to sell magazines. but B) newsweek seems to be highlighting that sarah palin is strongest on social issues. since you can't show her preventing abortions, holding a firearm visually works
Elizabeth -
As a journalist, I am confident that you eagerly seek out opportunities to broaden your intellectual horizons and expand your breadth of knowledge.
Among firearms enthusiasts, the vast majority of us take safety very, very seriously - and at best wince when bad safety data is put forth, even in jest or in ignorance. Misleading safety information in the past has gotten folks injured, killed, or entangled in the legal system because "if it's in print, it must be true".
Towards that end, purely to reduce the wince factor of seeing a familiar subject mangled (for whatever reason), I'll urge you to take a seminar called "Home Firearms Safety" offered in nearby Orange County by TJ_Johnston@allsafedefense.com
It's a non-firing course focusing on recognition of various firearm types and the safe handling of each type - good for anyone to take, but particularly as a journalist familiarization course.
Best Wishes,
GC