Caption: "The Toll of a Campaign." It seems so cruel. Immodest Proposals writes:
[T]his is the most significant photo taken in the year 2007. Think it will win a Pullitzer? Whichever photog snapped this photo effectively ended Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.My first reaction to that picture is simple disbelief. How can she suddenly look that much older? I know Presidents age horribly in their few years in office, but she's not President yet, and this seems to have happened overnight. Did some treatment wear off?
There's no recovering from that, image isn't everything, but it counts for a lot, and her image in that photo isn't the image most Americans would want us to project as a nation. You don't have to be wrinkle free to be president, but you can't look haggard and bedraggled, either.
But here's my second reaction, on reflection: We make high demands on women. A picture like this of a male candidate would barely register. Fred Thompson always looks this bad, and people seem to think he's handsome. We need to get used to older women and get over the feeling that when women look old they are properly marginalized as "old ladies." If women are to exercise great power, they will come into that power in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. We must — if we care about the advancement of women — accommodate our vision and see a face like this as mature, experienced, serious — the way we naturally and normally see men's faces.
ADDED: A reader (and regular commenter [Reader_Iam) emails this photo of Hillary taken Davenport, Iowa early this year: "I was literally inches from Clinton... I suppose it's possible that she's aged so much this year, but frankly I doubt it. I think she looked quite good in person (better than my photo captured). I think that Drudge photo is a little unfair, and perhaps--perhaps--a little suspect."
(
CORRECTION: That last photo was sent to me by iPhone, but taken on a Nikon Coolpix 4600.
MORE: Eugene Volokh likes the Drudge photo:
I think it just makes her look more down-to-earth: Less carefully put together and more lived-in, an older professional woman on whom time has taken its toll — as it does on us all — but who has acquired the advantages of experience in exchange.So, good. Eugene has the advanced vision I'm recommending for everyone.
YET MORE: Both Dr. Helen and The Anchoress note that men get attacked for their looks too.
Posts
194 comments:
Drudge has been specializing in running unflattering pictures of democratic candidates--Regal mien and resplendent.....? Perhaps this is Drudge's answer.
Yeah, I mean Margaret Thatcher wasn't some spring chicken, was she?
But then, Hillary Clinton's no Margaret Thatcher.
Hillary isn't serious, or rather her supporters aren't serious, is the reason the photo matters. Live by soap opera, die by soap opera.
Thatcher has no such problem.
"I did not have sex with that woman...Mrs. Clinton...."
I'm not feeling swept away by any of the Democratic candidates, but the Drudge spin on this photo is almost enough to tip me to Hillary now. Ann's observations are spot on here.
Drudge and Hillary have been in bed with each other the last 6 months. He was falling all over himself recently to say nice things about her. This may be one of those "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar" moments.
Ay, lay off.
She's a tough broad. You'd gotta be to stay married to her old man.
However, I am sure that can all agree that we don't need Ms. Clinton to look like Catherine Zeta-Jones...
And who is she going to meet--Ahmedinejad?
I am not a Hillary fan, but I think the Drudge caption and the Immodest Proposals follow-up is superficial at best and sexist at worst. Hillary doesn't look bedraggled in that photo - she's wearing earrings and lipstick, and her hair is styled. So she's got a few wrinkles - what 60 year old person captured up close and personal on (presumably un-Photoshopped) film wouldn't? Hell, I'm 26 and I sure wouldn't want MY photo taken at such a close proximity - it's not flattering for anyone.
I think it's insulting to the American electorate to imply that we are somehow unable to see the photo for what it is -- a bad photo -- and rise above it.
Ann lectured, "We need to get used to older women and get over the feeling that when women look old they are properly marginalized as "old ladies.""
I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't feel a "need" to get over any such feeling.
Old is old, and there's nothing really wrong with an old woman, but she has so obviously tried to hide her true looks, just as she always hides her true intentions.
I wouldn't even vote for HRC at gunpoint, but I actually have to say that I don't find that photo as bad as people are making it out to be -- quite the contrary, she looks positively matronly in the pic, and perhaps her campaign could do well to give off more of that sort of vibe
Consider the source.
I'm not sure what people expect a 60-year-old woman to look like. Sixty years do produce wrinkles, people.
She doesn't look any worse than Ed Muskie in '72.
Okay, that's not really helping, I know.
Like John said, I think Maggie had a few wrinkles in her day.
I'd vote for Maggie in a flash.
You've got a lot of balls putting the "feminism" tag on this post.
I know Presidents age horribly in their few years in office
Well she was co-President for 8 years so that counts for something.
Fred Thompson always looks this bad, and people seem to think he's handsome.
That's a new one. I don't know of a single person that would say Fred is handsome.
We need to get used to older women and get over the feeling that when women look old they are properly marginalized as "old ladies."
I'm not sure that's the case at all. Kay Baily Hutchitson is older than Hillary and hardly looks like an old lady. Liz Dole is 10 years older than Hillary! and doesn't seem to be marginalized.
Sorry my last was too mean.
I think that photo will cost her as many votes as
http://www.hillary.org/hillary/dominatrix.jpg
will gain for her. If we prefer underdog Hillary more than Dominatrix Hillary this latest photo might be part of the plan.
I would never vote for her, but I don't think she looks bad in this picture. She just looks like a regular person. Sometimes pictures are unflattering--no biggie.
Sixty years do produce wrinkles, people.
Except for Nancy Pelosi.
I would venture to say that photos like this are popular because they make candidates who are trying to project youth, power, relevance, etc., look like hyproctites. Fred Thompson, to use Ms. Althouse's example, doesn't seem to be playing to youth and rebellion, while Ms. Clinton does. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is often laughed at because he is trying to project a polished, competent, image, and therefore seems fake to many. (Aside from his flip-floppery.)
Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Evita Peron and so forth. If beauty is only skin deep and ugliness runs all the way through, what is Hillary like on the inside? Where is her inner beauty? She has a great attitude and personality maybe? Yeah, that's the ticket. Deceive, inveigle, obfuscate ad ifinitum. I loathe her because she's a duplicitous, power-hungry, greedy, self-aggrandizing, socialist baitch. Yes indeed, she stands by her man and the VRWC has it in for her, but she says she can handle them. Might have some trouble with Tim Russert, but she'll wrap those misogynistic Muslims around her little finger.
So who'll be her running mate...silk pony or obambi? Pity constitution rules out her loving mate. Oh, how old his her alleged paramour? That'll get the lesbian/muslim vote at least.
We must — if we care about the advancement of women — accommodate our vision and see a face like this as mature, experienced, serious — the way we naturally and normally see men's faces.
We used to have the concept of the matron or the matriarch. women who wielded great moral authority based on a lifetime of experience and accomplishments. Unfortunately, the youth culture and the idea that only professional accomplishments count towards a woman's status, destroy that idea in our culture. Now we see elderly women as worthless.
I can't help but reflect that the last 40 years has seen the boomers first destroy the institutions of those older than they only to recreate them as they reach that age.
There's nothing sexist about that photograph. Yes, it's unflattering, but anyone who is constantly being photographed is going to have some pretty horrendous results (like eating, rubbing your nose, double chin, etc.).
I think what that picture represents is how different Hillary actually looks compared to how she wants the public to see her. That's not deep, nor is it specific to Hillary as all candidates strive to be cast in the best light. Few could dispute that the Clintons (yes, they come as a team) have the most baggage of the lot.
Image is something that they devote more time to than John Edwards does to his hair. A picture like this is indisputably unflattering. Delving into their past is unflattering, but they can let their Carville off his leash to attack when that occurs.
Sexist, no.
We need ugly.
Ugly is good.
It's an ugly world.
Ugly times demand ugly leaders.
Tall, ugly, and bald.
Am I alone in finding this pic more reasuring than all the other ones I have seen of Hillary? Here she looks respectable, mature, even capable. In other pictures she normally looks like she wants to take away 20 years from her life and fails at it. I suspect that she would inspire more confidence if she simply let the wrinkles fall where they may.
I can't imagine ever supporting the Clintons in any way, but the pic is definitely sympathetic. On a deep level we automatically appreciate hard work and exhausting effort, and that is what is showing on her face. Drudge is a wizard.
I have a hard time believing the Iron Lady ever used botox... Hillary Cljnton though? Not so hard...
If America was used to this Hilary Clinton then the photo would be a non-issue. But now it becomes clear, painfully clear, that she's been dousing on the makeup to look as she did back when she was in the White House. It's the change from what we're used to thats the cause for horror. Ugliness won't keep anyone from the White House, but taking off your mask a few weeks before the primaries just might.
From the comments here, the picture appears to be a blank canvas. Everyone sees their own shadow.
Maybe we need a performance artist to smear lipstick on it: "[She] looked so cold. I only kissed [her] to cheer [her] up."
Personally, I think she looks fine. She looks tired, but why is that a surprise?
Windbag: I don't think it's sexist that the photograph exists. I do, however, think it's sexist to imply that 1) the photograph is evidence that she is exhausted by the pace of her campaign and/or 2) her campaign is over because she doesn't look dewy and sleek in every photo. I'm not sure other photos of other (male) candidates would be scrutinized in quite the same way.
The reason the photo comes as some surprise is because of the air brushed photos spreads we have seen from fawning mags to the usual campaign soft focus shots we have been fed daily.
And who can forget the Hollywood make over for her first debate. The only thing more beat than her face is her nanny state politics.
You've got a lot of balls putting the "feminism" tag on this post
Doyle... do you understand what some of the founding principles of feminism actually are?
The emphasis on the "pretty face" over the substance inside the package when applied to women and not to men is one of the things that feminists rebel against. Not that I think the subtance inside of Hillary is anything better than dog doo. However, it is unfair and discriminatory to make a big deal out of her appearance as an older wrinkled saggy faced woman, when we don't do the same over McCain, Guilliani or Thompson who are also old wrinkled and sagging. So, it's ok to admire Hillary when she is botoxed, made up, hair perfectly coiffed, filmed through layers of gauze but when she accidentally appears as a normal woman she is held up for riducule.
If you don't understand this as a part of feminism, then you don't understand much. Nevermind...answered my own question.
And to Hoosier.... I think Fred Thompson is quite sexy and masculine. You don't have to be handsome or have a full head of hair (witness Sean Connery) to be a sexy devil. :-)
I haven't yet seen a bad picture of Barack Obama. It's pretty obvious who the photo editors endorse this election.
TO: Althouse, et al.
RE: Seems To Me....
...that the women of America brought this on themselves, i.e., a self-inflicted wound.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[In the morning, male roommates look delightfully rumpled. While female roommates look like Lon Chaney. -- Sex Tips for Girls]
We need to get used to older women and get over the feeling that when women look old they are properly marginalized as "old ladies." If women are to exercise great power, they will come into that power in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
If women are to exercise great power, then they should exercise.
But, in all seriousness, your comment is wrong. Women get the benefit of being prettier when younger and they bear the cost of looking worse when they're older because of the differential. It isn't that everyone is sexist, it's that women look so much worse than they used to look. Men never looked all that great, so the drop off isn't as steep.
You're saying women should get the natural benefit of being pretty and then get let off the hook by society for falling off.
No way!
Old age hides ugliness and destroys beauty. This picture wouldn't be so effective if Hillary had always been an ugly girl.
Fred Thompson's age has made his ugliness milder. Whereas Hillary Clinton has objectively gotten less attractive and much fatter.
TO: John Lynch
RE: Obama Photos
"I haven't yet seen a bad picture of Barack Obama." -- John Lynch
They're ALL bad. He is not, repeat NOT, photogenic.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words. -- Ansel Adams]
More than most politicians or public figures, Hillary has a tendency to be photographed making an odd face. Who knows why?
But this photo conveys despair to me.
Maybe she knows her campaign team has screwed up her campaign irretrievably.
Or maybe the physical toll of a third national campaign was more than she anticipated at her age.
Or maybe the rigor of maintaining an outwardly pleasant, nurturing and thoughtful demeanor and concealing her "boss from hell" tendencies is tougher now that she's the one out front.
It's not illegitimate to judge candidates on their outward appearance. It's not a matter of mere attractiveness. The face gives a glimpse of the soul underneath. Romney seems dead inside, while Huckabee, Giuliani and McCain come off as far more lively, passionate and humorous. Edwards, for all his phoniness, actually seems like a caring person, and Obama comes off as inspired, both intellectually and spiritually. Richardson looks like a mutt, a follower not a leader. And Hillary gives off the feeling of outraged angst. Like a grandmother counting the days til her grandkids finally send thank you notes for their Christmas presents.
Is Dame Judi Dench up for another Oscar?
Sure she's unattractive in that photo, and I'm sure her team is pretty pissed about it. But If you've got cameras following you around all day every day, there's going to be some shots that are bad of you. Which begs the question - how many bad shots are there of her (or Barak) that HAVEN'T been circulated? And if those same bad shots have been suppressed, why let this one out now?
How much women depend on male desire!
Feminism has a long way to go in its ideas, if it's to begin any progress and it's progress it in fact wants.
There's a reason that the ugly old women are the ones wearing makeup.
Remember how H.W. Bush looked the night of his concession speech in '92? I remember thinking "Wow, he aged instantly!"
There's gotta be some process whereby the candidates gloss their personal looks, with makeup, lighting, etc. That photo of Sen. Clinton looks like the photog slipped backstage and caught her before she was ready. i'm betting the same could be done to Giuliani, Romney, Obama, and Edwards.
I dunno, I find this photo a bit suspect. I took a close-up picture of Sen. Clinton earlier this year (with my son) and was literally just inches from her. Not for publication (because of my son's presence in the picture), but Althouse, I just e-mailed it to you from my iPhone, as a point of reference.
I suppose it's possible she's aged that much, but I doubt it. Also, at least when I was able to scrutinize her up close, she looked just fine, better than most pictures I've seen of her.
FWIW.
TO: JeweeJewess
RE: Look Who's Talking
"Fred Thompson looks exactly like the Creature From the Black Lagoon.
Consult your optometrist...." -- JeweeJewess
Thompson is neither green nor scaley skinned.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[We call it 'projection'.]
Including my snapshot!
Dust Bunny Queen, apparently you don't understand that jj understands Ann's secret motives.
It's hard to be the one that understands everyone's secret motives. Have some sympathy.
I'm late to this party, but here's my 2 cents' worth: So what? I don't like Clinton as a candidate, but I would give her a lot of leeway in how she looks in any given photo. Everybody can get caught looking terrible in a photo.
Dust Bunny Queen, apparently you don't understand that jj understands Ann's secret motives.
Ann's motives towards Hillary are hardly secret. They can just be plausibly denied by her and her wingnut hordes.
Also, she doesn't look FAT in person--in fact, I was surprised at how much smaller she was in the flesh than had been my impression! She had to lean over just a bit in order to frame with my then 6-year-old. And she wasn't particularly wide, either, in relation to skinny son.
I was about to write that I didn't care about the photo and that since Clinton is 60, I would expect her to look 60. Still, she would be a horrible president (although far better than Obama).
Then I read this comment:
Women get the benefit of being prettier when younger and they bear the cost of looking worse when they're older because of the differential. It isn't that everyone is sexist, it's that women look so much worse than they used to look.
This is so true (at least for the pretty women....) They get the world when they are young.
I would never vote for Hillary Clinton, and if forced to pull the lever for her, I'd have to burn that hand off with a blowtorch - but really, a picture like this is just a picture, and 60-year-olds have wrinkled faces. It's sad we're using a picture to imply that something's false or wrong. This picture should be filed under "interesting, but not really relevant."
However, even while I decry the use of a picture to slam a candidate, I can't help but point out that this is delicious payback for her surrogate's take-downs in recent days of Obama. Live by the sword, die by the sword. You want to bring up irrelevant & scurrilous charges against others? Then be prepared for the response.
Is this the part of the campaign that's "fun" for you?
For what it's worth, most people don't realize how much lighting effects photos. The lighting here is coming from above. The shadows as a result are exagerating Hillary's wrinkles and lines. You notice that the lower half of her face is completly shadowed. Plus she has her chin tucked in which tends to loosen the skin on your face and make it look more wrinkly.
To sum up, the stuff you see in movies isn't real people. This is what real people in real situations look like.
I'm a Huckabee supporter, at this point, but I don't think it looks that bad. She looks like an older woman on a cold day. I'd say it makes her look a little more fit for the job than the photos of Obama which make him look like a twenty something.
greg Marquez
goyomarquez@earthlink.net
www.ivchristiancenter.com
The caption should read: "The troll of a campaign."
No, a better picture caption:
"A Wrinkle in Time"
but seriously, in spite of the unflattering picture, this woman is the strongest candidate in the field from either party.
She will mow down the opposition in Congress.
I say that will all due respect & with the acknowledgment that I will never vote for her for any office for any reason.
"Whichever photog snapped this photo effectively ended Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign."
Claims like this will probably propel her to the Presidency.
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TO: JeweeJewish[ess]
RE: No 'Mock' Intended
"That's so funny! You mock me by calling me a woman! Simply brilliant, and who could have seen it coming." -- JeweeJewish
Just faulty memory on my part while replying to your post; Jewish/Jewess....whatever you will.
Try not to get too far ahead of yourself.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Don't you love ad hom[onym]s?]
P.S. You failed to reply to my point about your poor vision issue.
Caption: "The Face of Experience"
Watching Hillary-Nancy-Diane-Barbara all work -SO HARD- to appear to be in their 40-50's is sad. We want people to show the affects of age and stresses. It's called character.
Looking 40 and claiming 35 years of experience just belies the statement.
Golda Meir and Margret Thatcher showed character, resolve experience. They showed that their words were more important and indicative of their future behavior.
We want a leader we can trust to do the right things when nobody is watching. When we have leaders who do not feel honest enough to be themselves- who are they when they are alone-?
I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure I see a Dorito stuck between a couple folds of her face.
This more shows the dissonance between the idealised campaign photos and news photos of the last 17 years (err, well, you know what I mean... there have been some horrid photos in that period, just not in this way). Candidates, actors, and image consultants need long term strategies as well as tactics. They've been pushing a youthful image of Hillary, more stylish and experienced but with the appearance of a fit 45-50 year old. This is the mask slipping and evidence that they should have transitioned her projected image.
Laura and Barbara (Sr.) Bush have always projected a matronly image. Ideal for Barbara since she was much older when she became prominent in the media than Hillary, though it has made Laura look older than her years for much of W's Presidency. We think of Barb looking great for her age since she hasn't changed much visually in nearly 30 years. This shows that one needs wisdom to choose the set age one wishes to project, and that some judicious changes need to be made at certain ages.
What makes Presidents seem to age so much in office is the length of a term and how it has been hitting in middle or later-middle age. Presidents are typically going through the second most visually transformational period of their lives, while most of the public won't change their appearance (nor especially their self-perception) in that span of time. The 36 year-old looks much the same as the 28-year old. The 70 year old looks much the same as the 62 year old. But the 60-64 year old looks VERY different than the 52-56 year old.
For the drive-bys... I adore your reliance on logical fallacies for your smears, and your Maoist dedication to today's ideological line that helps identify heretics. Ann is still very left-wing and unfortunately a devotee of essentialist feminism that is quick to find mysogyny everywhere (a mi of 1st & 2nd wave feminism that is understandable given her life experience). Thankfully she's much more civil than you, more reliant on constructive arguments, and willing to discuss with those with whom she differs.
Men and women are people who need to be treated equally as humans with an acceptance and understanding of biological differences. When equal treatment and opportunities leads to disparate results, we should resist the temptation to denounce teh evil1 patriarchy!!1! Instead we should examine what can produce the best overall results - disparate treatment that leads to more equal outcomes or equal treatment that leads to disparate outcomes and manage the effects of the resulting disparity.
That's Hillary! Wow, I thought it was her mother.
I'd honestly much rather vote for someone who looks a bit venerable.
"Whichever photog snapped this photo effectively ended Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign."
I highly doubt this.
People see her on TV all the time, and while they realize that there is makeup involved and lighting and all that, they also realize that bad pictures happen to everyone from time to time.
They will believe their eyes when they see her at debates, on the news, and at the convention and not just what they saw in one unfortunate picture.
If this picture causes problems, it will not be because of how she looks in this picture.
It will be because of how she looks in this picture compared to how she looks normally.
I doubt it will have much of an impact, but if it does it will be because people will feel as if what they have been seeing is a facade and not the real Hillary-- like she is hiding who she is for no reason at all.
But as I said above, I doubt it will have any impact at all.
I didn't think Madeline Albright could be President because she wasn't born in the U.S.
Oh. Nevermind.
She got caught with her Botox down -- that's the issue. She's a phony. The impact of the photo is that it underlines the consistency of her phoniness, just like a debate question on drivers' licenses for illegals ...
Just like that really freaky cackle.
All image and spin. No substance. People are beginning to figure that out, especially in the states where they've seen her in action for awhile.
Well, Fed’s wife Jeri is the Creature from the Blue Lagoon, so I think we can presume that she thinks he’s kind of sexy.
"We used to have the concept of the matron or the matriarch. women who wielded great moral authority based on a lifetime of experience and accomplishments."
When and how different from today? Sounds like something they would indoctrinate in a "womens" study program.
Ann :
I agree with you that men and women are judged very differently. In fact someone (on your blog) expressed a fear that he may have to look at Fred Thompson for four years. That sentiment is rare about a man.
That picture made me question why I never wanted anything that much. The answer seemed to be, because I'm not a maniac. Then I thought, "Do I want that kind of maniac for president?" Then answered, "Yes."
jewee thinks that sexy is all about the surface. Well maybe for men it is. However, since all of his ex wife/girlfriends consider him a sexy catch, we might want to consider their opinion instead of a trolling sourpuss who has an ax to grind on this blog.
Plus if we are going to play the picture game, separated at birth take a look at these. No wonder the Democrats are salivating to have this man chosen as the Republican candidate.
http://tinyurl.com/3y647o
http://tinyurl.com/2krnpc
Gooolllleee!!!
Just to clarify (because I was unclear), I sent the photo via my iPhone because this morning I wasn't at a computer with the picture on it. But I took it with a Nikon Coolpix 4600 early this year. And I never touched it up in anyway--I sent it to Althouse as taken, just in case anyone's wondering if I'd tweaked it.
I really wanted Jeane Kirkpatrick to run for President. I would have cheerfully voted for her. Had I been British, I would have enthusiastically supported Margaret Thatcher. I don't care if Senator Clinton looks like the wicked witch of the west or like America's next top model, I wouldn't vote for her as second assistant dog catcher. As a Clinton, she's a professional liar. If she's, for once, telling the truth, her policies as President would be between dangerous and catastrophic.
The picture makes her appear somewhat sympathetic. If Drudge wanted to belittle her he could get a recording of her laugh.
Dust Bunny Queen said...
jewee thinks that sexy is all about the surface. Well maybe for men it is. However, since all of his ex wife/girlfriends consider him a sexy catch, we might want to consider their opinion...
Thanks so much! That's indeed what all my women tell me, but it's nice to hear it confirmed from somebody on the opposite side of the political spectrum.
I'd argue that the photo is bad because she looks smashed, and twenty years older than my mental image of her. She doesn't look sixty, she looks seventy, seventy-five. And she looks defeated and weak.
Weak and defeated-looking candidates don't get elected dog-catcher, let alone president. Look at Dole's '96 campaign. His aged fragility in comparison to Clinton couldn't have helped his campaign. I could imagine that McCain might be vulnerable to this sort of thing, too, if he'd ever catch fire enough to get the photogs out and baying after his hide.
Winston wrote in his diary:
"I turned up the lamp. When I saw her in the light --
After the darkness the feeble light of the paraffin lamp had seemed very bright. For the first time he could see the woman properly. He had taken a step towards her and then halted, full of lust and terror. He was painfully conscious of the risk he had taken in coming here. It was perfectly possible that the patrols would catch him on the way out: for that matter they might be waiting outside the door at this moment. If he went away without even doing what he had come here to do -!
It had got to be written down, it had got to be confessed. What he had suddenly seen in the lamplight was that the woman was old. The paint was plastered so thick on her face that it looked as though it might crack like a cardboard mask. There were streaks of white in her hair; but the truly dreadful detail was that her mouth had fallen a little open, revealing nothing except a cavernous blackness. She had no teeth at all.
He wrote hurriedly, in scrabbling handwriting:
When I saw her in the light she was quite an old woman, fifty years old at least. But I went ahead and did it just the same."
P.S. I am getting old myself.
I don't care.
I want to vote for the next President, not a lover.
She looks like a tough old boss.
It means nothing to me, as I had figured every campaign picture was Photoshopped into a lie.
Mortimer: "You're saying women should get the natural benefit of being pretty and then get let off the hook by society for falling off."
When did I say young pretty women should get an advantage? It's quite sexist to decide when women should be better off than men and when they should be worse off, especially when it has to do with marginalizing older women. It is the older women who have the experience to exercise great power. The younger women should not be using their looks to get special access (a la Monica Lewinsky). They should want to make it on merit like me and to have long careers. Anything else is part of a dynamic that subordinates women.
jjj: "Apparently you don't understand that Ann is posting this picture to hold Hillary up to ridicule. Which says far more about Ann than the picture says about Hillary."
You are revealing yourself, not me. That picture is up on Drudge. He gets millions of hits a day. I get maybe 20,000 on a big day. I'm not giving this photo more visibility. It already has maximum visibility. I'm commenting on what it means and how people subjectively see it. This reminds me of the time recently when I linked to a picture of Pattie Harrison and with a comment like want to see how she looks now and some of my readers thought I was saying look how terrible she looks now. Absolutely not what I meant, but it shows how you think.
Joe Gillis: There's nothing tragic about being fifty. Not unless you're trying to be twenty-five.
(Sunset Blvd, 1950)
She doesn't even look that bad in this picture.
I saw her interviewed on MSNBC this morning, and her makeup was horrible. Really heavy, light frosty eye shadows and heavy blush in an unflattering rectangle on each cheek. I have no idea who did that to her or why, but she looks better in this picture than she did on MSNBC. She just looks wrinkled in this picture - so what!?
We must — if we care about the advancement of women — accommodate our vision and see a face like this as mature, experienced, serious — the way we naturally and normally see men's faces.
I could not agree more.
I'm going to assume it's genuine and won't beat around the bush: before seeing this pic, I've said that I think she's attractive, and having seen it, nothing's changed. It is (or purports to be) an unflattering picture of a woman in her sixties who's tired and stressed, which is what you'd expect. Big deal. The more important issue that it prompts, as Ann's post notes, is what the reaction to it reveals about how people react to women who look their age.
It is her inner beauty shining through.
Ann said:
You are revealing yourself, not me... Absolutely not what I meant, but it shows how you think.
That might be a supportable statement if 99 percent of everything you've ever posted about liberal feminists -- hell, women in general -- wasn't so dripping with misogynistic contempt.
Anything that threatens your self-image as Queen of the Hop....
A couple of things:
First Trooper- The Blue Lagoon line is another instant Classic!
Second: I forget where I read this, but there was a study that correlated appearance and virility, which (to tie to another comment thread) is why men seem super attracted to very young women and early adolescent girls- they have the highest possibility of successful reproduction.
Once women reach menopause (is that a sexist term) they tend to lose their attractiveness.
This is also another reason why men remain fairly attractive later in life- they also remain sexually potent.
I'll take an old woman
All wrinkled and grateful,
Over a young hottie
So sleek: ergo hateful.
There's no force on earth that could force me to vote for Hillary Clinton, but that photo doesn't matter.
Nor does any other photo. I don't care what a candidate looks like. I don't even care much what they sound like when giving a speech.
All I care about is what they've demonstrated. Hillary looks fine in any photo from the waist up. And I don't hold the "Weebles Wobble" look against anyone anyway - I ain't no beauty.
The only thing that matters to me is that she wants yet more money from my pocket and the plain fact of the matter is I can't afford no more. I need all my extra pennies to prepare for my dotterage 'cause, you see, I'm not even 10 years behind Mizz Hillary and I don't imagine the gumming is going to be there to help me out. So I want those grubby, gummint fingers outta my pocket so I can stash something for me and my Mizzis. Hillary can pound salt as far as I'm concerned.
The Hillary pic serves as yet another Rorshach blot for the lefties here who obsess over Ann's political purity, or lack thereof, in their ongoing effort to excommunicate her from their leftwing congregation for apostacy.
ricpic, are they hateful,
or confused by their plateful?
This is also another reason why men remain fairly attractive later in life
Because ear hair is so attractive.
We get back into the old introvert-extrovert biz, now. Someone like Bill Clinton is a natural extrovert - he feeds on the crowds, draws energy from it, flourishes on 14-hour days in front of crowds. Think Arnold Schwarzenegger. Think Reagan.
Others who are natural introverts but in politics and posing in an extroverted way because that is what the media expects are drained of energy by the crowd.
Nixon was like that. He had to rest up after campaigning because being hyped up in masses of people for sustained times exhausted him. Johnny Carson was drained doing conedy then the Tonight Show. Hillary may be an introvert.
But if she isn't, those long days and shifting hours make even an extrovert feel like its "Ground Hog Day" - same shit, again and again and again.
The other way to get exhausted is to be an extrovert like Jimmy Carter, but be a dumb micromanager burning out trying to juggle 200 things at once - but missing putting time and energy into 2-3 big things and letting others worry about the cheap shit.
Maybe that's her problem if she isn't an introvert.
Mortimer - Old age hides ugliness and destroys beauty. This picture wouldn't be so effective if Hillary had always been an ugly girl.
I thought you were straight! Hillary was never a looker. She needs Nancy Botoxi's emergency cosmetics assist team, pronto.
That photo of Sen. Clinton looks like the photog slipped backstage and caught her before she was ready. i'm betting the same could be done to Giuliani, Romney, Obama, and Edwards.
I don't think Romney can be a bad picture unless one can be taken of him losing his cool. Pedigree. His Dad almost went to Hollywood in the 30s on offers to be a cowboy villain when his junior exec job was paying nothing and going nowhere. Romney's Mom Lenore was a Hollywood ingenue, rescued from a 3-year MGM contract and the Sodom and Gomorrah life back to pure Mormonhood by marrying George Romney. She almost was elected Senator back in 1970.
An interesting family.
The one who looks really bad now is McCain. Below his forehead, his whole face is bloating and melting. (Doctor friend of mine speculates that McCain is on heavy steroids for post-melanoma treatment (cortisone bloating)or that when he had his cancer surgeries they scarred up and blocked off lymph drainages) McCain looks sick, not just old.
The problem with Hillary Clinton is how ugly she is on the inside.
"The problem with Hillary Clinton is how ugly she is on the inside."
That's a problem with those who suffer Clinton Derangement Syndrome.
Cedarford wrote:
"I thought you were straight! Hillary was never a looker."
Aesthetics are a matter of opinion. I didn't think she looked particularly good when she was younger, but I think since she finally figured out how to dress and how to wear her hair, and as she's grown into her features, she's blossomed. I'd have said this morning that she's attractive now, and this picture changes that assessment not a whit.
"That might be a supportable statement if 99 percent of everything you've ever posted about liberal feminists -- hell, women in general -- wasn't so dripping with misogynistic contempt."
Considering how 'new' you are around here, you must have spent an awful lot of time going back through all of the archives reading everything Ann has ever written on the subject.
Oh, that's right. The name is new.
'Tis true a young woman's
Overwhelmed by her beauty
But is that an excuse
To treat such as I snooty?
Margaret Hamilton looked good until Judy Garland threw a bucket of water on her.
Unfortunately, Sen. Clinton is unlikely to melt in a similar manner.
Not true a young woman’s
judged soley by beauty,
the only true question
will she give up the booty?
In an attempt to become 'one of the boys' Hillary has surpassed her expectations.
Why are we so obsessed with how someone looks? I don't care if she looks like an ingenue or a charwoman. I care about who she is.
This woman was the America's Assistant Grifter-in-Chief, and she wants to have the top Grifter job now. I don't want her to, but her looks are irrelevant to my rejection of her and her political beliefs.
Think of it this way - would you support Ann Coulter over this woman because of looks, or do you (rightfully) say that it's not the looks, it's the thoughts?
Anybody can have an unflattering picture taken. We don't know what she was saying or what expression she was making when the picture was snapped. I'm not a Hillary fan by any means, but this reminds me of the unflattering pics people find of Bush, Michelle Malkin, and numerous other people to use in snarky blog posts.
Folks, you know me so you know I wouldn't vote for Hillary anyway, but I challenge you all to do the following search
Look at the pictures and tell me that hammering Hillary with this photo is fair.
Please. Let's get over ourselves. Have you seen the pictures of Fred, and I mean the recent ones where he's lost all that weight?
I repeat. Let's get over ourselves.
There's some high-minded snootiness in this thread about our collective obsession with appearance. I'll gladly pat you all on the back for your nobility.
However.
The reality that no one can change is that the electorate, in general, is very sensitive to appearance. You can rail about issues and experience all you want, but when that curtain closes for many voters, it's about who they want to stare at for the next 4 years.
Has the Ole Perfesser Althouse looked in the mirror lately? Talk about the pot calling the kiettle black. Some of her pictures are enough to make me want to pull over to the side of the road and weep.
Thanks for your pat-on-the-back, but really, you can keep it to yourself. I'm truly amazed at your mind-reading of the electorate, though. You should really clean up after election day '08 given how intelligently you should be able to place your bets.
The one who looks really bad now is McCain. Below his forehead, his whole face is bloating and melting. (Doctor friend of mine speculates that McCain is on heavy steroids for post-melanoma treatment (cortisone bloating)or that when he had his cancer surgeries they scarred up and blocked off lymph drainages) McCain looks sick, not just old.
Not to mention being beaten severely during 8 years of being a POW in the Hanoi Hilton. That wouldn't have anything to do with it.
I thought you were straight! Hillary was never a looker.
Um, I never said she was "a looker". I implied she "wasn't ugly." But I will note that the Hillary of yesteryear is the best Slick Willie has ever done.
Considering how 'new' you are around here, you must have spent an awful lot of time going back through all of the archives reading everything Ann has ever written on the subject.
Oh, that's right. The name is new.
I told you -- we're a franchise, funded by George Soros. He's got a huge archive of Ann's stuff....
someone mentioned the HRC-Drudge detente upthread. Perhaps this is simply a method for HRC to gain support from the older generation ladies in Iowa--may not even need an email asking for support or a statement from her about the picture--Note to self: Boy--have I gotten even more cynical and conspiratorial. Clearly CDS at work.
Here's a picture taken of her two days ago:
Picture
Ha ha, you really had me going for a minute. That's not Hillary, it's Don Imus!
Mutaman said...
"Has the Ole Perfesser Althouse looked in the mirror lately? Talk about the pot calling the kiettle black."
Please. She's a strikingly beautiful woman, and to pretend otherwise is quite simply ludicrous. Watch the most recent vlog; it'll be easy to spot because it'll burn the outermost layer off your cornea.
"He's got a huge archive of Ann's stuff...."
And you spent your time reading it all!
L
Mutaman: "Has the Ole Perfesser Althouse looked in the mirror lately? Talk about the pot calling the kiettle black. Some of her pictures are enough to make me want to pull over to the side of the road and weep."
Thanks for proving my point, you idiot.
When did I say young pretty women should get an advantage? It's quite sexist to decide when women should be better off than men and when they should be worse off, especially when it has to do with marginalizing older women. It is the older women who have the experience to exercise great power. The younger women should not be using their looks to get special access (a la Monica Lewinsky). They should want to make it on merit like me and to have long careers. Anything else is part of a dynamic that subordinates women.
Perhaps it is because the Children's Revolution always inspired me, but I don't buy that older people are better positioned to exercise power. Older people are less receptive to new ideas, more set in their ways, more invested in the status quo, and have declining faculties, both mental and physical. Whereas the young are more open-minded, more willing to take risk, more willing to shake things up, work harder and longer, and innovate more.
I think it is sexist -- and it subordinates women -- to say they can't use their looks. Looks are a natural advantage. Maybe I read too much Nietzsche as a kid, but I think it's an immoral society that prevents someone from using their natural talents or attributes to get ahead. (I just never understood the argument for ugly news anchors.) Frankly, saying young women can't use their looks is just a way that old women subordinate young women and rich women who lack looks, but can afford education and avoiding pregnanacy, etc., subordinate poorer women without equivalent access to resources.
While I wouldn't dispute that you made it on merit, you were a looker when you were younger (not saying you're not now!) and certainly benefitted in terms of people treating you better, assuming the best of your intentions, and all the other social advantages that accrue to attractive people. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Maybe I'm just a big old sexist, but I frankly don't see anything wrong with having sex with co-workers, whatever the power relations. I think sexual harrassment law has made a lot of people way too uptight. I remember when I worked at a state government agency, everyone hit on everyone all the time, in stark defiance of the sexual harrassment informational session. I mean, it was filthy and raunchy. But it was all in good fun. The women were nasty and the men were nasty and we all got our work done quickly because it was a pleasant place to work. And it's not so weird to meet someone you like at work: you're there most of the day, every day of the week. Banning natural human interaction seems like the greater wrong. I know, I am supporting Clinton's subordination of his intern. Hey, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
In her defense, she's 60 and it's 300 below zero.
She has a way of looking outrageously bad in candid snapshots. What do you expect her to look like at the end of her second term, when she's pushing 70? Maybe wrinkles should seem presidential in some way.
Mutaman: "Has the Ole Perfesser Althouse looked in the mirror lately? Talk about the pot calling the kiettle black. Some of her pictures are enough to make me want to pull over to the side of the road and weep."
This is so childish and desperate.
Ann's smokin'.
much as I dislike Hillary, in all fairness, she looks like someone who is cringing from the cold, and it's the resulting pained expression, not the wrinkles per se, that's so unflattering.
I think the only real difference between the top and bottom pictures of Hillary is that today she wasnt collecting nuts.
Thats all, no innuendo either.
Thats all, no innuendo either.
Squirrels not fellatio. Check.
Ann,
Yes, the Drudge picture -- and Rush Limbaugh's monologue -- are obscene.
But you have decided to throw in with these people. You and they share a common cause. You are on their team.
She's photographed outdoors in the winter (the harshest light) with her chin tucked in and a tight scarf pushing up any loose skin. More than likely she was also caught in the process of blinking.
With the exception of those in their twenties, not many of us would look good in the same situation.
All of the candidates are coated with make-up to make them look as good as possible on TV. It just happens that this pic was taken outside.
I can't stand the woman, but I actually feel sorry for her.
I can't stand the woman, but I actually feel sorry for her.
I don't. She has done so many nasty things in the past two weeks that I think it is all deserved.
Well the fact is that if you do something you're actually interested in, looks don't matter.
How women fail in math : those that show up tend to be ones proving that women can do math, rather than just liking math. They wind up in charge of the women's work issues committee reporting to the chairman ; where the guys who like math come in and do math, and like it.
If Hillary likes campaigning, then her looks don't matter, no matter what anybody says. She may win or not because of them, but it won't affect her enjoyment.
If instead it's a nightmare minefield of playing to the media, then she's going to be disappointed ; and probably will wind up in charge of the Fairness for Ugly Women committee and wondering why she can't get any respect.
As to winning, which is Thatcher more like?
Verso said...
"[Ann] ha[s] decided to throw in with these people. You and they share a common cause. You are on their team."
It really doesn't work like that; even if she had (and once you take off the partisan blinkers you'll see how silly that suggestion is, although she's welcome in the VRWC any time she wants in), you don't get to tar all Republicans with Drudge's dreck.
"But you have decided to throw in with these people. You and they share a common cause. You are on their team."
I hear Hitler was a vegetarian. Clearly then vegetarians hate the Jews.
Here is Hillary younger.
I have to say I am now in the camp of people who thinks this is an HRC ploy to engender sympathy by baiting male Dems and conersvatives to bash her. Taylor Marsh couldn't have cooked up a better tactic.
Same day, different angle, just as unflattering.
Working link.
Mortimer Brezny said...
"I have to say I am now in the camp of people who thinks this is an HRC ploy to engender sympathy by baiting male Dems and conersvatives to bash her."
Doesn't seem to be working, if the comments here are anything to go by.
SGT Ted said...
The one who looks really bad now is McCain. Below his forehead, his whole face is bloating and melting. (Doctor friend of mine speculates that McCain is on heavy steroids for post-melanoma treatment (cortisone bloating)or that when he had his cancer surgeries they scarred up and blocked off lymph drainages) McCain looks sick, not just old.
SGT Ted said...Not to mention being beaten severely during 8 years of being a POW in the Hanoi Hilton. That wouldn't have anything to do with it.
Nope, the 'ol POW excuse for any bad McCain position or misjudgement (if you were beaten by the Vietnamese, you'd have taken money from Keating too and been Open Borders on immigration)- has nothing to do with it. Pictures of McCain's face in the 80s and 90s are normal.
138 comments.
She brings the fire.
She's gotta be the nominee.
But you have decided to throw in with these people. You and they share a common cause. You are on their team.
NNNNOOOOOO one expects the Leftish Inquisition!
Well, actually, I do expect it. It's how they operate. Just ask Joe Leiberman.
I'm not surprised that somebody else has already invoked Golda Meir, but it's worth doing again.
Me, I'm not interested in the stud/babe factor in a Presidential candidate. Were I in the market for a girlfriend -- I think my wife might object if I were -- I suspect that that babitude might be a larger factor than it ought to be, but . . .
Of all the criticism I've heard of Hillary!, it hasn't been about her lack of hotness. Were she running against Jessica Alba, well . . .
Doesn't seem to be working, if the comments here are anything to go by.
None of her desperate tactics in these past 2 weeks have been working. Don't worry, she's staging a miraculous resurrection after Super Tuesday!
No one would've ever said of Margaret Thatcher that her looks doomed her candidacy, but then Thatcher's candidacy was never about her looks.
A question for feminists both left and right: do you find it irritating or inspiring that conservatives always reduce your concerns on the treatment of women in politics to the two words "Margaret Thatcher"?
We do love Margaret Thatcher -- not some token kind of, "Why yes, some of my best friends are women," but the "Ronald Reagan is my copilot" kind of love.
When we say, "Give us a Margaret Thatcher and we don't care what she looks like we'll vote for her," we mean it. Just so you know.
AHHH!!! MY EYES! MY EYES!
We must — if we care about the advancement of women — accommodate our vision and see a face like this as mature, experienced, serious — the way we naturally and normally see men's faces.
Yeah, I'll get right to work on that, as soon as I can see again, maybe in a couple of months.
But seriously, if she looks like that now, a few years into a presidency she'll make Jimmy Carter look like Johnny Depp. Sure, looks are unimportant up to a point, but I think most voters will want to be able to watch the news without fear of being turned to stone.
She looks cold, not old.
The picture is damaging because it's a visual representation of a broader theme; she--like her campaign--is overpackaged and overproduced, in the attempt to hide the uglier aspects of her personality. She holds the American people in such contempt that she believes they'll be deceived by a little focus-group-driven rhetoric into believing that she's competent, and by a little makeup into believing that she's thirty-nine.
I agree with Eugene Volohk. The picture makes her look more Thatcher-like and less like a Stepford Wife from Hell.
Do you think a post about Hilary's health care proposals would generate this much comment? Looks matter. I remember reading some time ago about a photographer who caught Reagan looking old and confused. He snapped the photo and thought he would surely win a Pulitzer. When the picture was developed, he was disappointed to discover that Reagan looked poised and confident. Reagan wasn't a Hollywood star for nothing. I have no objection to Hilary looking tired and old--who wouldn't with such a schedule. My objection is that anytime Bush leaves his jaw agape or slouches in his chair you can pretty much depend on the photo editors to put that picture on the front page. The fact that there are so few unflattering pictures of Hillary is suspect.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: At the risk of my own embarrassment, I'll admit there are pictures of certain women that sexually excite me.
"But you have decided to throw in with these people. You and they share a common cause. You are on their team."
That sounds like a big old steaming pile, and if you had any brains, you'd know it.
Meade, are you going to post that on every thread? Cause that's entertainment.
"Thanks for proving my point, you idiot."
I am moved to tears.
Just trying to give a little back to my betters, Troop.
This book has a lot to say about the issues Ann raises in her post.
I am not a Hillary! supporter, but I am inclined to think Mort B may have a point.
I am indifferent to Hilary but I don't think she looks that bad in this picture. She is 60 years old.
Granted, she is no Liddy Dole, who is smokin, but I think Hilary is an attractive 60 year old woman.
I have never seen Hilary Clinton in person as I would have no interest to go to any rally to see any politican-I don't find it that interesting.
I don't think this picture will cause her to win or lose the election-if it would that is pathetic.
What is interesting though is the passion and hatred she invokes by many. Very similar to the hatred by Bush if you ask me.
Sorry I meant Hatred of Bush not Hatred by Bush.
yes beauty is snooty
but booty is duty
so fear is precludy
by thoughts of her nudy
Dr. Helen also believes and supports gays going to therapy to become straights.
She is a miracle worker and a true magician.
I work in a photography studio, and I say that the "difference" is entirely created by lighting. News photos are typically indoors, taken with a flash that is close to the lens. It's called "flat lighting" and is generally held to be unflattering— but one thing it does is minimize wrinkles. The steeper the angle of the light, the more that wrinkles are emphasized.
If flashes are not used for an indoor shoot, there are still typically lights positioned at angles other than striaght overhead so that the candidates' faces are well-lit.
So I look at that photo of Hillary and see an older woman at midday. Nothing especially sinister about those wrinkles. And the fact that she isn't smiling makes it look worse, but it's a candid, after all. Everybody has unflattering angles, even someone such as Beyonce.
Titus: That's an incorrect characterization of Dr. Helen's position, which is simply libertarian. Do you want to dictate to people what aspects of themselves they are allowed to try to change?
b. durbin: Interesting. Reminds me of "Streetcar Named Desire" -- Blanche would never be seen in daylight.
Althouse if I am incorrect regarding Dr. Helen's view on Homos and therapy than I am wrong and stand corrected and I apologize.
I guess if homos want to seek therapy in order to change who I am to tell them what them what to do personally.
I don't agree that therapy can change a homo to straight but if a homo seeks it that is his choice, sad but his/her choice. I think they are denying who they really are.
Now, where are we going to dindin when I come home? It is going to be fabulous. You are going to heave the time of your life. You will talk about it to friends and family.
I will make you feel like a woman without any nookie.
The face that raunched a thousand quips!
There are so many valid reasons to slam that woman, it seems to me it's counterproductive to use the few glimpses of her humanity as one of them.
"You are going to heave the time of your life"
hey, that DOES sound like a fun dindin!
It will be fun Buddy. You shouldn't keep all your food in your system otherwise you will be fat which is the gay cardinal sin.
What's the big deal? Maybe it's a "Picture of Dorian Gray thing." The evil inside beginning to manifest itself.
Were thine that special face?
The face which fills my dreaming,
Were thine the rhythm'd grace,
Were thine the form so lithe and slender,
Were thine the arms so warm, so tender,
Were thine the kiss divine,
Were thine the love for me,
The love which fills my dreaming,
When all these charms are thine
Then you'll be mine, all mine.
Cole Porter
Bad photo but it shows a side of the Senator that she would prefer be hidden.
If this is what two easy elections and a philandering spouse does to her appearance it is down right scary what the stress of being president could do to her.
Thatcher and Merkel have two advantages one being they are both self made politicians and neither have the disadvantage of being married to a flamboyant, philandering ex-president.
That picture might play well in Europe but in the US not so well.
If Sen Clinton's life has weighed on her so much that she appears so wrought before she becomes president what will her actual experience do to her?
Thatcher and Merkel have worn their pressures well but the Senator seems to be overly stressed yet rather untested.
Granted the guys get a pass but this photo doesn't portend well for the Senator or the nation if she is elected.
theo said...
"Thatcher and Merkel have worn their pressures well but the Senator seems to be overly stressed yet rather untested."
Thatcher never ran in a nationwide election, and even if Merkel did, she did so in a far smaller nation with far fewer people. I don't think they're comparable.
but she was chipper as a cricket on the live interviews she did on the cables today. Maybe she just had indigestion yesterday. Nah this choo choo train will need much more slowing than a mere snapshot will furnish. Obama will take her down, or we get her all day every day for 1, 4, or 8 years.
I will make you feel like a woman without any nookie.
This is a selling point? Perhaps you should rephrase.
Hillary is usually photographed smiling and with eyes wide open, this may explain why. The creases and color of her coat and scarf accentuate the wrinkles, too.
Yes it's a bad photo. But the rise in wrinkles is remarkable.
"Allergan Announces 2006 Financial Guidance and Investor Call ... Botox(R) sales between $870 million and $905 million (excludes Botox(R) sales in Japan"
You think national level politicians who go on TV are averse to a touch up with a botox needle? If so, they are about the last rich people over 50 who aren't. Expect the wrinkles to be gone next week.
Plastic surgery has gotten so *obvious* lately that my only reaction to the photo of Hillary is to take her more seriously.
Not that I'd never get anything done if I had the funds (I don't know that I *would* either, since I *don't* have the funds) but it just seems to me that a face lift that *looks* lifted is worse than wrinkles, boobs that look balloony are worse than A cups, and lips like a duck bill are far worse than a natural thin lipped mouth.
We made fun of Pelosi's perpetual look of astonished surprise because it was so obvious that her face was pulled halfway back her head.
This is what 63 years old looks like.
Anybody can have an unflattering picture taken.
Ah yes, but unflattering pics of Dems usually wind up on the cutting room floor, while those of Repubs make the NYT's front page.
Thats the only interest I have in her photo. Who had the balls to run it? And do they know that Democrat[ic] Stormtroopers are enroute to their house?
So far the pic is only turning up in "alternative" media like Drudge?
If Hillary was a Republican candidate, the MSM saturation of this photo would eclipse the abuse pics of Abu Ghraib.
/best analysis:
Danny: If America was used to this Hilary Clinton then the photo would be a non-issue. It's the change from what we're used to thats the cause for horror. Ugliness won't keep anyone from the White House, but taking off your mask a few weeks before the primaries just might.
Wikipedia says she just turned 60 in October 07. Fred is 65. He looked younger before he lost weight.
I agree with Ms. Althouse, but she undermines her essential point by posting a extremely flattering, if not intriguing, photo aimed right for the lizard brain, which, if her bloggingheads appearances are any indication, isn't exactly representative. Ms. Althouse and Ms. Clinton are women of a certain age and yet neither one wants to give up presnting looks more in keeping with 20 or 30 something women. (This is true for men as well, by the way; adolesecence forever! We can only blame the sixties for turning old age into a syndrome.) Ms. Althouse, embrace your decline! There is poetry in aging. 50 is not the new 30, except in IQ.
that picture is faker than a three dollar bill
but keep linking to drudge, he's so nonpartisan and credible
Do men (and women) want this face to be on TV, newspaper and all over the media for the next four or eight years telling you to do this and do that, and preaching that men should be more like women and other her feminists nonsense? Do we REALLY want that?
In Asia (and many other parts of the world) people say that the face gives insights to the inner mind of the people. Hillary looks OLD (indeed really, really OLD) in the picture, but it’s not just being old that make most people feel awfully disgusted. I think the picture shows a true FACE of a person (happens to be a woman, yeah!) who have been pursuing unbridled power and control over other people, a true face of radical gender feminist warrior and petit-totalitarianist.
Ugh, I'm so sick of women being judged so differently from men. What are looks in a presidential candidate, anyway? This is the one time that I think the French have it all over us, as they seem to appreciate the "older" woman (40 and over) more so than we do.
As for the picture -- lighting is everything. Plus, a cold day can really bring out the dry skin and wrinkles. So what's the big deal?
The Exalted: that picture is faker than a three dollar bill
Are you saying it was photoshopped, ala Reuters? That should easy to prove...
but keep linking to drudge, he's so nonpartisan and credible
Who would you prefer she link to thats "nonpartisan and credible"? CBS?
Why did Nixon lose to Kennedy in 1960? Is it sexism against men? Why Ronald Reagan had to wear make up in front of camera? Do face and style never matter in politics? What, are you living in 19th century?
Managing and projecting good (and young, fresh) images is an important pillar of modern-day political campaigning. That’s why many campaigns hire scores of image consultants, stylists, etc. But when a woman stumbles on this one time, and all of a sudden there is huge cry of sexism?
Right the opposite of Indian politicians. The longer they are in office, the less they seem to age.
Presidents age poorly because of the stress of the job. Hillary is aging poorly because of the stress of a campaign where she must continue being disingenuous on a daily basis to even stay in the race. Her flip-flopping on driver's licenses for illegal aliens is a case in point. She can't give a straight answer to any question without first wetting her finger and sticking it in the wind to gage what answer will best serve her. Lying is in itself very stressful and doing it poorly is even more so. She always gets caught.
The photo is NOT fake.
Deal with it!
Conspiracy Theorists crack me up...
one thing for sure ..since this photo Ms. Hill is into TONS of makeup
Could Hill-y look any older? Go drudge...
If you're a drudge fan: drudgetracker.com
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