We really don't need any help understanding that Michele Bachmann is crazy

By Richard K. Barry

Wow, I agree with Michelle Malkin about something. The world may be coming to an end.

Well, it's actually Malkin's complaint that Newsweek used a "crazy eyes" picture of Michele Bachmann in a cover shot this week. And boy did they ever.

It's just such an easy thing to do and so unfair.

I once worked for a politician who refused to take part in pie-throwing contests (as the target) because he knew that the moment one hit his face the picture would be on the cover of multiple newspapers and maybe even end up on a piece of campaign literature for an opponent.

Politicians I've worked with also avoided wearing silly hats for the same kinds of reasons or even acting overly foolish in any context. It's sad, but that's the nature of the business.

But beyond that, lets face it, if you have a public profile, there will be countless pictures taken of you and some of them are going to be bad - really bad.

Much as I dislike Michele Bachmann, Newsweek botched this one. No politician deserves to have a picture appear on the front of a major news magazine that looks like they're auditioning for the part of an extra in a Vincent Price movie.

Tsk, tsk.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)