Newsweek: "How do you solve a problem like Sarah (Palin)?"

Ms Palin has published a book, been interviewed on Oprah, and is much in the news.  If anyone has been off world lately you'll remember Palin as the former GOP VP candidate.  Now Newsweek with a cover of Palin in her running outfit looking "oh-so-sexy" writes "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Sarah? She's bad news for the GOP - and for everybody else too."  Meanwhile Palin is in a snit and writes "The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist, and oh-so-expected by now."

I must admit that I'm more than a bit bemused and chargrin by Newsweek and Palin both.

The photo is in face of Palin which was taken with not just her consent but her active participation while she was in the hunt for publicity and agreed to a photo shoot for Runner's World.  So common sense suggest that Sarah should get over herself and come to grips with the fact that she is by her own choice and active participation a public figure.

Meanwhile Newsweek wonders "How do you solve a problem like Sarah?"  Really?  But nooooo!  Newsweek wants quite understandably to sell magazines.  A mildly provocative photo of Palin, catchy headline, and bit of controversy will doubtless sell magazines.  If Newsweek really wants to solve the "Sarah" problem it could do the obvious, just ignore her.  Newsweek should decide if it wants to continue to be a tabloid mascarading as a news magazine or actually be a news weekly.

I suppose in many ways that Newsweek and Palin are made for each other. 

Palin wants publicity and Newsweek wants to sell magazines.  It's more than a little sad that what now passes for public discourse is reduced to such.  Indeed, common sense suggest that so long as it is thus there is little if any hope that the real and pressing business of governence can succeed.

Just a bit of common sense.