Newsweek News

Newsweek’s Offensive Mormon Cover

7:47 am EST June 9th, 2011 | Media, Religion | 34 Comments

Hey Newsweek, this is not okay.

Frankly, it is about as far away from okay as you can get. Newsweek’s current cover mashing up The Book Of Mormon musical with Mitt Romney would probably be too much for Mad Magazine, and their entire business model is predicated on uncomfortable stabs at humor. But on the cover of one of the two major newsweeklies, it is just too much.

I’m obviously no fan of Mitt Romney or his brand of politics, but this cover trivializes his Mormon faith in a way that simply wouldn’t be acceptable with mainline Christian politicians. It just wouldn’t. Romney is a legitimate candidate for the presidency who doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment from a publication that purports to be a serious journalism product.

I don’t even think this cover would be tasteful in the hands of an ideological publication opposed to Romney and his ideas (eg. The Nation, The American Prospect), let alone Newsweek. If we’re going to have an atmosphere that encourages and embraces freedom of religion (or the lack thereof) we should be respectful of denominations no matter how small.

I think Newsweek went with this cover for a couple of reasons.

One, Mormonism is not often in step with mainstream American Christianity, and is unlikely to prompt outcries of solidarity when it is attacked or smeared. That is, a guy like the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue is unlikely to defend Mormons with the same zeal he attacks victims of Catholic church abuse. It’s a cheap hit that doesn’t cost them anything.

Secondly, and more obviously, Newsweek is desperate. In recent weeks Newsweek’s covers have showcased The Olsen Twins and the royal wedding (and there was that pinup-style Palin cover from a couple years ago). There isn’t anything wrong with a provocative cover on a newsweekly designed to sell issues, but those covers made much more sense when People magazine did them.

Tina Brown is presiding over the merged Daily Beast/Newsweek in a bid to be relevant once again (doomed to fail, I predict) and covers like this are the byproduct. I can hear the editorial team now: OMG! He’s a Mormon, let’s Photoshop him onto the poster of that Mormon play that’s doing so well right now! Because… Mormon!

It’s lazy thinking, bigoted, and simply not okay. Our fellow Americans, who happen to practice Mormonism, deserve better than this.

Topic: Mitt Romney, Newsweek

Thanks, Tom Tancredo

6:49 pm EST November 5th, 2008 | Democrats, Politics, Republicans | 6 Comments

2004 Hispanic Vote
55% Kerry 44% Bush

2008 Hispanic Vote
67% Obama 31% McCain

The GOP has alienated the fastest growing set of Americans, possibly for a generation.

Si Se Puede.

Topic: Immigration, Newsweek, Race

Joe The Ubiquitous Presence Calls Obama A Traitor

6:06 pm EST November 2nd, 2008 | Uncategorized | 27 Comments

The McCain campaign repeats the success they had vetting Sarah Palin with Joe The Plumber. If there is a metaphor for McCain ’08, thats it.

Topic: John McCain, Newsweek

Tightening!

1:59 pm EST November 1st, 2008 | News | 4 Comments

Obama now leads by 10 in Gallup’s most McCain-friendly measure of the likely voters this election.

McCain’s got us right where he wants us.

Topic: John McCain, Newsweek, Polling, President Obama

More McMess

2:26 am EST October 31st, 2008 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

John McCain seeks to duplicate the chaos of his election effort with his “transition” team.

Let’s see to it that this mess remains a theory.

Topic: John McCain, Newsweek

Cave-In?

9:58 am EST October 27th, 2008 | News | 10 Comments

New poll (pdf) shows Obama +11 over McCain in Virginia…

ALSO: New polls show a 2-4 point lead for McCain… in Arizona! He’ll likely win it, but by comparison Sen. Obama has about a 25% lead in Illinois.

Topic: John McCain, Newsweek, President Obama, Virginia

Denial

12:13 pm EST October 26th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 18 Comments

John McCain is now faced with a campaign consistently lagging behind Sen. Obama. While it is still possible for the polls to tighten as we get closer to election day, he hasn’t led in a single major poll since near the end of September. Even in the polls that have the most favorable turnout models (the IBD/Tipp poll, for one), he has not had the lead. And anyone who thinks that Democratic/Republican turnout is going to mirror 2004 is in a dream world.

And yet, McCain has the nerve to say that the polls are all over the place.

Look, I don’t expect him to say “I and my campaign suck eggs.” But come on.

Topic: John McCain, Newsweek

There Is No Obama Inaugural Address Written

11:09 pm EST October 25th, 2008 | Media | 4 Comments

But thanks to sloppy work from the New York Times and the desperate McCain campaign, the idea has entered the public consciousness.

Topic: John McCain, New York Times, Newsweek, President Obama

Can Someone Explain With A Straight Face…

9:49 pm EST October 25th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 13 Comments

why the heck McCain and Palin are campaigning in Iowa and Pennsylvania? Colorado, I understand. Florida, I understand. New Hampshire even makes sense. And certainly Ohio. But they’re spending their limited resources in states where poll after poll shows a double digit deficit.

Then again, almost 8 years ago George W. Bush was campaigning in California – nobody knows why to this day. Bush went on to lose California by 12% to Gore.

Topic: John McCain, Newsweek

Clearly They’re Trying To Lose

11:01 am EST October 24th, 2008 | Republicans | 16 Comments

The RNC has released a new web video. It is 12 minutes long. It is 12 minutes of Fred Thompson doing his “fake president” act telling us how horrible an Obama win would be.

Its the kind of situation that makes you wonder if someone paid them to take the fall.

Topic: Newsweek