The Dreaded Deflated Hillary Photo Beamed Round the World

Update: I took her photo down, I simply can't look at it any longer. Anyway, it's all over the Web and easy to find. She's not my candidate and never will be, but I wish her well and anyway, it's Christmas.

LOOKING LIKE THE AIR LEAKED OUT

Is it the end? Drudge asks rhetorically. Don Surber sees vulnerability writ all over it. Ann Althouse complains only middle aged women get this kind of unfair treatment. Rush believes our looks obsessed culture will simply not choose to look anymore and banish her herewith. Dr. Helen argues, no, men also get the dreaded ageism treatment , often unfairly, while The Anchoress agrees: not the first time, won't be the last, then links to Michael Totten's love post with some pretty unbecoming photos of politicos. Then the GOP weighs in.

It's a love/hate link fest of unprecedented proportions. The only thing that could have gotten even more attention would be if the photo had been of Hillary's rear end.

There's nothing original I can add to the cacophony of commentary abounding, except,

Hillary looks her age here, no question. She looks tired, deflated, puffy around the eyes---like she's eaten too much salt---older and out-of-sorts. In short, every woman's worst nighmare of a photo, with all due respect to Ann, Helen and other of the great levelers. Women hate stuff like this, me included. We all should humbly admit but by the grace of God, go we. Yes, yes I know it's dreadfully vain and superficial of me. So be it.

I think women, and men too, never photograph anywhere near their best in cold, cold weather. It's because our pores, skin cells, veins, capillaries and connective tissue are all contracted by freezing temperatures, and thus we become shells of ourselves until we warm up again. Whether this is a metaphor for a larger looming reality remains to be seen, but I wouldn't be at all surprised. For now, I say, she's in trouble not because of ageism, sexism, racism, culturism, atheism or cold weather.

The Clintons are in trouble because she and Bill are cold, hard-bitten, aging politicians who can't be trusted to run the country anymore and that harsh reality is reflected in the above photo. We must now make sure she doesn't get the Supreme Court, as boobie prize.

She does have at least one thing to be thankful for: it wasn't a photo of her derrier flung round the world. I've heard for years that she's given the strictest of orders to her staff of keepers and handlers not to let anyone, a-n-y-o-n-e, take a photo of her from behind. So in the relative scheme of things, her worst photographic scenario hasn't come true. Yet. And God help us if it should happen. But for now, she's probably thankful for such small things. Still make no mistake, there are times that Hillary does look good. And she will again.