Even liberal comedian John Stewart thought Newsweek went too far with its Michele Bachmann cover page, but CNN analyst Roland Martin sees no story here. Martin is blunt with "angry conservatives, and delusional feminists" in his latest CNN.com op-ed telling them to "get real."
"To the angry conservatives, and delusional feminists, give it a rest. There is nothing sexist about the photo, nor does it reveal a flaming liberal bias," Martin writes of a Newsweek cover showing a wide-eyed Bachmann above the title "Queen of Rage."
The cover ignited outrage from both conservatives and liberal feminists (see: National Organization for Women) – and even liberal comedian John Stewart. In fact, even Martin's network, CNN, for which he is a political analyst, thought the matter controversial enough to discuss.
Martin first argues that the photo isn't all that bad and doesn't capture the emotion of "rage." Then he tries to blame Bachmann for personifying the "rage" that Newsweek is trying to capture. "She rails against one thing or another every day," he insists.
However, Martin zeroes in on only one side of the outrage – namely that Newsweek is sexist toward conservative women – instead of also considering that the publication simply wanted to do a number on Bachmann regardless of her gender.
Martin asserts that male politicians are also subject to withering blows from the media, like President Obama getting his manhood challenged by Times's Mureen Dowd – or even President George H.W. Bush being called a wimp or Tim Pawlenty suffering the insidious label of "boring."
Of course, none of the men he mentions had to deal with an embarrassing picture of themselves on a Newsweek cover page, next to a dubious headline – except for Mitt Romney, of course. Which begs the question that maybe Newsweek isn't sexist, but is content to throw mud balls at Republican presidential candidates simply because they are conservative.
After all, such Republicans are challenging the very man for whom they granted so many gracious cover stories in 2008 and 2009 – President Obama himself.
To view Martin's entire article, click here.
