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If Fidel Castro and Sean Penn are in the same room, which one do you think hates America more? Such a question doesn't seem to concern Vanity Fair who according to the website TMZ has hired Penn to write an article about how Barack Obama and his administration have impacted Cuba.

VANITY Fair yesterday took some of the deepest staff cuts at Condé Nast, but Editor Graydon Carter didn't deliver the bad news himself. Although Carter was said to have been at his restaurant, The Monkey Bar, Wednesday night, he was a no show in the office yesterday because he had jetted off on a vacation yesterday morning. Vanity Fair's layoffs were said to be in the double-digit range, and hit as high as senior editors and as low as fact checkers, and were deep, in part, because Carter largely ignored the edict to chop 5 percent late last year. Additional...

One would hope that Mr Carter will at least feel a little guilty about his own role in helping to bring about this tsunami. His lack of leadership and failure to be willing to adapt to a changed environment are now on public display. How ironic that this should happen to a man so ready to use his magazine as a platform to demonise and demean Governor Palin and to characterise her as an empty headed ingénue whose organisational skills were limited to rearranging the contents of her wardrobe.

News reports that Sarah Palin is planning a separate Christian version of her forthcoming memoir, Going Rogue, are false, according to her publisher, HarperCollins. The reports were so widely circulated that they appear to have caused confusion at Zondervan, a Christian publisher owned by HarperCollins, where the director of publicity said yesterday that a special Christian edition of the book had been planned but was scrapped because of the expedited timetable for the book's release. Reports about a special Christian edition of Palin's memoir included a long Vanity Fair profile on Palin last summer, which said that her memoir was...

Usually the leftist media can be counted upon to unite, seize upon an anti_Palin meme and run with it. That liberal solidarity, however, has all but vaporized in the wake of Levi Johnston's latest round of charges against Sarah Palin and her family, as promoted by Vanity Fair magazine. The first cracks in liberal media wall appeared when only CBS of the big three alphabet television networks bought into the myth Vanity Fair's editor Graydon Carter had hoped to spread to take down Palin, as NewsBusters' Kyle Drennen reported: "Teasing an upcoming segment on Thursday’s CBS Early Show about new...

The magazine Vanity Fair opted to open up the fall season featuring another groundbreaking interview with Levi Johnston, a young man whose previous claims to fame included a decisive slap shot in hockey, the ability to navigate a snow machine over rough terrain, and sufficient spermatozoa to impregnate the daughter of a vice presidential candidate. The punditocracy and their associated acolytes across the web immediately fell into predictable patterns of applause and outrage. You may recall that during the Battle of Ought Eight, Levi was held up — albeit somewhat reluctantly — as a hero of traditional American values. Rather...

Levi Johnston, not content with just a GQ spread, heads to Condé Nast sibling Vanity Fair to offer a first person account: "Me and Mrs. Palin." The magazine posted a couple excerpts early this morning, including Johnston's account of how Palin considered keeping Bristol's pregnancy a secret. Sarah told me she had a great idea: we would keep it a secret — nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant. She told me that once Bristol had the baby she and Todd would adopt him. That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything. Sarah kept mentioning...

If there's one thing about liberals, it's that they're predictably predictable. In their eyes, it is more than acceptable to mock Sarah Palin and her family, using descriptions that range from rude to crude. When President Bush was in office, he was the focus of daily ridicule from left-wing journalists and bloggers. However, no one better make fun of Barack Obama or the thought police will express "outrage" and brand you a racist. That's exactly what is happening now as a poster of Obama in "Joker" makeup is popping up on walls and city streets. My question to the lefties:...

Make some room, Brad and Angelina — heads of state are now elbowing out Hollywood glitterati as cutting-edge fashion plates. Barack and Michelle Obama look as good in the White House as movie stars do on the red carpet, which put them both on Vanity Fair’s coveted International Best-Dressed List, announced Tuesday on TODAY. President Obama finds himself in heady company among the sartorial splendor of Brad Pitt, Anne Hathaway, TODAY’s Tiki Barber ... and his own wife Michelle, who made the list for the third year in a row...

Vanity Fair's Todd Purdum joined Chuck Todd, filling in for Chris Matthews on Hardball, to discuss his recent article on Sarah Palin.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 4, 2009 On July 3rd, 2009, Governor Sarah Palin announced her intent to resign her gubernatorial duties and transfer the powers of Governor to Lt. Governor Sean Parnell. Almost immediately afterwards, several unscrupulous people have asserted false and defamatory allegations that the “real” reasons for Governor Palin’s resignation stem from an alleged criminal investigation pertaining to the construction of the Wasilla Sports Complex. This canard was first floated by Democrat operatives in September 2008 during the national campaign and followed up by sympathetic Democratic writers.1. It was easily rebutted then as one of many fabrications about...

The latest issue of Vanity Fair isn't even on newsstands yet and it's already making headlines for a not-so-politely titled article, "It Came from Wasilla," about Gov. Sarah Palin. William Kristol at the Weekly Standard is calling it a "hit piece," taking writer Todd Purdum to task for his "dubious claims." A blogger at the Atlantic writes that the article "paints a gruesome picture" of the governor. Politico's Jonathan Martin mulls the "political fallout from the very tough piece."

Rather than a blow to a career, Todd Purdum’s piece is a spectacular tribute to a force of nature built for another national race. The excuse for the Republican circular firing squad of the holiday weekend is that Weekly Standard editor and party brainiac Bill Kristol claims that pugnacious McCain campaign enforcer Steve Schmidt has been caught gossiping to Vanity Fair’s Todd Purdum about Sarah Palin’s rambling and incoherent vice presidential campaign last fall. Purdum, writing with a polite disdain, does flatter Palin as “the sexiest and riskiest brand in the Republican Party,” before he goes on to mention unnamed...

It appears the Vainly Unfair magazine hit piece, the product of a collaboration between Obama-supporting liberal editor Todd Purdum and a few traitors within the McCain campaign organization, is backfiring. In the uproar that has arisen in the wake of the smear job, some former McCain staffers are standing up to defend their 2008 vice presidential candidate, and, unlike the anonymous anti-Palin leakers quoted in the politically-motivated article, those speaking out in favor of Sarah Palin aren't afraid to let their names be known: "She's a fine person, with unique and unteachable political skills," said Mark Salter, a senior adviser...

To summarize baseball legend Reggie Jackson: nobody boos a nobody. That is definitely true in the case of Governor Sarah Palin. I don’t think I am going out on a limb here when I speculate that individuals who repeatedly attack her anonymously view her as a threat. And that includes members of the media hell-bent tearing down young Republican up-and-comers as well as some in Governor Palin’s own party — a party desperately in need of redefining — who are motivated, for whatever reason, to try and crush their rivals. The most recent and grossly unfair attack came from Vanity...

After enduring months of derision within Republican circles for her role as the party's 2008 vice presidential nominee and her uneven performance as a national figure this year, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is experiencing something of a rebound among the D.C. chattering class in the 48 hours since the release of a very tough profile on her in Vanity Fair magazine. In the wake of that piece -- a 9,800 word opus penned by Todd Purdum -- a number of operatives who worked closely with Palin during the 2008 campaign have reached out to the Fix to defend the governor....

On the same day Republicans surrendered a symbolically significant seat in the Senate, the Sarah Palin wars erupted again inside the party. Leaks followed by trash-talking followed by recriminations. The latest Palin flare-up began in Vanity Fair with a lengthy article by Todd S. Purdum examining the Alaska governor's past and her potential future. The controversy migrated instantly to the Web and the blogs -- it was, in fact, made for the viral communication that dominates today's politics -- and became even more intense, nasty and personal. The Palin controversy highlights personal enmities and strategic disagreements among Republicans. The victory...

The worst thing is that it gives this long, tedious, very poorly written hatchet job publicity it doesn't deserve. At about 9000 words, it's almost a chapter in a book. The piece is full of unsupported accusations, digs by unnamed sources, as well as leaps made frankly out of the clear blue sky. The first paragraph is a sign of things to come. Despite her disastrous performance in the 2008 election, Sarah Palin is still the sexiest brand in Republican politics, with a lucrative book contract for her story. But what Alaska’s charismatic governor wants the public to know about...

The publication of a Vanity Fair profile of Sarah Palin appears to have opened old wounds in the McCain campaign. At issue is a question that was never resolved following McCain’s loss in November: Who in the McCain campaign was secretly trashing Sarah Palin to the press? (snip) .... What follows is the email exchange with Bill Kristol that Schmidt rooted out, where Scheunemann speculates that the source of the “Diva” leak was Nicolle Wallace’s husband. Read from the bottom up: ——- Original Message ——- From: Randy Scheunemann To: William Kristol Sent: Sat Oct 25 19:44:44 2008 Subject: Re: who...

A new Vanity Fair article on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has re-ignited animosities among feuding high-profile Republican advisers who worked on Arizona Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. The in-depth profile, which describes Palin as the "sexiest and the riskiest brand in the Republican Party," raises questions about McCain's decision to pick the Alaska governor as his running mate and her "disastrous" performance in the 2008 campaign -- sparking a vicious back-and-forth between former advisers to the GOP ticket. "Perhaps most painful, how could John McCain, one of the cagiest survivors in contemporary politics...ever have picked a person whose utter...

A hard-hitting piece on Sarah Palin in the new Vanity Fair has touched off a blistering exchange of insults among high-profile Republicans over last year’s GOP ticket – tearing open fresh wounds about leaks surrounding Palin and revealing for the first time some of the internal wars that paralyzed the campaign in its final days. Rival factions close to the McCain campaign have been feuding since last fall over Palin , usually waging the battle in the shadows with anonymous quotes. Now, however, some of the most well-known names in Republican politics are going on-the-record with personal attacks and blame-casting....

Yesterday, Andrew Sullivan blasted the MSM for failing to get the details on Trig Palin's birth. He concluded his post with "I believed then and I believe now that the MSM is too concerened with their own reputations and too deferent to power to even ask the questions. Which is another betrayal of their core purpose. And why they are dying. And deserve to." "Too concerned with their own reputations"? Really!? Wow. I haven't noticed the MSM displaying a lot of concern with their reputation as they fawn and slobber over every move Obama makes. That doesn't do much, in...

A hard-hitting piece on Sarah Palin in the new Vanity Fair has touched off a blistering exchange of insults among high-profile Republicans over last year’s GOP ticket – tearing open fresh wounds about leaks surrounding Palin and revealing for the first time some of the internal wars that paralyzed the campaign in its final days. Rival factions close to the McCain campaign have been feuding since last fall over Palin, usually waging the battle in the shadows with anonymous quotes. Now, however, some of the most well-known names in Republican politics are going on-the-record with personal attacks and blame-casting. William...

There are only two reasons that come to mind why Todd Purdum might have written the nasty little hit piece on Sarah Palin for Vanity Fair: (1) This is red meat to the coastal elites (and wannabees) to which the magazine panders. (2) Liberals continue to be afraid of Palin as a potential candidate. The piece only makes sense if the underlying motivation is #1. Otherwise, it's a strategic blunder of the first order. I've had some disagreements with Governor Palin in the past -- for example, the way she handled Bristol Palin's pregnancy. But any lingering doubts or disagreements...

To go through the 9,800 word profile/excoriation of Sarah Palin by Todd Purdum in Vanity Fair and Fisk it line by line would take an enormous amount of time and space, and probably more time than you’re willing to devote to reading it. So for now, the low-lights: Whatever her political future, the emergence of Sarah Palin raises questions that will not soon go away. “What does it say about the nature of modern American politics that a public official who often seems proud of what she does not know is not only accepted but applauded?” I’m still looking for...

If you're a fan of Alaska governor Sarah Palin, there's not a lot for you to love in Todd Purdum's new 9,800-word Vanity Fair profile — starting with the monster-movie title "It Came From Wasilla" — which explores not just the failed presidential campaign, not just her tenure as Alaska's governor, but the entire essence of Palin. But if you are one of the many Americans who love to hate Palin (or simply hate her), this is basically Christmas morning. And because nobody should have to exert themselves on Christmas, we've pulled out the ten most unflattering ways that Palin...

Alaskan Governor and GOP 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin may be nice looking, but she sure wasn’t a very good candidate is the bottom line of Vanity Fair’s 9,920-word profile about her released Tuesday. The comments about her beauty weren't entirely complimentary, either. Vanity Fair writer Todd S. Purdum said her looks probably hurt her as much it helped win voters during the campaign. The brunt of his article, the notion that she was never suited to run nationally, relied heavily on unattributed quotes from McCain campaign staffers who felt she wasn’t up to snuff and refused properly study...

[...] The brunt of his article, the notion that she was never suited to run nationally, relied heavily on unattributed quotes from McCain campaign staffers who felt she wasn’t up to snuff and refused properly study up on policy issues. [...] Two McCain staffers, however, were immediately willing to go on the record with the Washington Times in their support for Mrs. Palin after the Vanity Fair piece was published online. Jason Recher, who worked closely with Mrs. Palin as a vice presidential candidate, said “The mean tone of this article is completely false, this is not the Sarah Palin...

Sarah Palin trashed by members of John McCain's campaign team in Vanity Fair BY Michael Saul DAILY NEWS POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Monday, June 29th 2009, 12:01 PM Grillo/AP Alaska's lipstick-wearing pit-bull is a "Little Shop of Horrors." That's how one longtime friend and campaign trail companion of John McCain, the vanquished 2008 GOP presidential nominee, described veep nominee Sarah Palin. In an expansive story in the August edition of Vanity Fair, a slew of senior members of McCain's campaign team told reporter Todd S. Purdum that they suffer a kind of survivor's guilt following the 2008 presidential election. "They can't quite...

Alaska's lipstick-wearing pit-bull is a "Little Shop of Horrors." That's how one longtime friend and campaign trail companion of John McCain, the vanquished 2008 GOP presidential nominee, described veep nominee Sarah Palin. In an expansive story in the August edition of Vanity Fair, a slew of senior members of McCain's campaign team told reporter Todd S. Purdum that they suffer a kind of survivor's guilt following the 2008 presidential election.

Want to argue that Rush Limbaugh the radio sensation will soon crumble and fail? That he's headed for a "last hurrah,"? Would you sign up as your expert....an Air America executive? That’s what media critic Michael Wolff did in a Vanity Fair article on Limbaugh, "the man who ate the GOP." Rush has power now, but soon he won’t: Arguably no message apparatus like it exists in the nation, except, perhaps, at the White House (or in Oprah—whose position with American women is curiously analogous to Rush’s position with American conservatives). It is concentrated and extraordinary power. Except that this...

Another sign that that the eco-movement is a victim of the economy: Condé Nast, the publisher of Vanity Fair has decided to kill its annual green issue, according to an article by Rachel Shields in the April 5 The Independent (UK). "Condé Nast, publisher of Vanity Fair, argues that the environment has become so integral to the news agenda that there is no longer a need for a dedicated issue," Shields wrote. "Vanity Fair remains committed to covering the environment, and we'll spread our coverage throughout the year, instead of relegating the bulk of it to a specific issue," a...

Here'a an excerpt and a sample: Vanity Fair: Miss “Cable Queen,” as Vogue calls you, do you suffer from any paraphilia? Maddow: Paraphilia? Vanity Fair: Listen to this saucy pedant. Paraphilia is having a rare erotic fetish. Perhaps you may indulge in eproctophilia?
 Maddow: Duh? Vanity Fair: Darling! Eproctophiliacs are those sexually turned on by farts and farting! Maddow: That word actually exists?

Favrea was but a teenager during Clinton’s Presidency. I’m sure he heard or read all the salacious details of Bill and Monica. He learned that it was fine to cheat on your wife with a young woman not much older than your own daughter. Even if you are President. He learned that Democrats will stand behind you in your humiliation of your wife and lying to the American people about it. He learned that as long as the woman is into it, you can use her and your power for your own pleasure.

Open Letter to Warren Buffett Now I don’t normally post and I have no idea how to send a letter to Warren Buffett the billionaire yet it’s still a free country I hope. We clearly know that President elect Obama has eyes on the wealthiest peoples money so he can spread the wealth thus as he says, “build the wealth from the bottom up”. So we can expect major tax increases to help in his dream, which will put many small business owners in metal anguish. You are big supporter of the Democrat Party and the new President, which is...

There are still a few very good Conservatives in Congress, but they're a dying breed on the verge of extinction. We need to organize a grass-roots movement to support our good men and women in enemy territory. We need to send them cards and letters, call their offices, offer encouragement and support and send them pizzas during filibusters. Please, is there a reliable, organized FReeper who can organize an "Adopt a Cute Pubbie" program? This FReeper needs to research and locate the true conservatives and the RINOS. They need to develop a list of of email addresses, phone numbers and...

Last week, Vanity Fair magazine and the National Security News Service filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in federal court seeking records related to a 1964 vehicle accident involving then-Navy Lt. John McCain. According to the complaint, filed Oct. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, National Security News Service reporter Christopher Law, who is also working with Vanity Fair for this story, requested duty logs from July 24 and 25, 1964 at Portsmouth Naval Hospital. Those logs would indicate whether McCain, now the Republican presidential candidate, was a patient there. “Plaintiffs and Vanity Fair...

I'm sure it goes without saying but I sure as hell hope nobody on here tunes in and pumps the ratings up for this jackass tomorrow night. I'd rather be locked in a dark room with Ron Howard's brother than listen to this pathological liar flap his gums any longer.

Hi all, Just wondering if I could ask willing FReepers a couple of questions for a "satisfy my own curiosity" study? Q1: How confident are you that John McCain and Sarah Palin will win the Presidential campaign on 4 Nov? (Very confident, somewhat confident, tossup, somewhat unconfident, very unconfident, don't know/don't care) Q2: Do you pray about the upcoming election, specifically for the Presidential election? (Multiple times a day, once a day, every so often, not at all) Thanks!

I'm a registered democrat and have always voted republican. Why is this might you ask? I registered as a democrat to vote in primaries! Thus all these articles that point out the spike in democrat registrations forget that a large number of republicans re-registered as democrats this spring. There is no way in hell they'll vote for Obama. Does no one remember "Operation Chaos" led by Rush Limbaugh? These polls are overweighting democrats (and minorities too) big time as a result of this fallacy. Look at Pennsylvania as a great example! The number of democrat registrations was abnormally large.

Does anyone else have a really bad feeling about the perfect storm that is brewing? Obama and his frightening cult of personality World opinion Terrorists waiting Economy teetering Congress not serving the people Lies being ignored Truth being denied Liberals using intimidation America being mocked and hated People who stand for America being mocked and hated I guess I'm just saying that the higher these ^ pile up, the farther we're going to fall. Sorry to be a pessimist, but I'm getting nervous.

According to U.S. News and World Report's Web site, Robert Schlesinger is the magazine's deputy editor and oversees all opinion editorial content. Schlesinger blogs from the Republican National Convention on "Cindy McCain's $300,000 Outfit:" ST. PAUL—Remember Pat Nixon's "respectable Republican cloth coat?" It's come a long way, baby. To wit: According to Vanity Fair, Laura Bush's outfit cost between $3,400 and $4,300. But of course that's chump-change compared to the roughly $300,000 that Cindy McCain's cost (the biggest line-item being $280,000 for three-karat diamond earrings). For those of you keeping track at home, Cindy McCain's outfit could pay for a...

Score one for Michelle Obama. The First Lady fashion fight continues as the Democrat White House wanna-be got the vote from Vanity Fair, which put her on its global best-dressed list for the second year in a row. They praised her simple, chic style - calling her "our commander in sheath." Left off the coveted roster was Cindy McCain, who must've felt like, well, sheath, from the snub. ....."

Ivanka Trump, Michelle Obama, and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy are leading Vanity Fair’s best dressed list. We agree with the magazine’s choice of Obama and Bruni, but what is Ivanka Trump doing here?

Vanity Fair is not to be outdone by fellow Condé Nast publication The New Yorker in the arena of political parody. After The New Yorker's controversial cartoon satirizing views of Barack Obama and his wife, Vanity Fair has posted a cover online that pokes fun at rival presidential candidate John McCain. McCain is shown leaning on a walker with his head bandaged, bumping fists with his wife, Cindy. Cindy McCain is carrying an armful of painkillers, a sad portrait of George W. Bush hangs over the mantel and the constitution burns in the fireplace. Vanity Fair describes the cartoon by...

Cannot post due to copyright issues: http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/07/is-the-media-trying-to-elect-obama.html

<p>In a little intramural joshing in the magazine world, Vanity Fair today posted a send-up of the by-now infamous New Yorker cover meant to be a satire of attacks on Barack Obama's patriotism.</p> <p>The New Yorker's version showed Democrat Obama in Muslim garb fist-bumping his wife Michelle while the American flag burned in the fireplace under a portrait of Osama bin Laden.</p>

Link only, original Vanity Fair content not allowed on FR. Spoof McCain magazine cover

Vanity Fair magazine has published what they call a 'blogopticon'of political and news-gossip websites.Free Republic is nestled in the 'opinion' and 'earnest' section. Dragging a cursor over the Free Republic Pajama Patrol badge brings up this description:Free Republic: A visually spare discussion forum for conservative "Freepers," who churn out daily threads, chat, and pounce on all things un-"Amurrican."Click this link to view the blogopticon, or don't.

THE ISSUE: Vanity Fair's profile of Bill Clinton since his departure from office. ****When he was president, Bill Clinton was known as an impeached, adulterous womanizer. After he left office, he was recognized as a disbarred, indictable perjurer. Now Clinton has simply become an embarrassment. Even liberals have grown weary of this selfish, deceitful, self-absorbed, finger-pointing narcissus who always portrays himself as a victim. NAMES REDACTED Fort Lauderdale, Fla. **** Clinton's an egomaniac who many are now shunning because they've found out just how classless and valueless he and his wife are. With no ethics, integrity or morals, they are...