The Pink Flamingo :: Is the Now Infamous "Drudge" Photo of Hillary Photo-shopped?

I do not like defending Hillary Clinton. The photo on the right was taken today, by Reuters. Note the lighting, the bags under her eyes, the crow's feet on her eyes, and the laugh lines around her face. The photo on the left is the infamous "Drudge" photo. It's all about the skin tone. If the one on the left is not photo-shopped, I want to know what kind of skin treatment this woman is using and I WANT SOME!

capt.ead497bd299642c7bfb32a642df666e9.clinton_2008_nhjc110

Note the wrinkles and the mouth.

This Reuters photo was taken November 3

(left)The Mike's America October 2006 photo - note the lack of wrinkles in this very unattractive photo.

The Unconfirmed Sources piece about photoshopping Hillary to make her look older.

And finally, this photo taken in early October on the JutiaGroup.

After looking at this photo and the Drudge photo, I truly believe there was quite a bit of creative photo-shopping done on the photo of Hillary.

GO AFTER HER FOR POLICY

Conservatives are asking for trouble when they denigrate Hillary over her appearance. It is rude, nasty, ugly, petty, and only something a group of very little, petty, nasty pathetic little men would do. My initial reaction to Rush’s comments about Hillary’s appearance were negative, then I read what he actually said. He is right. People in this country are obsessed by appearance.

“…You go back and look at presidents that we elected prior to TV, and presidents we elected after TV, and you will notice a huge difference. Do you think a bloated president could win? We had plenty of fat-guy presidents. Do you think one could get elected today? There's not a prayer! There isn't a prayer. Remember when people said, "The way to tell if Gore's really going to run is if he starts losing weight?" It's just what it is, folks. It's just what it is. Perfection, the appearance of perfection and good health, all of that ties into the perception of mental acuity, stamina, being able to hold up to the job -- and I'm just suggesting, it's one of these intangibles. You know, people will never tell you in an exit poll, "Yeah, I voted for Candidate X because he looks better than Candidate Y." They're not going to tell you, "I like their position on the Taliban. Yeah, I love their health care plan." They don't tell you what the real reason is -- and, of course, there is nobody else out there with the guts or the stupidity to address this as I am, but it's just something to put in the hopper and to think about. Let me give you a picture, just to think about. I'm not even going to answer the question for you, just want you to think about this. The campaign is Mitt Romney versus Hillary Clinton in our quest in this country for visual perfection, hmm?..”

Now read Althouse about the Drudge photo.

“…But here's my second reaction, on reflection: We make high demands on women. A picture like this of a male candidate would barely register. Fred Thompson always looks this bad, and people seem to think he's handsome. We need to get used to older women and get over the feeling that when women look old they are properly marginalized as "old ladies." If women are to exercise great power, they will come into that power in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. We must — if we care about the advancement of women — accommodate our vision and see a face like this as mature, experienced, serious — the way we naturally and normally see men's faces….”

Althause mentions Immodest Proposal which thinks the photo has ended Hillary’s chances.

IS DRUDGE IMAGE PHOTOSHOPPED?
Is it ethical to photoshop a photograph of a woman, making her uglier? We women are vein critters. None of us want to appear all wrinkled, looking worse than our grandmothers. One way to get a very real idea of how a woman is going to look is check out the photos of her mother. In this Hillary ad, look at her mother. Notice how good her skin looks? There is no way Hillary is going to look older than her mother. Yes, I realize these are professional campaign ads, but look at the texture of the skin.

There is nothing I like worse than having to defend Hillary. Granted, I would rather defend her against a cheap shot like this. The woman has enough wrinkles, warts, and problems. There’s no need to make it look worse.

SHAME ON YOU MATT DRUDGE

You'll never see Drudge do the same thing to Ann Coulter or Michelle Malkin or even his pandering for Mitt Romney. So, why take a cheap shot at Hillary? I think the bottom line here is the fact that Drudge is becoming more and more irrelevant.