Am I supposed to believe that these are Republicans and conservative independents who crossed over to vote for Clinton despite the polls at the time showing that Obama had the lead in self-identified independents? Or am I supposed to believe that they include the likes of Geraldine Ferraro, New York NOW Chapter President Marcia Pappas (she of the "psychological gang bang" statement), Missouri NARAL Chapter President Pamela Sumners and former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, who are all quoted within stating their opposition to anyone but Clinton for VP? One would think that if anyone could look gimlet-eyed at the political situation in this country — especially in regards to the candidates and reproductive rights, where Obama and McCain sharply disagree — it would be the likes of women who head state-level reproductive rights organizations, a former Democratic governor nearly excommunicated from his Church over his stance on choice issues or the first female candidate for the Vice Presidency. But is the irrationality of continuing to insist that Hillary Clinton be the Vice President the new rationality for twenty percent of Clinton voters? Is insisting on combating sexism in the media by electing the male Republican candidate the new normative behavior? It begins to get disheartening when the same people who insisted 6 months ago that people, if they looked at the issues, would nominate Clinton would now ignore the issues to express their disappointment that she didn't get the nomination.

And it's even worse to me when you have a potential First Lady — Michelle Obama — who isn't talking about cookie recipes or standing by her man or the other potential First Lady's patriotism, but about juggling work and family and how to have difficult conversations with your children on issues like racism, slavery and sexism. She even talks about those thousands of Hillary Clinton supporters that haven't yet come around in a far more rational and conciliatory way that I've yet been able to manage:

For me, it's not personal. The way I see it? There are a lot of people like me, like how I am about my husband, my candidate. They invested their hearts and souls into Hillary Clinton, and many of them did this for years. They have to figure out how they want to leverage their political power. I understand that. Politics is a patience game. You can't do this unless you have patience.

That's rationality, and attributing to Clinton supporters some sort of minimally-irrational rationality that, in some cases, I'm not sure is actually there.

So, maybe if we're all going to be irrational and ignore the issues we used to pretend mattered to us and vote based on who is taller, or not-too-thin, or more handsome, or didn't beat Hillary Clinton in the primaries or whatever, maybe we can be perfectly irrational and just choose who we'd rather see as First Lady. Michelle's got my vote either way. But it might just be because she always looks so stylish and didn't put a silent "H" in her daughter's name

VP Pick May Chafe Hillary Supporters [Politico]
Obama's Independent Edge [RealClearPolitics]
NOW Head Described Treatment Of Clinton A "Gang Bang" [HuffPo]
Michelle Obama: I'm Still Me [Creators.com]

The ultimate gold-pink-touch-of-plum lipcolor in a silky-smooth gloss that smells faintly— not full-on shower-gel-ishly — of raspberries".

Word: 'Subtle'/'Subtly'
Number Of Appearances: 13
Definition: -adjective, -tler, -tlest. 1. thin, tenuous, or rarefied, as a fluid or an odor. 2.fine or delicate in meaning or intent; difficult to perceive or understand: subtle irony. 3. delicate or faint and mysterious: a subtle smile. 4. requiring mental acuteness, penetration, or discernment: a subtle philosophy. 5.characterized by mental acuteness or penetration: a subtle understanding. 6. cunning, wily, or crafty: a subtle liar. 7.insidious in operation: subtle poison. 8. skillful, clever, or ingenious: a subtle painter.
Used To Describe: the "dizzying quality' of a dress design (p. 72); a velvet blazer (p. 99); the sparkle of jewelry (p. 102); draped pockets of a skirt (p. 104); the accessories worn by an interior designer (p. 108); the shimmer in the eyeshadow that Sarah Michelle Gellar uses (p. 138); the effect of an outfit worn by an accessories designer (p. 153); a lip-gloss worn by a 'stylist and designer' (p. 252); the ruching on a pair of flat boots (p. 276); a ruffle (p. 295); the 'softness" in an outfit worn by a 'brand expansion specialist' (p. 329); the graphics on stationery (p. 367).

Word: 'Feminine'
Number Of Appearances: 9
Definition: -adjective 1. pertaining to a woman or girl: feminine beauty; feminine dress. 2. having qualities traditionally ascribed to women, as sensitivity or gentleness. 3. effeminate; womanish: a man with a feminine walk. 4. belonging to the female sex; female: feminine staff members. 5. Grammar. noting or pertaining to that one of the three genders of Latin, Greek, German, etc., or one of the two genders of French, Spanish, Hebrew, etc., having among its members most nouns referring to females, as well as other nouns, as Latin stella "star," or German Zeit "time." -noun Grammar. 6. the feminine gender. 7. a noun or other element in or marking that gender.
Used To Describe: an outfit (p. 198); one of the scents put out by Gap Body (p. 218); the scent of an Estee Lauder solid perfume (p. 228); 'major rocker eyes' (p. 249); a pair of leather and suede oxfords (p. 270); the seams on a pair of knee-high boots (p. 280); a trench coat (p. 322); the clothing a 'brand expansion specialist' is buying this season (p. 328); the clothing a singer-songwriter pairs with menswear pieces (p. 331).

Word: 'Crisp'
Number Of Appearances: 9
Definition: -adjective 1 (esp. of food) hard but easily breakable; brittle: crisp toast. 2. (esp. of food) firm and fresh; not soft or wilted: a crisp leaf of lettuce. 3. brisk; sharp; clear; decided: a crisp reply. 4. lively; pithy; sparkling: crisp repartee. 5.clean-cut, neat, and well-pressed; well-groomed. 6. bracing; invigorating: crisp air. 7. crinkled, wrinkled, or rippled, as skin or water. 8. in small, stiff, or firm curls; curly.
Used To Describe: A button-down (p. 92); a '60s-style jacket (p. 94); jackets and miniskirts (p. 111); a cotton shirt (p. 130); the color green on a pair of pumps (p. 262); a jacket (p. 317); a white shirt (p. 321); a white shirt (p. 323); a blazer coveted by a singer-songwriter (p. 330).

Word: 'Luxe'
Number Of Appearances: 8
Definition: -noun 1. luxury; elegance; sumptuousness: accommodations providing luxe at low rates. Compare deluxe. -adjective 2. luxurious; deluxe: luxe accommodations.
Used To Describe: Buttons (p. 82); velvet blazers (p. 99); gold-chains (p. 108); general accessories (p. 153); a hair-dryer (p. 234); faux-snakeskin shoes (p. 264); a 'biker look' (p. 306); single-designer boutiques (p. 341).

Word: 'Chic'
Number of Appearances: 8
Definition: -adjective, -er, -est. 1. attractive and fashionable; stylish: a chic hat.
-noun 2. style and elegance, esp. in dress: Paris clothes have such chic. 3. stylishness; modishness: the chic of the firstnighters.
Used To Describe: A $67 makeup palette (p. 216); fall makeup (p. 246); a stylist and designer (p. 252); a pair of patent-leather pumps (p. 257); a pair of suede pumps (p. 262); a pair of patent-leather oxfords (p. 270); 'modern gamine' (p. 298); a leather 'dream bag' (p. 329).

Obviously, these are just some of the major offenders (we're also hating on 'punchy', 'effortless, 'exquisite' and the phrases 'of the moment', 'on trend' and 'compulsively wearable') but maybe it's time for the good girls at Lucky to pick up a thesaurus or two!

Earlier: 'Lucky' Editor Kim France's Asian Influences, Hatred Of Authority
Lucky Magazine Seems Insecure
Related: Lucky's Taste Too "Rich" For Us [GlossedOver]
Noticed: In So Many Words, Don't Use These [NYTimes, sub req'd]

• Oprah's golden retriever Gracie died in May after an unfortunate choking incident and still Oprah is talking about it, only now she's putting that Oprah-branded spin on it saying that Gracie's death was really a hidden message that she needed to slow down and take more time to appreciate her own life. Seriously, we don't even have a response to this. [USA Today]
  
• Oh yes: That's what's missing in the EU — machismo! [BBC]
  
• Memo to People magazine: Please do not ever ever put that Jenny McCarthy eats nachos as an item under the tag "breaking news". Ever. [People.com]
  
• Not shocking: Republicans don't want to pull out (from Iraq). But they don't want to give a Plan B either. Draw your own conclusions from this heavy-handed metaphor. [CNN]

• The Island of Britain, scientists have discovered, was created over 200,000 years ago by massive flooding. We think that's just past the timeline for which Al Gore can drop one of his global warming "I told you so!'s." [BBC]
• President Bush has called for the establishment of a new panel to review new safety precautions for imported foods. He says this is totally not all about China. Even a novice in Bush-speak knows that "no" always means "yes," so sorry, China, Bushie has it in for you! [CNN]
• Anyone else skeptical that North Korea seems to be volunteering for nuclear disarmament a little too easily? [NYT]
• Breaking news! Hootie and the Blowfish have delayed the start of their summer tour! Wait a second — Hootie and the Blowfish are still around? How the fuck is that possible? [USA Today]
• 1 U.S. casualty identified. [DoD]