Vanity Fair’s McCain calendar branded ‘disgusting’

WASHINGTON - A Vanity Fair calendar has sparked a controversy after it published Republican Senator John McCain’s head digitally added to the body of a male model.

On the verge of upcoming midterm elections, Vanityfair.com released racy 2011′ beefcake’ calendar, whose ‘pinup boys’ - their heads digitally mounted on the provocatively posed bodies of male models - are some of the top shots in the Republican Party.

The calendar features 2008 presidential candidate John McCain and Kentucky Senate-hopeful Rand Paul, both goofily covering their crotches; Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, naked and in a creature-like pose with clawed hands; Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, shirtless and holding his nipples in a sailor get-up; and House Minority Leader John Boehner, stroking his neck in a tiny pink Speedo.

In addition to the images, the calendar has descriptions for each individual, including their “turn-ons” and their “turn-offs” - with McCain’s listed as “plucky brunettes who favour rimless glasses and folksy aphorisms.”

Media and Culture Institute’s vice president for business and culture, Dan Dainor raged verbally on such an act.

“This is just one more disgusting Vanity Fair attack on conservatives. What kind of coward would make fun of a war hero like Sen. John McCain this way? Imagine how angry liberals would be if conservatives attacked prominent minorities with a similar calendar,” Fox News quoted Dainor as saying.

“I think many of VF’s advertisers might be surprised to know they are underwriting such vile hatred. Conservatives should make sure advertisers hear about this. The worst part of this assault is that Vanity Fair knows how the left will use these images. These disgusting Photoshop attacks will follow these conservatives around forever - linked to in blogs and highlighted at times even in the old media. Yet somehow this is a publication that claims it is credible, ” he ranted asserting the long-term impacts.

However, VanityFair.com’s editor, Michael Hogan, tells Tarts that the calendar was actually designed to show that the Republicans have the “mojo” heading into the election, and that national sentiment for President Obama has waned.

“Those who assume that we are taking sides should note that the opener features a photoshopped image of a wimpy-looking President Obama, complete with references to his supporters’ ‘libido-crushing frustration’ after ‘two economically desolate, war-torn, jobless years,’” he said.

New York-based political publicist and image consultant Adam Weiss said most conservatives would take the pictures with a grain of salt. (ANI)