What kind of a maroon do you need to be in order to utter the following sentence?

"We don't vet our photographers by their politics."

No, Mr. Bennett, but you can vet them by them their portfolios.

I wouldn't have sent W. Eugene Smith to cover the Japanese chemical industry, nor would send Eugene Richards to cover an NRA convention. Photographers have a bias, and we're able to flaunt it more openly than writers. Even the very act of taking a photo, decided to put somethings in frame and leave somethings out shifts the viewer's perception of what's going on, and I haven't even begun to address cropping, dodging, burning, and Photoshop.

"Be subjective, but be objective about your subjectivity." was always my motto when I was shooting for a living. Ms. Greenberg is VERY open about her biases, and yet somehow this fact slipped by Mr. Bennett and the rest of the editors at The Atlantic. Sending Jill Greenberg to shoot John McCain for the cover photo is that act of either of fool or an editorial staff desperate to create attention to a failing, flailing magazine.

Shame on the editorial staff at The Atlantic for such an obviously bad choice of photographer for this crucial photo.

Update:
Over at American Digest, Gerad Vander Leun rips The Atlantic a new one as only a photo editor can.