Even before she arrived in a swirl of speculation, it was in the bag. Literally. Hina Rabbani Khar came, saw, flaunted her
birkin handbags,
and conquered. For that media, it was much more about style than
substance. Her Hermes bag, what it costs, her Cavalli glares, the South
Sea pearls and her outfit was a greater focus of attention than what she
personally brought to the India-Pakistan table. All this media coverage
begs the question —do glamour and good looks enhance a politician's
career or are they a hindrance? In the celebrity-obsessed age, does the
paparazzi-type concentrate on certain individuals only end up hiding
their flaws?
The most immediate answer to that has to come from President Barack
Obama. We were all dazzled by the man when he first hit the world stage
—young, good-looking, charismatic, and Harvard Law School to boot. It
made it easy to imagine that he would dissolve differences, abolish hard
and
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choices, and save the world. Glamorous leaders are usually put on a
higher pedestal, as if looks, style and charisma are a substitute for
ability and intellectual prowess. The general attitude to such leaders
at the beginning of their careers is a judgment based on distance and
mystery, because glamour is definitely an illusion. Not surprisingly,
then, as the healthcare debate in America intensified, Obama's own aura
and ratings have diminished.
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