House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is on the May/June 2010 cover of the DC magazine “Capitol File,” and conservatives are all worked up that the photograph of her may have been airbrushed. The Washington Examiner has a piece titled “Cover girl Pelosi looking rather … airy in D.C. glossy”:

If you haven’t managed to score a copy of the May/June 2010 edition of Capitol File magazine (typically flanked on every table or bathroom at any D.C. social function) you’ll notice the cover girl Nancy Pelosi looking particularly young.

Celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Ayman Hakki of Luxxery Medical Boutique in Waldorf, Md., said although he believes Pelosi has had work done (specifically Botox of the frown lines, fat injections, a mini face-lift), the image is not the product of additional plastic surgery.

“There is airbrushing around her eyes, her upper lid has been airbrushed to make it look like there is less fat on the inside,” Hakki told Yeas & Nays. “And there is airbrushing on the line of her jaw.”

The story was touted on Fox Nation and featured on the Drudge Report:

Drudge doesn’t seem to sense any irony in the fact that next to his Pelosi story is a picture of former First Lady Laura Bush’s book cover, which also looks less than 100 percent natural. ThinkProgress spoke to a couple of graphic designers who said that there definitely was some airbrushing done to the Laura Bush photograph. (View a larger version of the cover here.)

Additionally, in the past, conservatives have advocated more airbrushing of female politicians. They were outraged when Newsweek featured a picture of Sarah Palin that showed her natural features. So basically, airbrushing conservative women is acceptable, but airbrushing Democratic women is ridiculous.

While people debate the merits of airbrushing magazine shots, it’s a common practice and certainly not a scandal that says anything about the person being photographed.

In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, former First Lady Laura Bush offered her endorsement of President Obama’s pick of Sonia Sotomayor to sit on the Supreme Court. “I think she sounds like a very interesting and good nominee,” Bush said. She added:

As a woman, I’m proud there might be another woman on the Court. So we’ll see what happens, but I wish her well.

Watch it:

The right-wing base has not been nearly as gracious about Obama’s pick of a woman to sit on the Court, taking the opportunity to propagate insulting sexist attacks. RNC Chairman Michael Steele said, “God help you if you’re a white male coming before her bench.” Karl Rove likened her to a “schoolmarm.” And G. Gordon Libby said, “Let’s hope that the key conferences aren’t when she’s menstruating or something.”