Why is Rand Paul crossing his fingers on the cover of The New Republic?

Surely the article on Sen. Paul is interesting in its own right. But nobody can seem to get past the cover

Rand Paul
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The new New Republic features a cover story about Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and "it's certainly got people talking," says James Carroll at the Louisville, Ky., Courier-Journal. Not so much for Julia Ioffe's article itself — which, though sold on the cover as "The Real Rand Paul (Can't Be Trusted)," actually "is pretty favorable to Paul," Carroll notes — or even the fact that Paul sat down with a liberal-leaning magazine.

No, it's the cover photo:

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.