When we got Newsweek's all-about-Sarah issue this week, the most intriguing part was one of the pictures.

In the old days, you flew the flag, and you respected it. You didn't walk on it, burn it, or dress up in it. Protesters tried to show disrespect in various ways during Vietnam, and conservatives felt especially strongly about it.

So, it was jarring to see this picture of Sarah Palin, wrapped in the flag, posing. It seems to have been taken back when she was mayor of Wasilla. Newsweek didn't comment on it.

We haven't really kept up with shifting views on the flag in pop culture. Are conservatives looser about the flag now? Like, future vice-presidents can use it as a cloak when they pose for pix?

When women say Palin is just like them -- do they dress up in American flags?

Would it be ok for Obama to do that? Or would he be behaving like an unpatriotic celebrity?

How do you print a picture like this without discussing it?

John Riley blogs regularly at Newsday's Spin Cycle blog