Into The Toilet: <i>New York Times</i> Has Fun On The Front Page

Was an online editor for the New York Times being cute? Have a look at the photo of a woman sticking her head in the toilet. It sat like an illustration from The Onion next to the headline "Putin Says Clinton Incited Protests Over Russian Vote." Here it is on the digital front page of yesterday's NYT global edition.

At a glance the photo would appear to illustrate the report of Putin's claim that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had personally spurred protesters to action after Russia's recent parliamentary elections. "She set the tone for some actors in our country and gave them a signal," the Times article quoted Putin as saying. Clinton denies the allegation, of course. She would never stick her head in the toilet, would she? What kind of signal is that? Better to stick her finger down her throat. And, in fact, the photo illustrates a feature story for the Home & Garden section, "Scrub the Halls", about neat freaks tidying up at home for holiday visitors. But I'm still wondering what the editor had in mind.