It's an interesting move, but it DOES touch off some of my cynical buttons...
Where was EW when this first happened? Where was commentary other than mentions of the protest?
And sadly, in my mind, it serves to slightly trivialize the entire discussion. Much the same as with this thread, much of the conversation it creates isn't over the imagery, the message the photo is supposed to convey or much else. The discussion invariably turns to discussions of the physical appearance. And it's not just from the males...
Ah well. At least it's getting SOME coverage, and it's also (hopefully) encouraging the population at large not to knuckle under when someone says "you're not a patriot if you don't support El Shrubbo".