So I was perusing the magazines at my local 7-Eleven yesterday .  Whoever the distributor is for this franchise is,  (at 3rd and Broadway,) must be on tough times, because half of all magazines displayed are adult magazines, and the selection of “decent” magazines you’d find on your coffee table or doctor’s office is skimpy at best.  Or maybe the availability of good magazines is dwindling even faster, seeing as how nobody reads them anymore.

Comprising the left side of the rack is the usual porny but not extreme hard core magazines like Playboy, Hustler, and other no-name adult oriented rags.  In the middle are qausi adult magazines which brand themselves as something credible.  Typically these are mens’ muscle magazines or motorcycle and auto magazines – but just photos of girls humping cars rather than solid articles on vehicles.   The other third of the display is “real” magazines like GQ, Vanity Fair, and People.   However the selection of reputable magazines, (no offense Easy Rider,) is quite scant.  I’ve studied the magazine rack at 7-Eleven before, but I just don’t remember being that tacky.

Then I noticed yet another one of those cheesy Obama magazines; the ones laughably lauded as “collectors items.”  (Just like the commemorative plates.)  These have been seen since August at checkout stands everywhere, and usually are 35-50 pages of stock footage from Obama’s youth, family, history, and rise to presidency. 

This one, titled “The Dream Fulfilled,” ropes in the civil rights era and Martin Luther King Jr. angle – and how it paved the way for Obama.

The merchandiser of this 7-Eleven placed it at the highest possible visibility, directly in front of the “Black Lingerie Show.” The “Black Lingerie Show” is a magazine dedicated to the oily posteriors of African American females.  This issue is titled “Cabana Lust.” 

Here’s a photo of them side by side.  Although I think it would be more suitable to have Obama next to People or even Good Housekeeping  – I’m not passing judgement on “The Black Lingerie Show,” or the publishers of this insipid Obama photo album.  (Although I suspect of Dr. MLK Jr might have a differing view.) 

Somehow these ridiculous magazines are making money, while established magazines are losing money by the truckloads and shutting down their presses. The mind boggles.