--- title: Morning Must Reads: Indefatigable description: Official White House photo by Pete Souza --Marco Rubio is the subject of an IRS probe into whether alleged use of Republican party credit cards... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7190705/morning-must-reads-indefatigable/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2010-04-21T13:33:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-18T10:06:13.130Z article:section: Politics og:title: Morning Must Reads: Indefatigable og:description: Official White House photo by Pete Souza --Marco Rubio is the subject of an IRS probe into whether alleged use of Republican party credit cards... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7190705/morning-must-reads-indefatigable/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Morning Must Reads: Indefatigable twitter:description: Official White House photo by Pete Souza --Marco Rubio is the subject of an IRS probe into whether alleged use of Republican party credit cards... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Politics](/section/politics/) # Morning Must Reads: Indefatigable by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Apr 21, 2010 1:33 PM UTC by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Apr 21, 2010 1:33 PM UTC The clip for "I Luh Ya PaPi" debuted yesterday Yesterday, when Jennifer Lopez premiered the video for her new single "I Luh Ya PaPi," she introduced more than a clip of singing and dancing. In an intro scene, the video concept is debated; Lopez shoots down proposals to film at a carnival or a zoo, especially after it's noted that if she were a guy the conversation would be about yachts and half-naked girls. "Why do men always objectify the women in every single video?" asks one of her friends. "Why can't we for once objectify the men?" Then things get weird. What follows seems at first to be a fantasy of the video the women propose: a run-down of music-video tropes — and past J. Lo incarnations — with the genders reversed, set to the super-catchy track. She walks through a mansion morning-after scene strewn with underwear-clad men, is waited on by speedo-wearing pool boys, watches shirtless dudes wash her car and dances on a yacht full of sunbathing hunks. The camera lingers on their abs, and one car-washing guy even (hilariously) scrubs his crotch with a soapy sponge. That is pretty much what music videos full of half-naked girls look like, and it deftly underlines the point about ladies wanting to have fun (of the looking at sexy people variety) too. But pause the video around 3:55\. What's weird is that during the verse contributed by rapper French Montana, all the tropes Lopez intends to mock come right back. The part where he stands there (fully dressed, unlike the speedo dudes) while Lopez struts around him in short shorts is one thing; it's her video, she's choosing what to wear, she's supporting the featured artist on her track, presumably she wants to look sexy and that's how she does it. It's a little bit of a strange choice considering the video's theme, but, OK, sure. The thing that really stands out is that there are also two backup dancers who act as decorative objects for his appearance. They don't play characters, they don't really show off any particular dance skills, you can barely see their faces — it's pretty much a textbook case of the "music-video girl" objectification that's derided in the video's intro. This isn't the first time in recent memory that an artist has tried to satirize the video status quo and not gone all the way. In November, Lily Allen's "Hard Out Here" video went in a parallel direction and was roundly criticized for, in her detractors' view, making a point about objectifying women by objectifying people of color. Lopez's video is more fun and less biting, but they're pretty similar situations: in both cases, good intentions are obvious, but it seems like the thought process fell just one step short of completion. In Lopez's case at least, a video that doesn't have any women objectified would be the result of seeing her idea through — but she could even go a step beyond that. If she and her girlfriends are upset enough about women being objectified in music videos to make a whole video skewering that tradition, why respond by objectifying other people? Yes, objectifying men does make a satirical point — and that car wash scene is pretty funny, because car wash scenes are always funny — but not objectifying anyone would really be the logical solution to the problem they identify. But Lopez is a pro at music videos, so perhaps she's identified something about the state of that industry: it seems that for now, if "I Luh Ya PaPi" is any indication, even the almost-equality she hints at is destined to remain a fantasy sequence. _Official White House photo by Pete Souza_ –Marco [Rubio is the subject of an IRS probe](http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/us-attorney-irs-and-fbi-investigating-florida-gop-credit-card-use/1088979) into whether alleged use of Republican party credit cards for personal expenses warrants criminal charges. A wider federal inquiry involving the U.S. attorney, FBI and IRS has been launched into the Florida GOP’s expenses. The latest wrinkle in an already dramatic Senate race could affect [Crist’s calculus](http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1983454,00.html). While the primary isn’t until August 24, he only has until April 30 to decide whether to run as a Republican or an independent. –Drip, drip, drip: A state rep. claims Crist [scrubbed all mentions of the Republican party](http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2010/04/is-crist-scrubbing-republican-from-campaign-website.html) from his website and there are reports he’s [drafting a switcheroo speech](http://www.southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink%5F420%5F1370.aspx). –The three major Democratic campaign committees finished March with [more cash on hand](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/1-2-dccc-coh-26.html?wprss=thefix) than their Republican counterparts. A DNC official says the strong showing was due in large part to health reform. –The [Washington _Post_ finds](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/20/AR2010042005183.html?wprss=rss%5Fpolitics) more than two thirds of the money raised by both parties goes to operating costs and donor feting, not candidates. The [RNC spent $340k](http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/04/rnc%5Fspent%5F340k.php) on its Hawaii meeting. –With bipartisan talks renewed, a deal on financial reform is [reportedly close](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/20/AR2010042005311.html). By my count, there have only been two (non-Corker) Republican requests reported: 1) Nix the resolution fund, which, [as we’ve said](http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/04/20/morning-must-reads-fundamentals/), is not a game changer. 2) Have a “bipartisan approach,” whatever that entails. It will be pretty easy for GOPers to declare victory and support the thing when the time comes if that’s what they want to do. –Mike Konczal [makes the case](http://rortybomb.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/in-defense-of-a-large-prefunded-resolution-fund/) for pre-funding the resolution process. —[John Dickerson wonders](http://www.slate.com/id/2251430/) how feisty Obama will get when he speaks Thursday at Cooper Union. –He’s already [calling Scott Brown about immigration reform](http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/04/20/next-up-obama-calls-sen-scott-brown-about-immigration/tab/print/) and the Kerry-Lieberman-Graham climate bill is [set to be unveiled Monday](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5im4mzLSRuWAI1U4ZzIFJuNAlAwtwD9F722303). The politics of a midterm year presents no small obstacle, but Obama seems determined to go big. –Mike Allen [highlights an Emanuel line](http://www.politico.com/playbook/0410/playbook1025.html) that reflects how the White House sees ambitiously pursuing its agenda as central to its political identity:more --- > “” --- –Mark Leibovich [profiles the indefatigable Allen](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/magazine/25allen-t.html?ref=magazine) in the upcoming New York _Times_ Sunday magazine. –Obama is [conducting interviews](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703763904575196443288241072.html?mod=wsj%5Findia%5Fmain) with potential Stevens replacements, but his decision may still be [a few weeks off](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/93419-obama-to-make-supreme-court-pick-by-may-26). –He meets with top Senators to [talk confirmation](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/93419-obama-to-make-supreme-court-pick-by-may-26) today. –Wall Street employees [give a lot to politicians](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703763904575196550713825286.html). Tyler Cowen argues it doesn’t mean they [pull all the strings](http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/04/do-big-banks-control-our-government-thoughts-on-johnson-and-kwak.html). –And [tax policy folks](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/20/AR2010042004102.html?wprss=rss%5Fpolitics) mourn the VAT and the defunct deficit discourse in D.C. 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