The way I see this is that Jamie posed for the pictures, Paula let us know that they were out there, we looked and some gave their opinions of the pictures and how they felt about Jamie for choosing to be photographed. The opinions have ranged from loved them to disgusted by them. IMO all of those opinions are equally valid and should be equally welcome on this forum. Paula's the boss and makes the calls but to me if a poster is allowed to comment that the pictures look sexy why is another poster not allowed to say they look sleazy (one person's sex is another's sleaze sometimes).
Windspirit, to reply to your post IMO when skaters pose for pictures, or whatever that is going to invite the discussions that we have here they are putting themselves out there and open to whatevever comments and opinions the public may have. When they choose to be in the public eye they have to accept that along with adulation there will also be criticism. Posters at this forum OTOH should not be subjected to the same type of criticism by fellow posters as I said we are peers here. To me there is a difference in commenting on the actions of a public figure and commenting on the opinions of a fellow poster. To disapprove of someone's actions is in effect rejecting something about them ( in this case the decision to be photographed)and it does lesson your opinion of that aspect of their persona (their judgment of what's appropriate) so in a way is putting them down to a degree. I didn't read anywhere that someone stated they couldn't stand another person. As for how others stated their disapproval of Jamie posing for the pictures, the comments were that they appeared sleazy, they're not what a mother would want her daughter to do, they were disgusting, such overt sexuality is not needed in figure skating, the picture was terrible, disappointment that she chose to pose in an immodest way, questioned why she felt the need to pose in this way, likened the pictures to being photographed naked, these pictures are not art, they are tacky, saddened that women choose to be photographed in this way, and my favorite... her a$$ looks a mile wide (and I feel the same way about J-Lo and Beyonce). All are valid points that were reactions to her choice to pose for these pictures. No one said anything to ridicule her or to put her down. They expressed their feelings about what she did. I don't remember reading anything that said, let's all boycott SOI, Jamie should be stoned in the town square, Jamie is a vile horrible person, David ditch her before it's too late, OK Jamie time to turn the gold medal back in too, the French judge was right after all, do your Juicy's say "wide load", or hey Jamie call 1-800- lipo suction. That IMO would be bashing. In fact when someone voices their disappointment in a celebrity it usually is beaouse they are some one that the person had some respect for.
As to the various comments about role models. The Olympics are based on some pretty lofty ideas that go beyond normal sport. Most people would agree that although a lot of times reality falls short of those ideas still we continue to strive toward them. Again this is JMO but I feel that the current Olympic champions and those who aspire to be Olympians should hold themselves to higher standards than other athletes just because it is the Olympics. The Olympics are considered a wholesome family type of event, the ultimate in both athletic performance and the ideas of sportsmanship. I don't remember any athletes on their way to the top ever complain about being held up as a role model. All that I have seen interviewed seem to be honored to be thought of as one. Sports champions are the heros to a lot of our youth. It goes along with the territory of being a world class athlete to conduct yourself in a way that if a child did model your behavior they wouldn't be doing anything detremental or inappropriate.
As to liberal and conservative. I am a very liberal person. I may not agree with a conservative point of view but that POV being expressed doesn't offend me. OTOH some more liberal points of view can be offensive to those who are more conservative. Example, Grgranny tells us that she didn't allow her daughter to show her belly button. As someone who has her's pierced I may think that Grgranny is too conservative, but out of respect to her I would never say that. Grgranny's feelings about belly buttons are not a threat to me in any way and are probably not offensive to those who love to show he world that they are an inny or an outie. If OTOH I would start a thread about the locations of everyone's body piercings some of the more conservative posters might find that to be a topic that is inappropriate for this forum and would be offended. That was my point, that we respect the sensibilities of those who are more easily offended. After all we come here to "play". It should be enjoyable for all of us.
Granny please forgive all of my spelling mistakes...where is spell check???
Piel
Is nudity the big problem here? Wow, you'd better watch out next time your kids go to a museum. With all the nudity they can find in those paintings, sculptures... amazing how some call it 'art',uh? 
), Katarine says something to the effect of "many of my fans will question why I am doing this, and all I can tell them is that it was time" - that statement makes it sound like a woman with 2 Olympic gold medals hasn't really arrived until she's posed for Playboy. The photos were definitely arty and very different than typical Playboy photos - but submitting those pictures in Playboy rather undermined the purpose that Kat herself said was behind the pictoral.
Can't admit you were wrong, can you? I was simply pointing out that Jamie was NOT naked like you stated. 
