Among those Republicans fawning over Maddow’s old pictures are Tucker Carlson of The Daily Caller, who stated he wondered if commentators at Media Matters would get mad if he said that she was “very lovely,” past tense. During an interview with Rush Radio 99.5, “diaper fetish” Senator David Vitter (R. Louisiana) said that Maddow “looked like a woman” in the picture, after which he laughingly added, “Must have been a long time ago.”

Vitter has since written a short apology to Maddow, saying, “I do not think you deserved that comment.” Surely not, as Maddow has been hailed as a sex symbol in the past—for men and women, gay and straight—with her combination of pantsuits and Converse sneakers in a muted, intelligent style. And no one will argue that she’s not a very sexy woman.

Over the Second Moon of Endor, fans of the Star Wars franchise are still delightfully fixated on the scantily clad Carrie Fisher in Return of the Jedi. While the films themselves are decidedly sexless (as George Lucas said, “There is no underwear in outer space”), fans have injected their own frisky fun into the endearing cultural phenomenon. Sites like “Leia’s Metal Bikini” are dedicated to celebration of the iconic space siren, and some fans even perform burlesque shows while draped in representations of the costume.

Celebs (or at least reality show celebs) are not immune to “the force,” either. America’s Next Top Model winner Adrianne Curry (a.k.a., wife of Christopher Knight, who portrayed Peter Brady on The Brady Bunch) recently tweeted photos of herself got up as “Slave Leia” for San Diego’s International Comic Con. (Spoiler Alert: Kevin Touch’s snarky commentary for Tweet Soup is anything but sex positive.)