Miss Arizona Alicia Monique-Blanco was even worse on universal health care
There was a time when a pageant contestant would give a nonsensical answer ending with "world peace," and the studio audience would applaud and the judge would say, "Thank you very much," and the home viewer would say, "What did she just say?" and that would be that. On to the talent portion of the evening.
Now, these rambling monologues become viral sensations that last until the end of the time, or at least end of the Internet, whichever comes first.
More than 34 million viewers have watched the YouTube clip of that poor girl who was Miss Teen South Carolina 2007, struggling to answer a question about geography. ("I believe that our education, like such as South Africa and Iraq, everywhere like, such as, our education . . . should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and or should help Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future . . . ") If that many people went to a movie, it would gross nearly $300 million.
On Monday morning, radio DJs and morning TV hosts were playing a couple of clips from the 2009 Miss USA pageant.
The biggest controversy occurred when blogger Perez Hilton asked Miss California, Carrie Prejean, if every state should legalize same-sex marriage.
Perezito seemed taken aback. In a video blog, he called Miss Prejean "a dumb bitch," though he later apologized.
Granted, it's a little odd Prejean would think we "live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage" given that Perez just pointed out to her that Vermont was just the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. But at least we understood what she was trying to say: she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, but she's not exactly intending to run through the village with a torch, smoking out the gays who want to get married. It's basically what a lot of politicians believe. (Barack Obama, on WBBM-AM's "At Issue" in 2004: "[A]lthough I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on [gay marriage], I do believe that . . . marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.")
Yet we saw headlines on Monday such as, "Miss California Sparks Furor With Gay Marriage Comments on Miss USA Telecast," and, "Miss California Sparks Outrage over Gay Marriage Remarks."
Really? We're getting worked up over this? Because that hot blond woman in the white bikini didn't issue an articulate, passionate defense of gay marriage? (Not that hot blond girls in white bikinis aren't issuing passionate statements on all the major issues of the day even as we speak.)
It's great fun and column fodder to dissect these videos, but not for a moment should anyone seriously give a flying tiara about what a pageant contestant believes about the pressing issues of the day.
As far as wacky answers go, the winner for the night wasn't Miss California. Hands down, it was Miss Arizona.
Judge Kenan Thompson from "Saturday Night Live" asked, ""Do you think the U.S. should have universal health care as a right of citizenship? Why or why not?"
Miss Arizona's response: "I think this is an issue of integrity regardless of which end of the political spectrum that I stand on. I've been raised in a family to know right from wrong, and politics, whether or not you fall in the middle, the left or the right, it's an issue of integrity, whatever your opinion is and I say that with the upmost conviction."
Now THAT'S a classic. It's an answer that has absolutely nothing to do with the question. Zippo!
http://www.suntimes.com/news/roeper/1536234,CST-NWS-roep21.article
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