Beauty Queen Vs. Drama Queen

The Match Up:

• The Beauty Queen - Ms. Carrie Prejean - Miss California, now Miss USA 2009 Runner Up.

• The Drama QueenT - Perez Hilton. He has a B.A. in drama, is a gay activist blogger, and co-opted his professional name from a celebrity with whom he has a personal fascination. He was a judge in the Miss USA pageant.

Ms. Prejean was the underdog. She’s not a slugger. She’s just a dumb blonde, right?

Mr. Hilton, on the other hand is the notorious gay activist blogger - a verbal street brawler known for picking and winning fights by jumping victims in back alleys and clobbering them with whatever he can get his hands on - pipes, tire irons, beer bottles.

On the surface, the pageant appeared to be a well refereed event. Even Hilton looked freshly scrubbed and donned a toothy grin throughout the evening. But the fix was in. What we didn’t see was that Hilton had a horseshoe hidden in his right glove. This was one match he wasn’t going to lose - not on national television. He figured he had one punch and it had to be a knock out.

There they stood, face to face - both representing different philosophies, opposing beliefs. The moment dripped with anticipation. Then Hilton threw his punch. Gay Marriage! Of course. What else from Hilton. Yes, the hotly debated issue of redefining marriage to include gay unions was supposed to be a knockout punch. But it only grazed her chin. She stumbled slightly, recovered and shot back her reply. According to her, the definition of marriage should remain as it has been defined throughout the history of our country - between a man and a woman.

She knew it wasn’t PC. But she was, after all, Miss “California” - a state that just voted (Prop Eight) to uphold the current definition of marriage. She is also a woman of faith - holding a belief consistent with the majority of the state of California (not to mention consistent with Pres. Obama and Hillary Clinton). But more importantly, her answer was authentically truthful to her own personal beliefs.

The camera cut to Hilton in time to catch his jaw drop - his face crestfallen. If you listened closely enough you could even hear the horseshoe fall out of his glove. This was clearly not the answer he expected. Who in this world has the temerity to proclaim a personal position so politically incorrect on national television? Apparently there’s one person - Ms. Prejean. Doesn’t she know that people like Hilton can destroy her? That she might never work in this town again? And even more tragic, she may never get invited to a Janeane Garofalo Oscar party?

For Ms. Prejean, it was clearly a seminal moment in her life - with defining clarity and simplicity she expressed a personal belief. Standing for something, and telling the world doesn’t need to be complicated. I wonder if any of our politicians were watching?

Now if Hilton had even a modicum of self respect he would have gone home and licked his wounds. But pathetically, Hilton couldn’t contain his rage. It’s as if he decided to continue his brawl in the parking lot where he caught up to Ms. Prejean and sucker punched her getting into her car. And while she was down, he continued to wail on her.

You’ve all seen the clips by now. Hilton viciously berated Miss California on TV and YouTube, calling her a “bitc*” and reportedly a “cun*”. And where does this rage come from? Ms. Prejean shared her beliefs.

As America struggles to reclaim its soul and find true leaders for the future, regardless of political philosophy, you have to admire any display of bravery, courage, or sacrifice made on behalf of “principle.”

Miss California has transcended beauty queen status. She is now much more than a pinup girl for our soldiers. She is a soldier - and leading a charge.

As for the pageant “judge”, he set aside any pretense of objectivity and egregiously used his position of power to advance his cause. When he ranted that if Miss California would have somehow won the crown, “I shi* you not, I would have gone up on that stage, I would have snatched that tiara off her head and run out the door!!!” - you have to ask. Who at the pageant organization thought it was a good idea to make a bigoted heterophobe a pageant judge?

Maybe that person is Keith Lewis- co executive director of the pageant - or maybe his boss Donald Trump? Trump ducked responsibility for Hilton’s assignment on Bill O’Reilly’s The Factor. Lewis stated (speaking of himself) that he “…is saddened and hurt that Miss California believes that marriage belongs only to a man and a woman.” Well I’m saddened that Keith Lewis is saddened.

Help me out here. The directors of the pageant are offended when a contestant expresses a belief contrary to theirs? - a viewpoint which by the way is mainstream - nothing radical about it. So, help me out here. Is being guilty of such an offense a de facto disqualifier for contestants? If so, disclose it to the contestants in advance. Flat out tell them what beliefs are acceptable to the committee, and which ones are not - which religions and churches can be attended and which ones can’t.

Hey, why not issue a booklet to contestants containing all the acceptable answers and viewpoints of the committee. Give them time to consider the option ahead - when they’re in the spotlight and they may need to choose to abandon their core principles for the sake of receiving the tiara……. Tiara, or beliefs.

In fact, just send out a mass email to the country with all the acceptable positions of the committee and forego the charade of running the pageant as a propaganda machine?

Maybe the title of this piece should have been Beauty and the Beast. And the Beast isn’t confined to Perez Hilton. You decide.