Fool Me Once...

Work.  O, work.  Yes.  It is very worky.  Absences may be prolonged. 

To tide you over until I can return in a more meaningful fashion, I exhort you to view this video of a poor, hapless young woman making a damn fool of herself on national television.  On Friday night, my husband and I came home from a social thing (which I will discuss in depth at a later time) only to turn on the telly and find that we'd missed the first hour of the Miss Teen USA pageant.  If there is anything more irresistable than a pageant when you've had a couple of beers (that's two, between the two of us, as in one each, because yes, we are twelve and slightly pathetic), I'm not aware of it. 

In any event, the pageant was in full swing, and while we had failed to catch the ever-important swimsuit competition, we were just in time for the evening gowns and the ensuing Judges' Questions. 

I thought I'd heard bad answers before from pageant contestants -- to say nothing of bad improvisational speaking in the manner of our ever-sophisticated current President, for example -- but this one...oh, dear.  I don't want to call it irony because, try as I might to put to use my extensive knowledge of literary mechanisms (and here mechanisms is not even the right word; however, my brain is tuned into lawyer-type things and away from English-y type things, so forgive me just this once), I live in constant fear (yes, constant fear) of being accused of failing to know the proper usage of the term "irony."  But if I were to dare use it, I would maybe say that possibly this qualifies, inasmuch as the question is about the flagging quality of our education system, and our heroine Miss South Carolina Teen USA goes and stomps on/defaces/graffitis/defiles/gives the finger to any lingering notion that our education system isn't really all that bad. 

In case you couldn't quite catch the wonder of her prose, here is a transcript:

"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, um, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and uh, I believe that our, I, education like such as uh, South Africa, and uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uhhh, our education over here in the US should help the US, uh, should help South Africa, it should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future, for us."

God bless America.

Comments

[Rachel]

Oh, that is hard to watch. Yet I watched it about 5 times.

[Tartine]

Oh, yes. She represents my home state. I am SO proud to be, not only a U.S. American, but a South Carolinian.

[Jessica]

OMG that is effing hilarious! I'm worried about that girl...

[Kelly]

This is so ironic, Alanis Morissette will have to rewrite her song.

Maybe when she grows up she can be Merry Miller and reinterview Holly Hunter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbpUwx_YLGc

Good luck with the worky work!

Kelly

[Allison]

I heard that on the radio this morning and AHHHHHHH! it was difficult to listen to.

[Jessica V]

I watched the whole pagent and when she said that I just about fell off the chair I was laughing so hard. The best part was the look on her face. she looked like "words are coming out of my mouth but I have no controlover them." LOL

[Judith in NYC]

I saw this on Letterman last night and would feel sorry for the girl, except I am laughing too hard. Talk about dizzy blondes!

[jonniker]

She was on the today show this morning "defending" her words. I'm sorry I missed it, actually, for it would have been hilarious.

[-R-]

I watched that clip last night. Poor girl. I agree with Jessica V that it looked like she could not believe what was coming out of her mouth but also could not stop it.

My favorite part is that US education should help the Iraq and the Asian countries. What does that mean?!

Good luck with work. It's almost the end of our billable year, and I'm feeling the pain as well.

[Jessica V]

Check this out http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20473692/ She was on the Today show this morning. I honestly don't think she realizes how big a FOOl she made of herself. I really don't think thinks her answer was that bad. lol. What a MORON!

[Beth]

I gotta hope it was nerves and not a smarts deficit that caused that verbal train wreck. ;^)

[Leah]

I love me some pageants, but this one nearly killed me from THE LAUGHING.

[Mauigirl]

From her follow-up appearance it sounds as if she's not as dumb as she seemed in the video. But that was pretty hysterical!

[jowste]

Someone said she was on the today show defending her words but...aren't some things just indefensible? Wasn't THAT one of those things?

[Courtney]

The worst part is that she actually placed in the pageant! She was third runner-up or something.

[tgr]

Oh my god, the poor girl. I just want to run up and shush her and cover up her poor little ears with my hands so she cannot hear the SCREAMS of laughter that I just cannot hold back. I have no idea what ratio of nervousness to just plain dumb was going on there, but what a lethal combination! Oh, it hurts my heart.

[shannon in oregon]

Why, oh why did she have to be blonde?!

Just giving us an even worse reputation...