Fenxy

@RightOn

Mouth: check
Opinion: Check

Brain: Missing presumed dead

Mary, it's called a sensationalist headline. I over emphasized the obvious to grab your attention. It got you in here didn't it?

I still don't think that I need to retool my words so they're not so harsh for a "child". That "child" is 18... if she can't hack someone being mean to her then I'm sorry, she's not fit to function in reality.

cdnBlogFan and Article19,

Where do you draw the line in who it's ok to make fun of? Article 19 is trying to make RightOn look bad right now. cdnBlogFan is poking fun at the president. Is this a double standard, a triple, or what?

I think this was funny because they ask an american girl a question about an obvious education problem in america... and she can't even give a coherent answer. The first time I saw the vid, I wondered if she had heard the question. It doesn't matter who the girl is. I twouldn't matter if it had been a news anchor that was asked the question, or the president. If the girl hadn't been an american, it probably wouldn't have been so hilarious, just odd.

if she can't hack someone being mean to her then I'm sorry, she's not fit to function in reality.

I'd say that your comments go beyond being "mean," but at least we are all clear on what your intent was.

Mary

The President is a public official, so fair game, and he's as stupid as a sack of hammers.

More to the point, adults should use their own internal ethical and moral compass when it comes to beating down on teenage girls.

If you choose to follow the path of pointing and staring then I guess we know where you're at!

Emphasis on "trying" there Ozone...

...and he's as stupid as a sack of hammers.

Personal opinion.

More to the point, adults should use their own internal ethical and moral compass when it comes to beating down on teenage girls.

I'm not "beating down" on teenage girls... I'm mocking and tossing crap at someone who seems to lack comprehension while under pressure.

If you choose to follow the path of pointing and staring then I guess we know where you're at!

Again, personal opinion.

the evidence is right here, it's not opinion at all.

you started this note, so we know where you're at!

Yeah I think she's a moron... case and point made.

So what... apparently you're her mom because you've got your panties in a wad over my PERSONAL opinion that I decided to share with the world.

Who needs to grow up...

So a public official who was elected by a representative democracy shouldn't be protected, but a young adult who purposely put herself in front of an audience with the express purpose of being judged should be protected from judgement?

I think I missed something.

No one was asking her a difficult question. A second grader should have been able to answer that question better than she did.

This was not a goof up it was a wake up call.

I actually posted this on my site after seeing it here.

The girl has had to have spoken somewhere in order to get as far as she did.

People make fun off all types of things on the internet, some of it is shameful. In this case everyone is making fun of a girl who trains for this kind of thing all year long. A Seventeen year old is not delicate little flower. She will not have longstanding psychological issues from this; she may even learn to speak and learn a few new words. She may learn the difference between South Africa, Asia and Iraq.

That would be a good thing because if she ever decided to compete for Miss Universe she might know a little bit about the countries in the universe.

So a public official who was elected by a representative democracy shouldn't be protected, but a young adult who purposely put herself in front of an audience with the express purpose of being judged should be protected from judgement?

EXACTLY!

"So a public official who was elected by a representative democracy shouldn't be protected, but a young adult who purposely put herself in front of an audience with the express purpose of being judged should be protected from judgement?"

Yes you did miss something. If the President says something moronic or stupid or screws up then a lot of people are affected or even killed. It is a civic duty to speak out, reprimand, imprison, etc, etc.

Some kid fluffing lines in a pageant and getting slaughtered by right wing nut jobs (since you brought the liberal card you can take the same thing back) and keyboard warriors is, as I've said, pathetic. Just sit there, live with what you are and get used to it!

I'm happy and proud of who I am thanks.

I brought out the liberal card? Where? If I did it was completely subconcious and unintentional. I meant to bring out the over-reacting, protect everyone from everything card, or is that the same thing?

Just to be overly clear. I've got nothing against the girl. I doubt she's as stupid as she seems, and I even wish her well.

That doesn't change the fact that her flub up is embarassing and hilarious to anyone she's remotely associated with.

I think they're talking about me.

Given that Article19 has a penchant for giving people a pass for stupidity and tends to berate those of us on the opposite side of the political wheel as (s)he is.

I know who I am, and I'm happy with myself. You have just as much of a right to your opinions as I do so think anything you want of me... it doesn't affect who I am. (and if you think you can change me with your opinions then get over yourself)

@Ozone42,

cdnBlogFan is poking fun at the president. Is this a double standard, a triple, or what?

Please, re-read

Do you suppose she had more or less training than the current US president?

and

While I may disagree with president Bush's politics, my point is that it is rather easy to find examples of well educated and experienced people who become befuddled answering questions publicly. As it stands, it sounds as though you are holding a 17 year old child to a higher level than your president.

I probably should have stated it more explicitly in the original question, but in referring to the current president I was trying to highlight that no matter how much training and experience you have, it is very easy to flub a question when it catches you off guard. Given the frequency to which experienced world-leaders give incoherent answers, I'm not surprised that this young woman gave one under pressure. It takes a surprising amount of confidence and composure to reply with "I don't know."

Mary

What she said on the NBC's Today show this morning:

"Everything did come at me at once. I was overwhelmed and I made a mistake. Everybody makes a mistake. I'm human," she said Tuesday. "I seriously think I only heard about one or two words of the actual question."

I think that's perfectly understandable. It's just pressure, no matter if she practiced for this. I still would think it's hard to practice for a random question and give a reasonable answer under that kind of pressure. Sure it's easy to think of something from the comfort of your desk or living room when you've had time to think. She didn't have time to research or put together a solid thought. I believe she was scrambling inside her head to grab the words the judge was saying and only was able to grasp a few.

She answered the question again:

"I would love to re-answer that question," the Miss Teen South Carolina said. "Well personally, my friends and I, we know exactly where the United States is on our map. I don't know anyone else who doesn't. And if the statistics are correct, I believe there should be more emphasis on geography."

It's a "well, duh" type of answer but really, without research what could she say?

Adam

Stop treating seventeen and eighteen years olds like fragile china. That which does not kill them will make them stronger.
I dislike beauty pageants anyway and now I despise them. To bad for her, but she did gain some notoriety from it. With our luck she will probably get a reality show.

I happen to agree with Right On, and am so far left from his ideology it isn't funny.

where were you guys when star wars kid was being laughed at? and what about the numa huma fat guy?
the could have used your help i'm sure

@Ozone42

So a public official who was elected by a representative democracy shouldn't be protected, but a young adult who purposely put herself in front of an audience with the express purpose of being judged should be protected from judgement?

While I'm certainly no expert on the US political process, I believe that one chooses to run for the presidency and is subsequently elected to speak for the republic. Thus, in each case, they made the choice to that ultimately put them in front of an audience with a microphone. With regards to coaching and training, however, I argue that the president (a lawyer and life-long politician) has considerably more experience than a high-school student.

I don't feel that either should be "protected" from critical thought and analysis based on the answers they have given. However, neither deserves to be personally attacked and, as RightOn (ironically) points out, one shouldn't assume or generalize about an individual's intellect based on the goofy answer to one question.

Stop treating seventeen and eighteen years olds like fragile China, That which does not kill them will make them stronger .

Irrespective of her age, there is a point where public humiliation and insults are not helpful and become hurtful.

I dislike beauty pageants anyway and now I despise them.

I never understood the point of them myself.

Mary

Good points well made:

as with the Star Wars kid and every other humiliating video on the web, it's tantamount to bullying except it's more viral, persistent and vicious in many ways.

I literally buried my face in my hands while watching this. Poor shame, not only that 1/5 Americans can't locate the U.S. but that while listening to this, I was more confused than she was answering.

article19, so you're saying star wars kid et al brought it on themselves?

The video of the star wars kid was released online with neither his nor his parent's consent by some classmates as a ill-conceived prank. His classmates were sued and settled out of court.

@Vidar

I don't think anyone could argue that he brought this upon himself.

Mary

@Vitar: "article19, so you're saying star wars kid et al brought it on themselves?"

how do you get that? as stated, the videos are posted without the subjects consent, that's what makes it bullying, that's what makes it vicious!

I call bullshit on Article19 never having laughed at Star Wars Kid.

That's about all I have to say here. Everyone else is doing a fine job. Personally, I'm inclined to side with Mary (cdnBlogFan) on the whole thing. But really, this is a bigger deal now than it needs to be.

like almost everything you write, baseless and no grounding in reality.

LAST WORD!!!!

I GOT THE LAST WORD!!!!!!

Oh wait...

like almost everything you write, baseless and no grounding in reality.

Ironic, after your countless contributions in this note decrying personal attacks on Ms Teen South Carolina. No matter though, it's only the Internet.

Baseless is a great word though, isn't it? You can use it almost anywhere and it just sounds good.

Seriously though, how old are you? 15? 16?

considerably older than your 21 years "Richard"

Well you do a good job of hiding it. What's with the "quotes"? That's my real name. Not a pseudonym.

Man, there needs to be a "close thread" button.

Rich, you're fighting an uphill battle... Article19 is the mother of "last word" posters.

edit: wow, there are multiple pages to this note. i think all that has been said, has.

well done people.

I'm just posting this to get it one more reply closer to three pages.

KEEP IT UP PEOPLE, WE'RE ALMOST THERE!

(Also, the girl's 18, and put herself in a VERY public forum. I'll be willing to bet she's been putting herself in these types of public forums for years by now. This kind of stuff comes when striving for fame (and, I suppose, infamy). RightOn may be an ass for laughing at her for her flub, but he has every right to be an ass, just as I have every right to be and ass and call him an ass for making fun of a girl who made an ass of herself in national television -- TWICE -- showing once and for all that she's just got a cute... face. And ass.)

/Damn -- I should've put that in another reply.

Gnorb wins the "Gold Star" for using the word ASS more in one post than one could possibly fathom.

Ass ;)

C'Mon page 3!

Something else that might be considered relevant.

what she should have said was:

That sounds like an urban legend to me --I don't believe that my fellow Americans are so ignorant. According to the Final Report of the National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs 2006 Geographic Literacy Study, "Nearly all (94%) young Americans can find the United States on the world map".

The last time I checked, 100% minus 94% was 6%, not 20%. So what's your source for the claim that 20% of us don't know where our country is on the map?

I think the space time continuum would have ripped in half if that were her answer.

Rich that is great! I wish I found that first.
Also, I heard somewhere, not sure if it's true, but I heard they get the questions in advance?

If that's the case then I'll have to pull out a full blown

ROFLMAO

Wow. It was a BS question to begin with. Though again, my point about having time to research. Now I say how rude to the judges.

Also, I heard somewhere, not sure if it's true, but I heard they get the questions in advance?

In which case there might have a mix-up in the questions. She got prepared for the wrong one, then tripped up the answer when she got the actual question.

Of course, her appearance on Good Morning America (or whatever show she went on, I forgot) doesn't exactly hold any of that up, since she claimed she only heard two of the words in the question, then dumbassed her second try on national television.

uhh... what?

Oh that was just painful !!!

*sigh*