IRAN: Time for Change Now!

A quick note on the Iranian elections this weekend; Obama’s Cairo speech was timed perfectly to be heard BEFORE the Iranian elections. The speech hammered away at the need for basic freedoms in Muslim nations. This was not specifically directed at Iran but it definitely did apply there.

Iran has a large population and that population, unlike other Muslim populations, is smart, young and modern and they have experienced the “good life” once before and long for its return.

This election was supposed to get rid of the total idiot MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD that has failed on a number of fronts including getting Iranians out of their economic doldrums. He has, on the other hand, made himself into an international joke and an international threat BUT he obeyed his religious leaders who were/ are in total control of him and the government.

The challenger MIR HOSSEIN MOUSAUI was a re-former supported by young Iranians who want change.

There was a huge turnout for the election with polls having to remain open for an additional six (6) hours in some places. This was a good sign for the reform movement as many of those voting were young Iranians who for the first time saw an opportunity for change.

The next day, the religious leader of the country and, for all intents and purposes, its king and supreme ruler (AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI), declared a “landslide” victory for AHMADINEJAD; an obviously rigged election.

You see, the new guy would not have been easy to control by the theocrats and therefore a danger to their theocracy so a victory for MOUSAUI could not be allowed.

Since the election was so obviously rigged, supporters of MOUSAUI are rightly pissed and are showing their displeasure by burning some tires in the streets and other doing other “minor” rioting actions.

The Iranian “Revolutionary Guards” will not put up with any rioting or protesting or any threatening gestures to the theocratic rule of the clerics and will use all the force they need.

BUT maybe, just maybe, the people have had enough of life under the thumbs of the clerics and maybe, just maybe they are willing to do something about it other than through political action because obviously the political route will never work since the Ayatollah declared Ahmadinejad’s victory a “divine assessment” which basically means, God wants him to win and we know what God wants and therefore we will do what God directs us to do and since you did not vote as God wished, we spit on your votes.

Believe it or not, I have a brother who was born during WWII in Teheran, Iran and died there as an infant of pneumonia and is buried there so I have a connection with Iran and wish the people the best and hope they will rid themselves of the idiots controlling their destinies.

AUTO INDUSTRY: Understanding the Word INEVITABLE

I have written quite a bit about our economy and the failing auto industry. This Sunday I have been reading articles about how our government (Obama) “forced” bankruptcy on GM and Chrysler.

I have to point out that I called for bankruptcy quite some time ago as the only rational “capitalist” thing to do. I am not the only one who saw bankruptcy coming, many saw it as inevitable so why the big uproar now?

Obama appointed an “auto task force” that was to study the situation and make recommendations. These were not stupid people (Steve Rattner) so of course they would see the inevitable right away even though GM and Chrysler were saying we can stay out of bankruptcy.

Obama was in a predicament here. On the one hand, the American people did not want a bailout of the auto companies because all the people could see was a greedy union, greedy, spoiled workers and a greedy, incompetent management that would not change things when things needed to be changed.

On the other hand, Democrats wanted to preserve jobs (votes) and unions (money & votes) so what is a president to do.

He gave the auto companies some money but told them to build a sustainable business model quickly or go into bankruptcy with his financial help, and build a sustainable, business model after getting out of bankruptcy. In this way, he placated both sides.

The difference with Chrysler is that Obama forced a sale / merger to / with FIAT and that maybe problematic in the long run basically because no one knows how stable Fiat is BUT I don’t think Chrysler could have done the bankruptcy thing on its own, they may have needed to be liquidated which would be a real shame.

Some are complaining that the unions have made concessions and that bankruptcy was avoidable. I say, no way. Everyone involved with the auto companies knew what needed to be done yet they refused to do it. Now that they are forced they are griping that they would have done it – bullshit – no more playing around; its crunch time!

Note: I have warned in the past that I am a little leery of our government getting a little too involved in the business world. Sure Obama keeps promising he will be out as soon as possible so I hope he keeps his promise and let the business system return to normal.

MUSLIM WORLD: Education is Key!

As predicted, Obama’s speech to the Muslim world has brought some comments of interest.

Some, usually very serious commentators have said that the speech was great but words cannot and will not change the ingrained idiocy of people taught from childhood to hate, hate and hate. The writer pointed out a recent suicide bombing in Pakistan that killed some 40+ people praying in a mosque of all places.

This was a Muslim on Muslim crime without regard or care for anything that humans hold dear like life, family, future, friends, etc. How can people capable of doing such things ever be persuaded with mere words.

Well, the writer is correct. There are people, thousands of them that are brainwashed beyond any hope of ever being rehabilitated enough to share the world with real human beings.

But what is the option; just to annihilate them all? I don’t think so.

Obama’s plan (as I see it) is to reach the young, the students that are still reachable. He talked about allowing more and more students from Muslim countries to come and study in the United States. Here they can see what really happens and how people really behave and think instead of just listening to the non-stop condemnation of the U.S. by fanatical religious twits. Each student graduated from a U.S. school will become an ambassador/ teacher to hopefully, thousands of their fellow countrymen.

Education is the key and not the education offered by Islamic schools like the MADRASAHS of Pakistan where the kids learn nothing else but their religion and about the infidels that are planning to steal their religion away from them; the Satans of the West. I am talking about decent public schools.

Key also is allowing females to be educated in public (not religious) schools. An educated female translates to an educated family (children) and that can keep on going for a good, long time, if not indefinitely; all that is needed to start is to start educating girls.

Simple – not in a world where in some areas women are looked on as less valuable than the family donkey – but a plan nonetheless.

AMERICAN INDIANS:Peru's Indians Fight Back!

In reading the Sunday New York Times, I came across a story of fighting in the jungle of Peru. What attracted me to the story was that the fighting was between the government forces of Peru and Peru’s indigenous Indians living in the jungles of Peru.

Recently I blogged about the South Dakota Indians called Lakota and their sad history of maltreatment at the hands of the American government and public. The unfolding story of the Indians in Peru today is interesting in light of my statement that most indigenous people that existed in the pre-Columbian New World were similarly treated by the invading Europeans and eventually were assimilated into the new, prevailing culture and I wondered why our Native American Indians were not.

In Peru, the government there has contracted with oil companies to go into the jungle and drill for oil since oil is the new gold. Well, the Indians living in these regions have objected and are fighting back just like our Indians did against the Western migration of European, white settlers who were running the Indians off their “own” lands.

Here is the kicker; some of the Indian tribes in the jungles of Peru are “un-contacted” which means they have lived in isolation from the modern people of Peru – wow!

What is happening is exactly what happened here with our own Indians in the early history of our country and obviously, continues to this day.

I am very interested to see how this develops and if the Peru government will actually do some thinking about their next steps instead of just sending in the army to protect the oil workers as we did to protect gold miners, trappers and settlers.

Historically, the Indians were not Christians and were therefore viewed as heathen savages which made them somehow sub-human and therefore did not have to be treated as civilized humans. It was easier to justify killing savages who were more animal than human, than killing civilized Christians.

I would hope we have moved on from that type of thinking although I am not quite sure all of us have moved on and that is why I would hope a wide exposure of the situation in Peru may bring some pressure on the government there to do the right thing BUT since only the New York Times seems to report such stories, I doubt the Indian’s plight will be widely known.

The interesting question here is can these Indians be eventually assimilated, should they be or should they be left alone, undiscovered and isolated from the “civilized” world?

Note: My company makes and sells clinical laboratory testing products. For a number of years now, we have sponsored an American female doctor who runs a clinic in the Peruvian jungle. We have donated our products so she can treat, as best she can, the indiginous Indian population of the jungle. her stories are facinating to read.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Vacation pictures

AMERICAN INDIANS: South Dakota Vacation

I did say that I would have a few words about my vacation trip to South Dakota and especially about the American Indian history there and their continuing story.

Besides the Mt. Rushmore memorial to four U.S. presidents, there is an ongoing project called the CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL which is an attempt to tell the Indian side of history. Both memorials are mountain sculptures.

There is no question that the Indians in these states, the Dakota, Lakota and others, got a raw deal. The Lakota lived off the buffalo (bison) and traveled wherever the buffalo roamed which was far and wide since there were millions of buffalo. Enter the Americans / Europeans and bam! No more buffalo.

The U.S. Government gave them a good part of South Dakota as their nation - land (get it – we gave them their land) but then gold was discovered in their sacred Black Hills so a gold rush ensued and to hell with their land rights; the cavalry under Custer had to protect the white prospectors so they shot the Indians (remember the Wounded Knee Massacre?).

My point here is to say that I don’t see how things could have turned out any different than they did (for the Indians) no matter what we (the Americans / Europeans) did.

In all fairness, the land was theirs even though they shared the land and fought over the land with their fellow Indian tribes. They did not recognize land ownership as such and felt the land belonged to all who used it BUT they were there first and “lived” there so according to my logic it was theirs.

But you can say that about all the lands making up the American continent; there were native populations in existence for centuries before the Europeans landed and took over – they had the guns.

The Lakota Indian life of living in tee-pees and following the buffalo (which provided 100% of their sustenance) was undoubtedly an idyllic life for the Indians for many ages BUT became unsustainable with the arrival of immigrant settlers.

What usually happens is that the native population after trying to keep the invaders out for as long as they could eventually “adapts” to the new way of life and is assimilated into this new culture. All Americans are immigrants except for the Native Americans, who brought with them their own cultural roots (Poles, Germans, Italians, Irish…) and many kept those ethnic ties alive while being assimilated into the great melting pot that is America – but not the Indians.

We visited an Indian museum financed by Kevin Costner (Dancing with Wolves movie) who is a staunch advocate for the Indians here. An Indian guide explained to us the old days of the Lakota and how their lands were taken from them; the man had an obvious “chip” on his shoulder even though quite young.

Traveling through the beauty that is South Dakota, we discussed why the Indians did not assimilate and even though they have millions of acres of (worthless) land and are considered a “nation” with their own laws, etc., they still remain poor, sick, drunk and without a viable future – why?

I don’t know why even though there are isolated instances of Indians that broke out and became successful, even famous. Some say their nomadic culture could not adapt to a stationary life. Some compare them to Mongolians who to this day follow the yak herd from pasture to pasture, something they have been doing for thousands of years.

OK, maybe in Mongolia but actually, when I looked at the vast prairies of South Dakota, I wondered why the Indians did not continue their ancient way of life. Yes, buffalo herds would have to be regulated as not to deplete the grasses but hey, it could have been done – so why hasn’t it even been tried or has it?

Today, the U.S. Government manages a very large herd of buffalo in South Dakota as a means of preserving the natural history of the land – why couldn’t the Lakota been doing this and selling buffalo meat like ranchers sell beef?

Well, one trip to South Dakota is not going to answer any questions but it sure got us thinking…

MUSLIM WORLD: Obama delivers a magnificent message!

While exercising in the early morning, I usually watch CNN and therefore was able to watch Obama’s speech in Cairo to the Muslim world. The speech was simply MAGNIFICENT.

You knew it was going to be good when Osama bin Laden released a message on the day before the speech trying to downplay the speech before it was even given. He knew that if anybody was able to bring understanding, respect and hopefully peace between Muslims, Christians and Jews, it would be Obama and that scares the shit out of bin’ Laden because then, he would be out of a job.

One statement by a Muslim that stuck in my mind was that, for the first time, a president of the United States looks like half of the Muslim world look and that is a big factor in getting the Muslims to at least listen to the message. Also, Barak’s personal life, with a somewhat Muslim father, a Christian education in a Muslim land (Indonesia), all make him more recognizable to the Muslim world as opposed to that white, somewhat protestant, drinking’ ole’ boy who could not pronounce country names or international leader names, named Bush.

Obama’s message was translated into about every language and dialect imaginable and broadcast through every channel imaginable so even Muslims living in tents in the desert would get to listen, read or see his speech and what a speech it was…

Obama did not skip any issue; he numbered them and then addressed each one. He did not sugar-coat the message; he told it like it is and I think the audience appreciated that because TRUTH is sometimes hard to say and hear.

I won’t go into detail but I will agree with a lot of the people that heard the speech when they said, great speech, now let’s see some action.

I think the Jews might be the problem in getting talks going because under NETANYAHU, they just don’t want to give up their settlements and they really HAVE TO if any progress towards peace is to be made.

OK I have to tell you what I really liked about his speech. He quoted the Koran, Bible and the Talmud to show people that WE REALLY ARE ALL ALIKE AND OUR RELIGIONS ARE TOO.

He said that we all believe in to the precept that WE SHOULD TREAT PEOPLE AS WE WANT TO BE TREATED and I have been speaking about U.S. Christians who have big mouths about what should ne done but they are the ones that DON’T LISTEN TO THEIR GOD JESUS AND HIS TEACHING TO LOVE YOUR FUCKIN’ NEIGHBOR AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF.

Obama’s trip includes a German concentration camp that his grandfather helped liberate ( a message to that Holocaust denier from Iran) and a trip to Normandy, France to celebrate that huge WWII action that led to the end of WWII because of AMERICAN BLOOD AND SACRIFICE (message to the Muslims that Americans have saved the world more than once and are not all Satans as portrayed in their media by their leaders who thrive on the ignorance of their people).

Obama has brains and people with brains that work for him and our country and he has a plan that makes sense – finally – thank the lord or somebody – quick!

SUPREME COURT: The Ethnicity Factor?

OK, my last comment about the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court justice has to do with her Puerto Rican ethnicity and how it influences her and how she uses it.

Conservatives have latched on to a quote where she says something about making better judicial decisions as a Latina woman with Latina experiences than a white man with no minority experiences – or something like that. Obviously, people take words out of context and use them for their attacks knowing full well that the same words heard in context take on a totally different meaning – should be a crime!

Anyway, she was talking about white jurists like Oliver Wendell Holmes who was considered a great justice and yet he voted to uphold race and sex discrimination laws even writing papers where he told women to mind their place in society.

Sam Alito during his confirmation hearings stated that coming from an immigrant Italian family gave his a lot more sensitivity to the plight of immigrants and minorities. Is that the same as the sensitivities of a Latina woman?

It appears to me that the conservatives are up against an uppity, big mouth; big smile, pushy broad and they don’t like that.

My only concern here is that she obviously benefited from “affirmative action” but she actually took that help and ran with it unlike some who are promoted only because of affirmative action and really have not earned the promotion.

I have been against affirmative action based solely on race from the beginning and have fought against the University of Michigan cases as basically racist as in reverse-discrimination.

The case of the firefighter’s promotion exam in New England in which she ruled for the state gives me concern. In the case, white and Hispanic firefighters passed the promotion test BUT because not one black firefighter passed it, the state nullified the entire test meaning all promotions were put on hold until, if logic follows here, a black fighter passes the test and gets promoted?

The white and Hispanic firefighters have appealed the case and it is now before the Supreme Court and if Sotomayor is made a Supreme Court justice, she would have a chance to vote on the case AGAIN!

I have a problem with people that feel they can trample all over the rights of whites in an effort to help certain minorities; it is just not fair and I have argued this point many times in the past.

Sotomayor will have to represent all Americans as a judge on the Supreme Court and she will also have to uphold the Constitution and other laws of the land. If she cannot carry out her duties as an objective officer of the court (remember the blind-folded statue of justice), than she will be flawed as a justice and that is not what is required of the position (ideally). I am not saying that the other justices on the court are all objective jurists (far from it) but I guess she will bring somewhat of a balance to the court and that is what Obama is looking for.

SUPREME COURT: Bunch of Catholics?

Let me talk a little about Sonia Sotomayor being Catholic. She was raised a Catholic but so was I so I don’t hold that against people; my concerns are what kind of Catholic are you now – regular mass attendee or in name only. To me you were either brainwashed at an early age and remain facing backward or you used the great education given by the Catholic Parochial School System to open your eyes and fly forward.

Of course I am not stereotyping all Catholics that way!

Interestingly enough, five (5) of the nine (9) Supreme Court judges are Catholic; Sonia would make six (6) or 66% of the court.

John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito are regular mass attendees. Anthony Kennedy is not. The mass attendees make up the conservative wing of the court, Kennedy is a swing vote.

Sonia Sotomayor appears to be a Catholic in name only with no regular mass attending, no parish to call her own, no priest confessor and no wearing of religion on her sleeve. There is also a divorce in her past with no indication of an annulment, either sought or granted – I breathe a sigh of relief.

I have been reading a variety of surveys that have found “religious” people and I mean staunchly religious people are the ones who are most ready to approve of war, of torture, of the death penalty, of anti-gay legislation and in general most anti-Christian or better said, anti-Jesus issues you can think of and by that I mean issues that Jesus would not support because of his philosophy and therefore his teachings – interesting heh?

Don’t take my word for it, just see on which side Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Roberts stand.

SUPREME COURT: Nominee Credentials?

The battle against the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court justice has begun.

The Right is all about interpreting the U.S. Constitution as it was written (like reading the Bible literally) and against “activist” judges who “create” policy out of “their” reading of the law (U.S. Constitution).

This is actually a tough subject to discuss because the Constitution was written some time ago (1787) and did not address issues that did not exist when it was written.

The Supremes are the final “interpreters” of the Constitution which means they render their decisions based on what they “think” the Constitution means or says about various issues. In many cases, the Constitution does not “directly’ say anything about specific issues and the judges are forced to rely on “judicial precedent” (what was ruled previously) or on “cultural norms” (what is normal to our culture). Please keep in mind that many of us disagree as to what is normal and accepted in our culture.

The pro-abortion decision was based on a very nebulous “right to privacy” clause in the Constitution while the “right to bear arms” issue (which was addressed directly by the Constitution) was, in my view, misinterpreted by the judges as a right for all to bear arms while the Constitution stipulated only people in “militias” can. The bottom line is that the Constitution is like the Bible, people can read whatever they want INTO it.

So when Rightists demand for strict “constructionists” and the liberals call for “empathetic interpretation”, judges will see what they want in the Constitution and that is that.

Obama keeps repeating that Sonia has been a judge longer than most and therefore has experience. Experience is a plus but if you are “flawed” as a jurist, you remain flawed throughout your years on the bench. The fact that Sonia Sotomayor has been often overturned by higher courts has me concerned. To me this says that she is not reading and understanding the law as her judicial peers are. I will have to see if she is overturned more times than what the norm is for judges.

She finished at the top of her classes throughout her education so she does have smarts or at least the ability to comprehend which is an important base to work from. George Bush was a C- student and look what great deeds he has accomplished in his public career.

My concern is not how many years you have of judicial experience; my concern is with your character and your thought process and your belief system and all those things that may play a role in your decision making on specific issues. As I mentioned before, some judges with very conservative histories have turned out very liberal on the Supreme Court.

Let me look deeper into who she is…………………..

SUPREME COURT: Sotomayor?

The much anticipated nominee for the Supreme Court was announced by Barak recently. Sonia Sotomayor (54) is a woman as expected and I think that is a positive factor since I think we really need another woman on the court to replace Sandra Day O’Conner, after all, women represent over 50% of our population so two (2) seats among nine (9) is definitely warranted.

The fact that she is Puerto Rican (Latino) is of lesser importance to me but it is a positive political move for Obama with an ever growing Latino population in this country.

She is a Democrat and a supposed liberal that will definitely help balance things against the conservative right wing of the court. It is interesting to point out that David Souter, the judge leaving the Supreme Court, was originally appointed as a conservative based on his judicial history but turned out to be a liberal as a Supreme Court justice.

There are other cases of Supreme Court judges changing their ideological stripes while on the court. I have always thought that once they are “in” for life and realize that they will be part of history, they become somehow different; looking at issues with a national and world view developed over their entire life of experiences and study. I guess what I am saying is that “some” judges are profoundly affected by their new role and allow themselves to listen, think and decide issues like “real” Supreme Court justices and not as narrow minded ideologues that are programmed to think only one way, cannot except new arguments and are basically robots which describes a number of judges on today’s Supreme Court.

I have taken a number of courses on the Supreme Court one on its history and the history of its members and one on the cases heard by the court throughout the ages and how the court itself changed in its legal outlook. I must admit that taking these courses has a very sobering affect on one’s perception of the court and what it does – I recommend learning something about the court before going crazy about this or that appointee.

Let me state at the outset that some of the things Judge Sotomayor has said in public over her years as a judge give me pause. I don’t like to take sound-bites out of context but she has given the right wingers some usable ammunition. Saying that her decisions as a Latina are somehow better than those of “white” men was totally stupid. Saying that courts should not make policy but do is stupid to say but may be factual.

I would like to touch on a number of factors in this case in later blogs but for now, I am reserving my opinion whether she will make a good addition to the Supreme Court.

VACATION: Back from South Dakota

Well, we are finally back from our vacation trip to SOUTH DAKOTA. Yes I said South Dakota. We have never been there and have a habit of visiting states we have not visited before in the springtime before all the tourists invade the area after Memorial Day.

We were not disappointed. We stayed in a log cabin near the town of Keystone and radiated from there all over the state. We landed in Rapid City which is on the west side of the state (small airport) and Keystone was just an hour away in the Black Hills.

We knew we wanted to see Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial Mountain and maybe a trip to the town of Deadwood (an HBO special by the same name) all the rest was a pleasant discovery.

A few local observations; the state has more bikers on the roads than cars. I know there is a annual gathering of the Harley-Davidson crowd in Sturgis in the Fall but this was the month of May. It appears the helmet law is not enforced and the rides must be fantastic from a biker perspective but I don’t see what the fascination is of getting your body beat up by the constant wind and all that god-damn noise – how about enjoying the sounds of nature?

The history here is basically the fight between the Indians (Lakota & Dakota) and the U.S. Army trying to protect the gold miners that were trespassing on Indian land. I will have more to say on that issue later.

Also I will talk some about the Indians and their dependence on the buffalo which was basically exterminated by the marauding European Americans shooting millions for the fun of it.

Kevin Costner did his “Dancing with Wolves” movie here and is very involved with the plight of the Indians here. He even sponsored an Indian museum here documenting their history – very educational.

Buffalo are everywhere here. They roam freely and don’t bother the cars and the people staring at them. Actually, the whole state abounds with free roaming animals of all kinds and my wife had to snap a picture of every one of them.

The difference between the Black Hills in Custer State Park and the Badlands area of prairies is stunning and something to behold. I will post some pictures to share the vistas even though pictures cannot do justice to being there and either driving straight up mountains or across never-ending prairies.

Lots of issues are up for discussion since I last posted – hoping to have time to comment.

CHRYSLER: Here we go...

Well, here we go; Chrysler declared bankruptcy as they should and now we will see capitalism in action.

I have maintained from the beginning, as many others have too, that GM and Chrysler have no other option at survival except going bankrupt and re-emerging as “new” companies that can function in the new economic reality.

I have been reading a lot of heated words about auto workers and the great things they have done for our society and why they should be somehow “saved” or their jobs preserved. Well, even my socialist / Communist wife realizes that companies do not exist and were not started primarily to create jobs; they exist to make and sell products and in so doing, to make money for their owners (investors).

This simple reality has somehow been lost in all the hubbub surrounding the demise of our auto companies. People want the factories to keep going EVEN though no one is buying the products those factories are making – excuse me?

Yes, we in Michigan have had a great run of prosperity from the auto industry. Many in my family have done VERY well working for the auto industry BUT it is now OVER and let’s just say thank you for the past 50 great years and prepare and adjust for what the next 50 years have in store for us.

Some people are looking to blame someone for our current situation BUT really it is many people and organizations that are to blame; everyone saw it coming but no one wanted to do something or anything about it except maybe FORD somewhat.

The world will be watching the Chrysler bankruptcy knowing that GM is right behind. Obama’s people will hopefully grease the skids and have Chrysler re-emerge within 60 days as a new entity.

The one thing I do not hear much about is the possibility that if the economy continues to suck and people remain too afraid to spend money on new cars, how can ANY auto company survive, even as leaner and more efficient business models?

SOCIETY: The Bimbo Affair

Well, here is something I never write about: the Miss America contest.

The runner up, Miss California Carrie Prejean is hitting the right wind media circuit to complain that the only reason she lost to Miss N. Carolina was that when asked a question by flaming gay Perez Hilton about states that are legalizing same sex marriage, she replied that she strongly believed that marriage was and should be between a man and a woman – only!

This was not what Perez wanted to hear and therefore he voted against her and for Miss N. Carolina who, by the way, was not asked the same question and therefore did not make her views on the subject known.

Because this issue created some heated debate in my family, I though it was something we might want to kick around a bit.

Was this a fair competition? NO, all contestants should answer the same question.

Should contestants be judged on their brainpower in a beauty contest? NO but some time ago we, in this country, decided that talent and smarts should count for something as it added to the person’s beauty? – Oh well…

Perez called Miss Prejean a “dumb bitch” on his blog for her non-inclusive answer. My wife strongly defended her right to her opinion and that her opinion should not dismiss her or detract from her “beauty” score.

I listened to Perez defend himself on TV and I liked what I heard. He said that she could have answered a little differently and still held true to her views. He was saying she could have said that marriage is between a man and a woman but that she supported equal, legal provisions of marriage for gay civil unions. In that way she would have been seen as “inclusive” and therefore a true representative of American values of fairness.

Even though I don’t watch the Miss America contest and think it is plain silly, I do feel she has a right to her opinion and I think the judge has a right to make his selection based on what he perceives as a “well rounded” American beauty that will be representing this country (for whatever reason) and that may serve as some kind of role model (I don’t think so) since hopefully young girls see this whole affair as the “bimbo” affair.