The money quote:
“I am excited to continue my duty as Miss California, USA. All I want to be able to do is to tell my story, which no one can take away from me. Not everyone may like me or agree with me…but I hope at the end of the day, everyone can respect my rights, as I respect theirs; and together we can bring back civility in our social and cultural discussions. I am convinced, now more than ever, of the importance for standing up for your beliefs and convictions. For everyone out there listening - do not be silenced. Take this story of mine and apply it to your own life. I hope I’ve inspired others to maintain compassion, civility, respect, and tolerance - while staying true to your convictions…and to never, ever, compromise your beliefs in the pursuit [of your] goals, regardless of the consequences. [emph. mine]
I hope this saga is over now.
She lied- many times- to get where she is. While I do stand next to her for speaking up about the gay marriage issue, and for sticking to her convictions, she is bad role model.
She lied on the application for being a contestant. She personally signed each line where they asked if she had ever had pictures taken of her that were nude, semi nude or whatever. She checked the NO boxes.
Posing half naked is not something Conservatives should support.
Esp when it's a 17 yr old girl...what sickens me is the thousands of posts on Conservative blogs that show the pictures. That's just terrible, and it shows the total hypocrisy many on the right are guilty of. Let's forgive her cause she's hot??? Or that she was young and stupid at the time? She should have been upfront when was of age and applying for this. Then I wouldn't have a problem with her.
Liars should not be condoned by us. Even when the photos are hot and steamy...even when the lefts attacks are wrong and evil..we should not stand next to those who purposely misrepresent themselves by not being honest.
Posted by: Raven | May 13, 2009 at 07:51 AM
About the pictures and forms and such, I don't know. Haven't kept up. But I do know this: if and when we get to the point where we discount the good things a person says and does on the grounds that not everything they've said and done is good and wholesome, pretty soon nobody will take anything anybody says seriously.
Not that you don't take what a person's done into account in evaluating what he says, but if the standard for applauding anything a person says is going to be that they've never done anything wrong, I would suggest that none of us are going to make it.
Posted by: Man of the West | May 13, 2009 at 08:02 AM
I was stating my opinion.
She lied on the application.
She posed for racy photos.
She said marriage should be between and man and a woman.
Two wrongs. One right.
She was attacked by the left for her gay marriage comments.
They found the photos and made sure they were published.
It is a complicated **issue** but...had she been honest from the get go, the pics wouldn't be an issue.
My other point was how the (male) right clinged to this story and basically glorified this girl- not because of her gay marriage comments though..nope...rather- cause she's hawt and cute and all that. Many righty blogs posted those pictures- which, to me, shows much of the hypocrisy we have.
Posted by: Raven | May 13, 2009 at 08:29 AM
Raven, I agree with you in general - and I'm not terribly impressed by a Christian woman participating in a flesh-fest like the Miss USA/Universe pageant.
However, I truly think that Ms. Prejean has handled the situation with grace and strength. I also think that the racy photos would NOT have been an issue for the looney left if not for her remarks about gay marriage. I think they used it as a red herring to try and punish and silence her.
Nonetheless, I also agree with MotW - we all have mistakes and sin in our past. Heck, I still have sin in my present! I'm not sure about the "lie" on the pageant application. From what she said in this statement, it wasn't a deliberate evasion; I don't know for certain either way. I'm more inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt and put it down to 17 y.o.fecklessness (and where in heck were her parents, allowing those pics, anyway? She was a minor at that point). I was definitely an idiot when I was 17. Believe me, a scum artist could certainly dig up more scandalous pictures of ME from my past.
The whole looks, "hawt," and so on angle is certainly hypocritical - sorta. I saw one libertairan blogger put her on his "5 people I most want to punch" list on FBook because (paraphrase) "What the hell is a dumb blonde doing spouting opinions, anyway?" THAT pissed me off. I agree that the male righty bloggers are acting hypocritically, and I am disgusted with a lot of the "sexy" pictures they post. Generally, I read only their RSS feeds so I don't have to look at those pictures, but some come through - and I've deleted several from my feed reader because I'm sick of the coarse lewdness these men promote.
Nevertheless - and I am NOT endorsing the "she was asking for it" position - Ms. Prejean is in the modeling profession, and she DID choose to participate in the Miss USA Pageant. Those choices often have these sort of consequences (to a greater or lesser degree) associated with them.
They are her choices, and she has to deal with their fallout. She cannot change the past, but she is dealing with the present very well.
Posted by: Kat | May 13, 2009 at 10:36 AM
I don't much care about the entire controversy, having said that I will add that if you go out and play in the cow pasture, you're gonna step in it. I admire her for holding her head high, even with both feet covered in it, and not folding like a hothouse lily. Other than that, it does my heart good to see the perverts catch a thumb in the eye.
Posted by: Angrywhiteman | May 13, 2009 at 10:55 AM