Miss USA and the ugly counterculture

By Chris Adamo

It may seem odd that the profundity of Martin Niemoller could find a fitting application in the unlikely venue of a beauty pageant. But such is the depths to which America has descended as prominent members of its counterculture exercise ever-greater influence on society.

Niemoller, the German clergyman who warned of the consequences of passivity in the face of evil, lamented that he had done nothing while Hitler's Reich attacked and oppressed one target group after another within the overall population. Eventually, he became a target, but by then nobody was left to intervene for him. So it is that every concerned citizen must take note of the abominable proceedings of last week's "Miss USA" pageant, and rally to the support of Carrie Prejean, the intended victim.

Americans have not regarded beauty contests with any real seriousness for decades, usually dismissing them with wry cynicism. Noble sounding purposes notwithstanding, contestants are subjected to mass ogling, often clad in the material equivalent of a couple of handkerchiefs. And of course each will offer the customary hopes for world peace along with the necessity of feeding hungry children.

Claims that they are judged on their "character" and "poise" when rendering such platitudes are recognized by even the casual viewer as euphemisms for the requirement that they maintain seemingly perfect smiles throughout the ordeal, without showing any outward sign of the facial cramping that is surely taking place.

Yet something very different happened at this year's "Miss USA" affair. Mario Lavandeira, a homosexual activist pageant "judge" who goes by the pseudonym of "Perez Hilton," asked Carrie Prejean, Miss California, a direct question about her views on same-sex "marriage." She returned an equally direct and honest answer that was well thought out and expressed, but not "politically correct," explaining that marriage is between one man and one woman.

In response, he vindictively scored her with a zero, thereby costing her the competition. Since that time, all of the hounds of liberal Hell have been loosed upon her. The people of traditional America had better wake up to the sobering ramifications of this sorry episode. For unless such atrocious actions are confronted and rebuffed, even in so trivial a pursuit as a "beauty contest," her plight will eventually become our own.

For starters, consider the outright fraud and condescending sanctimony with which the news and entertainment media monolithically report the incident. Headlines and "news" accounts invariably characterized Prejean's answer as a "stumble," "gaffe," or "mistake," insinuating that her response was wholly and inherently wrong. In this manner, the media Mafia once again inserted its jaundiced liberal opinions in place of accurate reporting. The only "details" considered newsworthy focused strictly on those homosexual activists who claimed to be "offended" and outraged by her comments, portraying Lavandeira and his minions at the event as innocent and virtuous victims, rather than victimizers.

As is typical of the counterculture, the truth stands in stark contrast to all of this. Lavandeira has subsequently hurled profane verbal attacks against Prejean, and posted obscenely doctored pictures of her on his website. Even a brief look at his blog reveals an offensive and belligerent mindset, hardly the picture of alternative "family values" that he and his kind claim to be normalizing in America. Certainly his thinking would not be conducive to a healthy environment in which to rear the next generation of children.

Though outrageous, dishonest, and intellectually indefensible, none of this ghastly circus comes as a surprise to the groups of sincere family advocates who in recent years have endeavored to preserve the culture of the country. Though the media steadfastly refuse to report them, accounts are numerous of citizens throughout the country who, while attending legislatures to lobby in defense of traditional marriage, have been subjected to similar assaults, insults, and intimidation, both in legislative chambers and from protestors out on the street.

Those who demand tolerance from traditional America reveal themselves to be wholly intolerant of any opposing viewpoint. And as they hysterically decry as "hate" even the mildest form of disapproval on the grounds that it supposedly denies them their "right" to engage in every form of aberrant activity, it is they who employ hostile and hateful behavior to cow all opposition and thereby advance their agenda.

Clearly Lavandeira's atrocious conduct, and more significantly the total lack of outrage or even embarrassment among the rest of the movement in response to his abominable attacks against Prejean, reveal the unbridled malice that motivates such individuals. Lavandeira and his supporters will not be content to silence all opposition. The goal is not merely to ensure the allowance or even the tacit approval of their chosen lifestyle. Their ultimate demand is for complete validation and even praise. And any "heretic" who dares to deviate from the party line can expect to share the intended fate of Carrie Prejean.

In this they are abetted by a biased liberal media that maintains a deliberate propaganda front on behalf of the "gay" activists, suppresses any negative reporting, and studiously maintains their facade of meekness and affability.

Admittedly, among their own media/pop culture circles, this strategy has often met with success. In the immediate aftermath of the Prejean controversy, Kristen Dalton, the contestant from North Carolina who took the Miss USA crown, dutifully drank the rancid Kool-Aid during a television interview by asserting her support for same-sex "marriage."

Such monumental theologians as Heidi Montag (a noted MTV personality) and Miley Cyrus (the latest "Lindsay Lohan in waiting") have loudly decried Prejean for involving the arcane notions of Biblical right and wrong in the discussion of what it means to be a modern "Christian." For this they castigate Prejean as "judgmental."

Since that time, a host of other mental giants of the entertainment industry have weighed in, concurring with earlier demeaning "news" stories of Carrie Prejean in an effort to marginalize everyone who espouses support for traditional marriage. In their minds, they maintain the philosophical and populist "high ground," despite the fact that the people of America and even California, the very state in which she resides, stood with her when they voted decisively in favor of protecting the institution of marriage last November.

Total success for the counterculture might have been assured, were it not for one problematic point. It turns out that Carrie Prejean is hardly the empty-headed "pretty face" that typifies so much of the pop culture. Rather, in the midst of this ugly controversy, she has proven herself to be intelligent, articulate, principled, and courageous.

She did not crumble, recant, or beg for forgiveness. But on every occasion in which she has been confronted with her beliefs, she has reasserted them with conviction and confidence. As a result, many of her detractors were subsequently forced to back-peddle and soften their criticism of her. Thus she has demonstrated the true character of a worthy role model. It is to the shame of so many Americans, from members of the clergy to those supposedly conservative politicians, that their own examples fall so far short of hers.

The effort of Carrie Prejean's critics has been to drag her down to where the Miss USA pageant has sunk, and where it will probably remain indefinitely. Instead, because she remained true to her faith, she has risen far above it. America needs to decide now to rise with her, not only in recognition of her own plight, but also from the necessity to effectively engage the enemy in this ongoing battle for the soul of America.

The alternative is unthinkable. In the end, Pastor Niemoller was left with the regret of something far more terrible and tragic than the loss of a beauty contest.

© Chris Adamo