LAST WEEK on the FOX Network’s morning show “Fox & Friends,” Baltimore Ravens running-back Ray Rice and his domestic violence scandal found themselves the hot topic of conversation. The show has a history of being moronic and controversial, but the brief commentary that flew around this topic was more offensive than usual. After discussing the newest developments, co-host Brian Kilmeade joked, “I think the message is, take the stairs.”
Oh, yes, because when you are in an abusive relationship, everyone knows the stairs are safe?
No. Nowhere is safe when you’re in an abusive relationship.
Unfortunately, the implication with his “joke” is that no one would have known about it if they had taken the less-likely-to-have-a-camera stairs. Or, well, I don’t exactly get what the hell his joke was meant to imply, but his on-camera partners seemed to think it was worth a good giggle.
Last week was a doozy for foot-in-mouth politics. Conservative political commentator Pat Buchannan warned that the U.S. is in “tremendous long-term danger” because of immigrants and Sarah Palin said she owed America “… a global apology. Because John McCain, through all of this, John McCain should be our president.” Global? Is this like the time you tweeted out your curiosity over who “hijacked” the word feminism, calling activists fighting for women’s rights “a cackle of rads who want 2 crucify other women”? Please, do tell us what you think the word “cackle” means.
All in all, a lot of unwise words in the political world have been flying lately. But you know who brought some political intelligence to the table recently? I’ll give you a hint — she’s walking on air, she’s the fairest of the fair, the Queen of Femininity, the dream of millions of girls.
Yep, Miss America. And, more specifically, all of the top 5 contestants in the pageant this past Sunday.
Miss New York took the title for the third consecutive year and Kira Kazantsev, both beautiful and talented, also had an intelligent answer to give during the lighting round of Q&As. As each of the five women selected questions, ranging from ISIS to gun control, they presented intelligent and straightforward answers arguably much better than most politicians have when posed similar questions (I would have loved to see Sarah Palin up there!).
Miss New York’s question was, “There are a record 20 women serving in the Senate. What is one specific issue where these women leaders should challenge the male majority and take the lead?”
Kazantsev, whose platform is raising awareness of domestic violence, chose the issue of sexual assault in the military. “Every single women that fights in our military deserves the right to be safe, to be happy, and to be respected by those she serves with,” the newly-crowned Miss America stated with conviction.
Miss New York wasn’t the only one who impressed the judges and the audience that night. Miss Arkansas tackled the recent incident where a nine-year-old accidentally killed her shooting instructor while firing a military-grade machine gun when was asked “Should there be any limits on the use of guns by children?” She responded succinctly and passionately: “Absolutely. I think that it’s important to protect our Second Amendment right to bear arms … However, I do think that there needs to be restriction, especially for children. Children don’t need to know what it feels like to hold a gun of that caliber. And they especially don’t need to be put into a situation where they can end another person’s life because of that.”
Miss Florida was asked specifically about the video of Ray Rice and his wife’s decision to stay by his side. The judge asked “As a woman, what do you think of her decision?” Miss Florida quickly started, saying, “I know that’s a very hard decision, but, me personally, I don’t agree with it. My platform is One Chance, One Choice and I talk all about the right decisions and I don’t feel that she did that.” No insulting jokes, no moronic commentary, she grants that Janay Rice finds herself in a very difficult situation while confidently giving her own opinion on the issue.
Political commentators — take note. Politicians, you could learn a thing or five here, too.
To highlight the vast differences between these clever women and the oftentimes-absurd political world — guess what coverage of the pageant FOX News decided to offer? The fact that Miss Nebraska accidentally flashed the cameras during the pageant. We can’t really blame them, though, can we? I suppose it’s best to cover that kind of gossip fodder when the women participating in the competition are more well-spoken, clever, and intelligent than most of your network staff.
