Of pageants and piety

Sometimes it doesn't pay to be "biblically correct."
Booed and cheered simultaneously, Miss California Carrie Prejean has soared into the national spotlight for sharing her views on marriage during the Miss USA pageant, where she ultimately finished second.
“We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite," Prejean began, obviously ignorant of her home state's passage of Proposition 8, rescinding the right of same-sex couples to marry. "And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.”
Was that so incendiary?
I don't agree with Ms. Prejean, but I cannot muster the furor others have at her response.
Perez Hilton, the gay blogger who asked her the question during the pageant, went on to call her a "dumb b--ch" on his website when it was over. His criticisms have been joined by a chorus of others.
But why so much fuss over a young woman whose scholarly pursuits extend as far as San Diego Christian College, whose biggest achievement beyond the pageants was being a finalist in a model search for "Deal or No Deal"?
I doubt they were offended that a potential Miss USA actually gave an honest answer during a Q&A, or even a semi-coherent response (a far cry from Caitlin Upton's nonsensical Miss Teen USA 2007 speech on maps). If that were the cause, every pageant contestant with a lick of common sense would eschew anything that could be construed to be the least bit un-PC. Perhaps they could just sing "The Greatest Love Of All" while waving an American flag in one hand and cuddling a puppy in the other in response to any prompt and leave it at that.
The real reason? Our country is no less unified than it was prior to the election and subsequent inauguration of Barack Obama as president.
If anything, we are more partisan and markedly fiercer in that partisanship. Look no further than the Tax Day tea parties for evidence of this on the right end of the political spectrum.
There was no malice in Prejean's response, but there certainly was spite in those who derided her. What happened to accepting our differences and realizing that there are few issues on which the world is in universal agreement?
But don't fret for Miss Prejean. She's survived the cutthroat world of beauty pageants; I imagine she can handle the scorn of the blogosphere. Besides, she may have unwittingly made herself the new darling of the Republican Party — look out, Meghan McCain, you've got competition!

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Weekend Diversion: Quality Service from the LAPD

If you're like me, you've always wondered what would happen if the Los Angeles Police Department used a song from former Branson, Mo., favorite Ray Stevens to be the soundtrack for an early-90s training video. Well, if that's true, today's a big day for both of us. Enjoy:

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A Day in the Life

"I read the news today, oh boy..."

I can't help but notice and comment on the exceptional increase in the number of stories I've seen as of late about people taking the lives of others and themselves.
• Four police officers killed in Oakland, Calif., in March in two separate incidents with a man pulled over in a routine traffic stop.
• More than a dozen people killed at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, N.Y., by Jiverly Wong, who then killed himself.
• A man in Washington kills his five children and then himself because his wife said she was leaving him.
• Three police officers killed in Pittsburgh in response to a call about a dispute over a dog urinating in a house.
• A man in Alabama kills his wife, teenage daughter and two relatives.
• Even here in Aurora, a man accused of gunning down his estranged wife, then fleeing with his two young daughters, only to kill himself as authorities tracked him down in Thornton.

"...And though the news was rather sad..."

Putting together Sunday's paper, I started thinking about all of this.
As someone who consumes a lot of news and has been exposed to a number of heinous stories and gruesome photos, few things get to me on a level that truly, deeply disturbs me. My skin has developed the thickness needed to read the AP wire and keep one ear on the police scanner, but this latest slate of violence just really got to me.

"I saw the photograph..."

I wonder what readers would make of all this.
I think one of the quickest and easiest reactions is to say that the economic downturn and resulting human traumas has put many people on edge, and a delicate minority of them have gone over that same precipice.

"A crowd of people stood and stared..."

How many people out there will read these stories, evaluate the difficulties in their own lives and begin pondering whether their lives (and the lives of others) are worth living? I think we try to do the best job possible in presenting honest news in the most straightforward ways possible, but my mind always has a nagging voice somewhere in the back, worried about the possibilities of copycats.
The local ABC affiliate, Channel 7, recently interviewed a number of experts to try and explain this recent spate of violence.
They say spring is the thing — that early to mid-April is a time when violence traditionally ramps up: The Waco standoff in 1993, the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the Columbine massacre in 1999, and the Virginia Tech shooting rampage in 2007.
They cited psychologists saying the changing of the season affects people with mood disorders: The world renews itself, yet they realize they are still depressed — feelings that can lead some to hurt themselves and others.

"A crowd of people turned away..."

But ultimately, I'm more angered at how society can quickly brush off atrocities such as these and turn its focus back to the mundane and the inconsequential.
Rather, I think I became more incensed at the people who profess to care about protecting life and liberty yet remain largely silent in times like these.
There are people out there stockpiling weapons because they think President Obama will someday outlaw them. Some of these people are legitimate collectors; others may have issues that may one day lead them to misuse those weapons.
There are people out there with access to weapons that make them a threat to themselves, their friends and family, and to complete strangers.
At the same time, there are still vocal groups that concern themselves with one issue and one issue only, with no regard to the facts.... the issue could be guns, abortion, what-have-you.
I try to understand most points of view. I try to know why they feel the way they do. I understand why they often are so angry. And as the man says, I'll defend their right to think and feel the way they do.
But I cannot understand those who are vehemently pro-life or pro-gun who choose to ignore this issue: Violence claiming the lives of those who have been born and are living, working, thinking and full of potential and exercising their liberties. It seems to be happening at an alarmingly increasing rate, and sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to the rage that pushes some to kill.
But this isn't about whether you're pro-gun, anti-gun, pro-abortion rights or anti-abortion rights. This should concern anyone and everyone.

"...Somebody spoke and I went into a dream..."

I don't want people to think they need to be scared, but I do think it's prudent to think about what is going on in society today and recognize situations where the line between depression and homicide is very thin, and to recognize that one person can help another understand that there are few troubles in this world that should prompt anyone to want to end their own life, let alone the life of another.
Most people seem to have realized there are major issues unfolding beyond the horizons of their self-interests and single-issue platforms. I'm just hoping the stragglers will hop on sooner rather than later.

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