Triad Today
Fridays at 6:30am onABC 45Sundays at 10pm onMy 48
About Triad Today
Our Sponsors
About Jim Longworth
Knights of the Round Table
Commentaries
Video Segments
Books by Jim Longworth
Studio Location
Awards and Recognition
Public Appearances
Contact Us via email

Index of Past Commentaries

September 7th / 9th, 2007

"Miss S.C.’s Stupidity Part of Larger Problem"

Recently Miss Teen South Carolina Lauren Caitlin Upton became the poster girl for the dumbing down of America when she uttered an incoherent response to a simple question. Asked why one fifth of Americans cannot identify the United States on a world map, Upton replied,

“I personally believe that some, uh, U.S. Americans are unable to do because some, uh, people in our nation don’t have maps, and I believe that our education such as in South Africa and in the Iraq and everywhere such as, and I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., should help South Africa, and should help Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for our children.”

The Miss Teen USA pageant was broadcast nationally by NBC, but within hours of Lauren’s idiotic remarks, another two million people visited the internet to watch the gaffe over and over again. Comedic parodies also popped up on the web, and Upton had become the butt of a huge joke. And so, NBC and the pageant went into damage control mode. They arranged for Lauren to do a live interview with Matt Lauer and Ann Curry. The two air-headed hosts fed Upton some of her responses in an effort to explain away the young woman’s stupidity.

Curry: Everything just came at you all at once.
Upton: Yes, everything just came at me all at once.

Lauer: Did you draw a blank?
Upton: Yes, I drew a blank.

Upton went on to say that she was “in shock” when she heard the question (come on, it was about geography, not pornography), then she contradicted herself by saying that she never really heard the question. Which is it? If Lauren isn’t lying, and really couldn’t hear the question, then she had a remedy. Even a ten-year-old spelling bee contestant knows how to ask for a word or phrase to be repeated.

Nevertheless, Curry, (herself an adult version of Upton only without the looks) ended the segment by slapping high fives with her sister in stupidity, and shouted, “Good girl, you!” Lauer (the male version of Miss S.C. who got his big break in show biz by learning how to parrot whatever his producers told him to say) assured Lauren, “Don’t let it get you down.” It was like watching the bald leading the blonde.

OK, so NBC did its due diligence and tried to help the ditzy girl save face by having two other ditzes lob softballs at her. But following the faux interview, something even more bizarre occurred. Suddenly people started to sympathize with Upton, and excuse her comments as a “human mistake”. Having revealed that she hoped to attend Appalachian State University, Upton was even defended by Neal Lineback, a professor emeritus of geography at ASU who said, “ I think she only heard a little of the question.” Come on, Professor. I like to look at pretty girls as much as the next guy, but you shouldn’t let your lust cloud your judgement.

Seriously, Ms. Upton is stunningly beautiful, but her lack of intelligence is not at all cute, and is, in fact, indicative of a much larger problem in our society.

These days, beauty (like athletic prowess) is exalted above intelligence and rewarded disproportionately in that regard. Aspiring to become a professional model, Upton will no doubt make more money in one year than Professor Lineback has made in a lifetime.

And, it is no coincidence that on the same day that Lauren’s gaffe made headlines, so did a report on how SAT scores have declined nationwide. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a big fan of SATs as an indicator of someone’s true abilities or potential, but the report did remind me of just how much we as a nation have lowered the bar of expectations for our young people. It is a disturbing phenomena that has been growing for decades, and one that has manifested itself in a myriad of arenas.

Continued on next page.