Penn Jillette says he's glad Tenn. lost Miss USA

Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier ^ | June 21, 2011

[xjcsa]

Magician and Miss USA judge Penn Jillette says he's happy a pageant queen from Tennessee lost to Miss California USA Alyssa Campanella because her onstage answer to a question about burning Qurans ran afoul of the First Amendment.

[snip]

Durham responded to a question about whether burning religious items should be afforded the same constitutional protections as flag burning by saying it crossed a line and shouldn't be allowed.

[skeeter]

You should be able to demonstrate in any manner you like, safely.

But burning the flag is burning the 1st Amendment. Can't savvy that.

[Krankor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkSlywOodho#t=1m39sec

[Oztrich Boy]

Penn is right, though I might not put it the way he did.

And that's why he gets paid the big bucks

[boop]

Jillette is no liberal. Just a outspoken libertarian. And apparently a first amendment absolutist. I thought her answer was fine. She wasn't asked about the "constitutionality" just whether she thought it was "right" to burn a Koran. The real problem would have been if she had said: "Yes, it's OK, because of free speech". She would have still lost, and the theater would have been burned to the ground by peace-loving Muslims.

I agree that these kinds of political questions are asked of freakin' BEAUTY PAGEANT contestants is wrong. She was damned either way she answered.

[LivingNet]

Does that include their dog?

[21twelve]

That’s what I thought too!? As much as I would hate to see it, as a previous poster said, if it is your property you should be able to do fold, mutilate and spindle as you see fit.

Of course it may warrant a butt kicking from a proud American, but as they say “I love the 1st Amendment, let’s you know who the idiots are!” Same goes with peaceful protest marches by whacko groups, etc.

[xjcsa]

So, she said something he didn't like so he falls back on the first amendment by saying she had no right to her first amendment rights. Typical liberal response or simply an idiot.

Where did he say she had no "right" to say what she said? He didn't call for her arrest; he didn't advocate fining her. The first amendment applies *only* to the government - "Congress shall make no law..."

He disagreed with her. He expressed his pleasure that she didn't win a pageant. Where in that process did he violate any of her rights?

[catfish1957]

...What did she say????????

[fkabuckeyesrule]

I think twitting during a Miss USA Pagant is grounds for having to turn in your real mans license. Assuming he ever had one to begin with.

[Keith in Iowa]

>>>Well thank God we all know what Penn Gillette thinks now.

I’ll sleep well, in comfort with the knowledge. :)

[KrisKrinkle]

According to the article: "Durham responded to a question about whether burning religious items should be afforded the same constitutional protections as flag burning by saying it crossed a line and shouldn't be allowed."

Based on the above, he didn't ask what she thought "is", he asked what she thought "should be". As such, her answer is not incorrect.

Let's try:

Should US Senators be elected by the Constitutional vote of the population of their states? My answer is "no", they should be chosen by the State legislatures as was done before the 17th Amendment. Of course that would require amending the Constitution."

Or how about:

Should the right to keep and bear arms be Constitutionally protected? My answer is: "Yes, as it is now." Some might answer "No, but it is now so we need to amend the Constitution."

Based on the article her answer is not incorrect, although her view might be.

[eyedigress]

Thank you Penn, can you give me your thoughts on the cast of Jersey Shore next....

[Navy Patriot]

Thanks for the link.

Miss Tennessee is incorrect in both parts of her answer, as the question is asked in a First Amendment Constitutional framework.

[Charlespg]

MY Oh MY

[pnh102]

Does that include their dog?

No, such people would just get to play in the NFL instead.

[CharlyFord]

Did every contestant get a hot topic question like that one???

What was the purpose of the pageant? Was it held to stir up political controversy?

There's a place for questions like that but why in a beauty pageant?

I'd have fared worse than Miss Tennessee. If I'd been asked a question like that in a setting like that, I'd have told the prick to go f**k himself!

[supremedoctrine]

If you;ve ever seen his show BULL***T you know Penn takes this stuff very seriously. He’s a rather relentless and hardline libertarian. The show hit all the right notes a good 95% of the time.BUT I don’t know why he’d enter the fray with a personal comment. These high-profile Beauty
Pageants have reached for significance instead of allowing the girls to get away with “I want to work for World Peace”
tripe.A year or two ago the notorious gay “Perez Hilton” said for public consumption he wanted to rip the crown from the head of the winner when she said she didn’t support gay marriage. Looks like the shows are courting a little controversy , in a bid for ‘relevance’.

[GunsAndBibles]

Wouldn’t mind being her first cousin at all...

[Krankor]

To be fair, the question was asked in a somewhat convoluted way and Ms. Tennessee does not come across as the brightest apple in the barrel. I think she ignored the “constitutionality” aspect of the question and just gave her opinion that disrespecting religion and flags is a line that people shouldn’t cross. When she threw in that part about burning flags not being patriotic, I was half expecting her to start saying, “I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don’t have flags, and I believe that our education like such as South Africa, and the Iraq,...”

[AU72]

This country has lost it's mind.

We are getting the vapors out of career beauty queens pageant answers. 2 years ago Ms California was accused of hate speech for defending normal marriage, now this.