uh, the Iraq everywhere like, such as

It is the stuff of nightmares. The moment when, on live national television, you are asked a question, the answer disobediently flies out of your head, and something oddly-born comes out of your mouth.

For Lauren Caitlin Upton, an apparently upbeat 18-year-old from Lexington, South Carolina, the time came on Friday evening during the tricky on-stage interview section of Miss Teen USA. Three per cent of America's television audience was watching.

The question: "Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the US on a world map. Why do you think this is?"

The answer (in a pleasant drawl, moments of certainty undone by drifts of nervousness):

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

In case you miss it on the recording, "for our children" -- the trusty beauty-pageant / presidential sign-off -- was lost in polite applause.

But was it such a disaster? Lauren's answer went straight to YouTube and hasn't looked back, amassing more than 3.5 million viewers and 13,000 comments in just over two days. Although she finished "third runner up" (fourth was Chelsea Welch, Miss West Virginia), Lauren is now threatening to get a larger audience for her answer than the rest of the Miss Teen USA franchise put together. A weekend interview for her local paper ("Things happen for a reason... That's the way life goes") is now being followed by a series of breakfast television appearances.

We missed the rest of the Miss Teen broadcast, but among the comments on YouTube ("She's still pretty"), are assurances that Lauren faced a much harder question than her rivals. And looking up advice from "Beauty Pageant Tips, Techniques & Secrets", we think that apart from a brief stray to South Africa and the Iraq everywhere, she did a pretty good job. The textbook says:

"Be truthful. The judges usually do not have a definite answer in mind for the kind of questions asked during the onstage interview so there is no one “right” answer. Only you know the exact correct response to the question because it is your response! Be honest with the judges, use answers from within yourself and your answer will sound sincere."

Go Lauren! And why can't a fifth of Americans find the US on a world map? A National Geographic Survey of young Americans from last year doesn't have the answer, but it does throw out this interesting finding: "Given a map of a hypothetical place and told they could escape an approaching hurricane by evacuating to the northwest, one-third would travel in the wrong direction."

Comments

[Hoopskidoodle]

It doesn't matter how dumb she is. Guys with Gulfstream 500 private jets are queuing up to buy her beach houses.

[Uncle Sam]

Larry, please learn how to spell "grammar" when criticizing America's use of it.

Thanks.

[Andy]

The first comment is great! I'm sure Larry (presumably from the good old US of A) meant "lose count" rather than "loose count"! :-)

[Shannon]

"Grammer"

[Robinson]

Leave the poor lass alone. When I was 18 I was a witless Berk. She's already more accomplished than I or any of my peers were at her age. The question is not what she knows or how she articulates herself now, its how she develops in the future. Shes just a kid!

[Mick]

I am shocked by this. I thought that for any particular question on basic, general knowledge, the absolute maximum portion of Americans who could answer correctly would be 20%. I remember hearing about the results of one poll in which only 15% of Americans knew Hitler had been president.

[Steve B]

Larry states "Each time I read American (USA) papers I loose count of the errors in spelling, grammer and punctuation".
Loose?

[Thomas]

To Larry (posted Aug 30 16:52:02)

It's always dangerous to criticize the grammar and spelling of others, as you're likely to make a mistake of your own when doing so.

"Each time I read American (USA) papers I LOOSE count of the errors in spelling, GRAMMER and punctuation."

The ironing is delicious, as Bart Simpson once said.

[Liz]

Larry - while I agree with you that the UK Times is a lot better than most US papers, you should probably learn the difference between 'lose' and 'loose' before you make comments about English grammar!

[Tony Adolfo]

Its unfortunate that the speech pattern of a typical American teen is in such bad shape as exposed in this teens response to a simple question. Even if she was nervous the thought process that came out was completely dis-jointed and incomprehensiable. As a matter of fact there was no thought process evident in the response. That is the scary part. Our future leaders and statesmen are reduced to babbling idoits with no coherent thought processes. What a scary scary future we face in this country. Might as well flush it down the tubes. We don't have one. Education in this country is non-existant and this gneration is lost.

[alice]

I don't mind laughing at George Dubya when he opens his mouth, he went to Yale, and should know how to speak (it should be a requirement of the Presidency), but I think it's unkind to criticise this young woman. Anyway, who are we Brits to criticse Americans? At least I can understand what she says which more than I can say of many young people in the UK.

[Adrianne]

It's a beauty pageant for god's sake, she's not up there because she's smart. In fact if she were smart, it's pretty damn likely she would not be up there.

[STEVE]

There's no apostrophe in "theirs", Larry. Even the journalists on the NY Times know that.

[AN]

Did anyone catch the previous post by Larry about how American papers have so many spelling and "grammer" errors? What a loser! You criticize American papers for their grammar and you misspell the darn word. Now that's classic!

*Posted by: Larry | 30 Aug 2007 16:52:02

*Each time I read American (USA) papers I loose count of the errors in spelling, grammer and punctuation - and THESE are created by (4yr) degreed professional 'journalists'!

[dc]

grammar larry...

[Joe]

She's a teenager. She flubbed a question. She was under tremendous pressure. Think. She definately screwed up. But really- what if your silliest gaffe was somehow televised nationally? I'm not an apologist for dimwits, but what this girl did was to get nervous and blow a question. Put yourself on the line and you might find out it's not so easy. And no: I've never been in a pagent. But I have done public speaking.

[Ahksel]

When one thinks about it, the question is almost as ridicuolus as her answer. Why are they interested in what SHE THINKS is the reason for this lack of knowledge. I think the person who wrote the question is pretty much her match in the IQ department.
The OBVIOUS answer to the question would be that "people don't have this knowlege because they were never adequately taught this subject,or perhaps they WERE taught this subject but were too stupid to understand it and retain it, or else they were too vacuous to care to listen and retain it. Perhaps they had teachers like Jay Bennish who spent whole semesters indoctrinating students in anti-American rhetoric instead of teaching them geography. Could it be that that dim brain in her head was triggered by the word "geography" to start rattling off the names of places to show that she was not herself a geograhic ignoramus. Instead she showed herself to be a complete ignoramus. Beauty fades, dumb is forever. Pitty the guy who has to listen to that babble for years and years.

[Ahksel]

Wow! Amazing. How were South Africa or Iraq relevant to the question? Could it be that she thought she was making a brilliant point by tying those two "hot topics" in to the question? Or did someone coach her to just mention those topics to show off her "politics" and "compasssssion". Perhaps this is what the education system in America produces after it has been crippled and twisted by political correctness and liberalism. Any ability to think or reason has never been developed in that vacant head but she knows enough to parrot the party line, or talking points anyway. Be sure, there were some people in the audience who probably thought what she said was brilliant, just for the fact that she mentioned "South Africa" and "Iraq". What she said made no sense to them but they are used to that, because, like her, they rely on other people to do their thinking and tell them what is good and bad.

[Brian Merritt]

It's a "known unknown" to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld. Most Americans are so caught up in their own little world they just don't know, or care, much about the rest of the world. Jay Leno's "Jaywalking" episodes illustrate this quite clearly.

[jao]

Uh, Larry... I think that's "grammar," not "grammer."

[A.KOOPMAN]

i dnt think that its us South Africans who needs help in our education system 2 locate our country!the question ws 2 reveal her intellect which is obviously n0n-existent.beauty doesnt equal brains,so despite her physical she definately confirms that the average American teen isnt brillant as
portrayed.ws the referance 2 Iraq necessary?does it nt prove the indoctrination of the subconcious minds of your youth that Iraq is bad without proper facts

[Sarah Firebaugh (aka Proud American)]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to add my two cents. I don't know why they always select the dumbest people for surveys and television in America. If a tornado hits an upperclass neighborhood and a trailer park, they always go for the Me-maw with no teeth in the bright-pink Moo-Moo. Believe it or not, there are a lot of very intelligent people in America. The people in power may not be the brightest, but they are rich. Face it, democracy=buying votes. And, only dumbasses sell their votes, hence our political landscape is dotted with a bunch of idiots that no one in their right mind would put into office. Please don't let this discourage you from loving our country, because if you don't we'll whoop your ass. :) Great Job, girl!! It's okay to get stumped!! HOw the phuck is a child going to answer a question like that anyways? God Bless The U.S.A.!!!!:)

You gotta give the young lady credit, despite her obvious confusion, she never stopped talking. If she could tweek her responces a bit, she could become the Yogi Berra of beauty pageants!

[A.KOOPMAN]

i believe that it depends who the americans r that can't locate their own c0ntinent 0n a world map,since they might b either uneducated or clearly n0t interested in geography.Also i think americans are 2 focused 0n making it in the 'Land of 0pportunity' that they n0t bothered wiv global interests unless it pertains 2 their 0wn well-being so "who cares about the location globally as long as the American way of life is embraced as the way of life"

[Andrew Milner]

So what would be the average IQ in South Carolina? Sounds like a knuckle-dragging 69.
Within the first 30 minutes of a date you're thinking, "She's so thick, she literally doesn't know what she doesn't know." “Check, please!”
There is, however, the phenomenon where under stress, a good half of your passive and even active knowledge goes AWOL. Anyone teaching their first class will identify with this.
For a real laugh, YouTube, "Stupid Americans". "Name a country beginning with "U". "Utah", "Yugoslavia". (How about this one--United States?) What’s the religion of Israel? Catholic? What currency do they use in England? US dollar?
"I never realised North Korea was so large." Pointing to Australia in relation to Tasmania.
Thick? Make that borderline retarded.
Top nation? You’re having a laugh.

[An American]

Um.... Larry, you spelled "lose" incorrectly.

Best,

A stoopid Amerykan.

[abdiel]

This whole story, and the comments on this thread, is/are really quite humorous.

The comments I find most interesting are the apologists who say the question shouldn't have even been asked. Why is that? Miss Teen USA is supposed to be a national representative and role model for girls her age. Shouldn't a teen rep be interested and concerned about a relevant question such as this, especially since many of her age group are being sent around the world to fight in foreign lands?

Some people say this question can't be answered -- I say, an intelligent teen who didn't have the answer could have said:

That's a difficult question for me to answer, but it should be asked to the educators whose job it is to teach these things. I can only say that I know where the US is on a map.

The other comments that make me laugh are the ones that say, well, she's pretty. In reality, that's all that really matters in this contest. There are no intellectual standards as a requirement for this competition -- not even a 3.0 GPA or anything like it. So, in that regard, she really made the grade.

[Ken]

The best thing about the internet is it's a great forum for ignorant people to complain and talk about how they are better than others. So what she had a brain fart. Do you really think she would have made it to that stage if she was reall'y dumb?

[Jennifer from Atlanta, GA]

Yes, there are many idiots in the United States; just as I'm sure there are many idiots in every part of the world. But, I hardly think it is fair to claim that every American is a moron who has no command of the English language. The U.S. has produced Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey and Jon Stewart, The Roosevelts, JFK, RFK, the 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner Cormac McCarthy and so many more articulate, intelligent and talented individuals.

It is shameful that you all are so quick to judge an entire nation so harshly. Perhaps you should see if your house is made of glass before your next post. Thank you.

[Des Coughlan]

'Each time I read American (USA) papers I *loose* count'..?

That was a joke, right ?

:)

[Jasmine]

Just some comments:

To the person who wrote about our terrible spelling mistakes, etc.:

"Each time I read American (USA) papers I loose count of the errors in spelling, grammer and punctuation - and THESE are created by (4yr) degreed professional 'journalists'!"

Did you mean you LOSE count? If you can't even spell, should you really be critiquing other people? Can anyone trust your critique??

Second, to the person who swears that this girl must have voted for Bush, she couldn't have; she's only 18 now, and therefore would have been too young to vote for him.

Third, thanks to those of you who called the hate-mongerers on their crap. Not all Americans are idiots; I critique my country all the time - but let's keep it reasonable and let's keep to the facts.

Hating takes up a lot of energy - try putting that energy to better use, and maybe we'll have a better world.

[olive oil]

everybody - chill! don't sweat the small stuff :)....

[mangoboy]

Hey folks, lighten up. The only requirements for winning the contest were 1)you must be pretty; and 2)a resident of S. Carolina. You did not have to know geography, speak English, or be femaleQ

Whom ever posted the third comment should likely familiarize himself with the use of the comma and the correct spelling of the word "grammar."

[star2light]

Hmmm...20% of Americans cant find America on the map, and 33% told to go North West to flee a hurricane would go the wrong direction...and what is Bush’s approval rating?

The genius of Karl Rove is that he recognized this, and that its just a skip and a jump from the lunatic 33% to a majority vote.

[Gondring]

"Larry" comments, in his anti-American babble: "Each time I read American (USA) papers I loose count of the errors in spelling, grammer and punctuation - and THESE are created by (4yr) degreed professional 'journalists'!"

Hmmm...you "loose" count? Better tighten your count up, chap!
I suppose your "grammer" is fine, but have you checked your spelling lately?

Let me guess...from your condescending tone backed by little substance, I'd wager you're from the left of the political spectrum. Am I right?

While I agree that education is in a deplorable state in the USA, it's amusing that the remedial actions that are suggested include more of the changes that drove us here in the first place. It's difficult to teach any substance these days, when half of each class period has to be spent on Politically Correct nonsense instead of the curriculum.

And finally, recall that the UK didn't do so well itself on National Geographic's last geography survey (2002), with many questions yielding a lower percent of correct answers (and note that Americans were quizzed on the European map, while Europeans didn't have to answer questions about maps of the Americas).

[Eric]

this must have been a setup.!
I really cannot imagine that our "friends", the Americans, can be so ignorant / so inconsistant and so ... whatsoever in their argumentation.

Oh la la...
I can only say: look at Einstein, he was not a really good looking man (wasn't he?) but he was very intelligent. He was a real "brain".
The girl in this little film is very beautiful - but not very intelligent (from that what could be seen).
Don't you think that there is an inverse proportionnal relation between intelligence and beauty?

please leave Bush out of the game, he is not very beautiful and certainly not very bright too.
Sometimes one cannot be all at the same time.

Vive la France!

[Larry Blankenship]

Well......."W".....is blamed for the mine cave in and the bridge collapse ...............why not complete the trifecta....and blame him for Lauren Caitlin Upton's incoherent reply. Seems fair to me.

[Joe Schmoe]

She is a product of a Dumbed-Down America. YES, the citizens (sheeple) have been intentionally dumbed-down by certain elements in the USA who desire nothing more than a semi-literate & functionally-retarded populus.

After all, dumber people are easier to control, and make better slaves.
Welcome to the New World Order.

[Brian]

For all the English out there knocking Americans, remember, your dumb asses followed Bush into war!

[Faqi]

How could people 'genarlisze" like the comments on this blog. The Americans put a man on the moon and brought him back safely. I need not mention all the other achievements Americans have made its endless. Get a life people

[John P]

To Larry, who proclaims how perfect the English in British newspapers are, you display very poor command of it. Get a clue from your own pompous sentence:

"Each time I read American (USA) papers I loose count of the errors in spelling, grammer and punctuation ..."
(Major points to anyone spotting the ironies here)

Oh and those were not your only GAFFES!

[Larry]

Precisely why I continue to promote daily reading of The Times of London (NOT the NY Times or LA Times)!

When in a bookstore, here in the USA, to buy 'The Times' people invariably ask why the London Times and not these "'MERICAN!" city Times - I answer "Because there's a reason our language is called 'English' and not 'American'. They (the English) invented it and no other newspaper does a better job of printing it."

Each time I read American (USA) papers I loose count of the errors in spelling, grammer and punctuation - and THESE are created by (4yr) degreed professional 'journalists'!

Granted, Ms Upton is merely a teen and WAS 'on the spot' when she uttered HER gaff - but what of the (USA) educated elite and their's? We all poke fun at George W but have you ever listened to his GOP 'handlers' off-camera? There's a reason why they always use 'spokespersons'. The ones behind the scenes are illiterate!

[teazer]

"And so, in my State of the - my State of the Union - or state - my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation - I asked Americans to give 4,000 years - 4,000 hours over the next - the rest of your life - of service to America. That's what I asked - 4,000 hours." -George W. Bush, Bridgeport, Conn., April 9, 2002

[Brain Dead]

Who said beauty and brains go together? I swear. I tried this experiment as a bet in New York with my friends. We asked ten random people on the street this question: You are in a store and bought an item that was advertised to be on sale for 10% less than than the ticketed price. If the ticketed price of the item is $49.99 what would you pay at the counter after discount? Surprise, surprise, only two out of ten came close to the correct answer. That is the state of America!!

[bluezzy]

kinda reminds me of the nonsense John kerry babbles on about dont it?... ;)

[Damian]

Num-wad. Now what is a num-wad exactly, 42ITUS? And do you think that perhaps it would be more meaningful spelled numbwad?

[robroy]

Saw the young lady on the Today show where she was quite affable and reassured. Admits to really blowing it with regards to the geography question. The ability to laugh at oneself is in short supply, but she has it. Most of the cynics who criticize the young lady without ever being in her shoes, take themselves way too seriously.

Matt Lauer (sp?) gave her another shot at it, and she did just fine. I expect good things to come from her.

[Rey Namelus]

So many of the comments above seem to say.."Give her a break, She so Purty"
So what, would she be any more an idiot is she were UGLY"
Lets face it..Americunz is dumb, period/comma?
So maybe she has the IQ of a banana peel, but she sho is purty.

[Nats]

Global goofs: U.S. youth can't find Iraq

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/11/20/geography.quiz/