The Miss America pageant — booted off network TV and out of Atlantic City — is being telecast tomorrow on the CMT cable channel. It'll be coming to us from the Aladdin Hotel in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada.
The gent in charge of the pageant recently told a newspaper, "We have asked them [the contestants] to respect the values of Miss America and not to be seen gambling."
Got that? It's against the values of Miss America to be seen gambling. But it's not against the values of the pageant operators to hold the event in a casino located in a town built on gambling. One might well assume that the Aladdin gave them a good deal because it was thought that the pageant would promote the Aladdin and lure people to come in and gamble.
(Yeah, I know they have gambling in Atlantic City. But the town isn't only about that, and the Miss America festivities were held at the convention center, some distance from the slot machines. At the Aladdin, they'll never be far from Video Poker.)
So if gambling is contrary to the values of Miss America, why surround yourself with it and promote it? And how come the ladies are only being asked to not be seen gambling? Why aren't they being asked to not gamble? Could it be that the values of Miss America are only about appearance and not about what you actually do?
Naw. Couldn't be that.