None of Us Are Angels, All of Us Have Been There.

Regardless of how this thing shakes out, Miss New Jersey definitely has my vote in the next Miss America pageant.

Amy Polumbo, aka Miss New Jersey, who was being blackmailed with some, um.. cough, cough- denigrating photos (*raised eyebrow* followed by *snoring*), has released the photos to the Today Show.

I mean, seriously? SERIOUSLY?! Give the girl a break. She's a 22-year old college student. As, oh, about 99.99999999% of the population that has been to college (and probably 99.9999999999999999999% of those that have not attended) can attest- welcome to, er... LIFE.

Note to moms, dads, grandparents, the NCAA and that pesky little censorship group, "The Committee to Save Miss America"... college kids:
a) Drink
b) Drink
c) Engage in and enact sexual acts with friends and lovers
d) Drink
e) Have fun doing it
f) Drink

Now, as a parent of young children, am I looking forward to those days faaaaar down the line when my kids come home with an, "Um dad, there's some pictures of me out there..." story? HELL NO! But, I cannot point the figure because if I do, I better be looking in the mirror. And that's not because I feel I parented badly- NO. It's because I know, as most do, when the time comes there's not much my kids can say they did that I hadn't already done. Short of any (um, er... well) criminal act, my kids- and most kids- deserve a little bit of understanding in these situations.

And really, this blackmailing of Amy Polumbo to me is such a non-issue that I am commenting on it to show people and groups like "The Committee to Save Miss America" that they are truly morons. And a solid pat on the back to the pageant officials who told Ms. Polumbo she can keep her crown.

Seriously who comes up with this shat? It's like Miss Congeniality 3 or some B-movie on Lifetime. Wait, aren't they the same?

In fact, I think what would make this truly a, well, "happy-ending" story would be if Amy Polumbo wins the Miss America Pageant. Come on, you know "The Donald" loves a good ratings booster! Nothing says "Nielsen Ratings" or "movie rights" better than a script like "pretty girl gets wronged then wins" plot line. I say this year's pageant should be rigged to make it happen. Can we get Sandra Bullock and Michael Caine in here please?