Where's Bert Parks when you need him?

I'm afraid if I start talking about how well INK FLAMINGOS is going, it'll jinx me.

So I'm not going to. Instead, I need to address the whole Miss USA thing.

It started for me when I saw the story about the Miss USA contestants and their "glam" shots. These weren't nice, hometown girl shots. Miss Kansas, for example, was wearing a man's shirt and not much else. Donald Trump, who owns the competition, thought they were very tasteful.

So then we move on to the pageant itself. Yes, it's quite nice that Miss Michigan, an immigrant from Lebanon won, but Lebanon is not one of those countries that makes its women wear burquas, despite what the stories are saying. They're actually a bit more modern than that. So all the talk about how this is revolutionary is a bit of bunk.

What is revolutionary is that Miss Michigan, Rima Fakih, won a pole dancing contest in 2007.

Is this what young women are supposed to emulate? I have a daughter who is 13. I've tried to raise her well, to be respectful of other people and of herself. But it's hard sometimes. We used to think that Girls Gone Wild was as bad as it could get. Seems that's just the tip of the iceberg. Girls are posting inappropriate pictures of themselves online, sending "sexting" picture messages that are more than suggestive. And they think it's okay. Why? Because just take a look at Miss Kansas.

Despite the fact that Miss Fakih does not undress during her pole dancing (you can see the video here), it's still the wrong message for young girls.

What do you think?