Keller @ Large: Miss America Contestants Get Last Laugh

BOSTON (CBS) - You can always tell when someone is uninformed, intellectually lazy, and prone to casual stereotyping. They're the ones who are so quick to belittle beauty pageants and the women who compete in them.

Yes, these things can be pretty hokey.

And every once in a while, a pageant contestant bungles an answer badly.

But last weekend's Miss America pageant punctured those stereotypes by showcasing contestants who proved more than ready to offer reasoned opinions under pressure.

For instance, Miss Missouri, the runner-up, is a social-justice advocate who was asked if she thought President Trump was guilty or innocent of collusion with Russia. "Innocent," she said, because the investigation is ongoing, but if found guilty, then those involved should be "punished accordingly."

And here's what Miss Texas had to say when asked about the president's equivocal response to the violence in Charlottesville last month.

"I think that the white supremacist issue it was very obvious, that it was a terrorist attack. And I think that President Donald trump should have made a statement earlier addressing the fact and making sure that all Americans feel safe in this country, that is the number one issue right now," she said.

And the winner, Miss North Dakota, said we should have stayed in the Paris climate accords to sustain our negotiation leverage.

I say, let's consider dumping some of our strident, knee-jerk politicians and replacing them with some of these women, giving a new meaning to the exhortation that "the stage is yours."

Let's hear what you think via email at keller@wbztv.com, or on Twitter, @kelleratlarge.