First Matt Lauer of Today, now Howard Kurtz on CNN: What's with all the TV newsmen leaping to defend Miss California for opposing gay marriage "in my country?"

On Reliable Sources today, Kurtz went after blogger Perez Hilton for being a big angry gay who pestered the nice pretty pageant contestant with a pointless question about her "individual view" that homosexual marriage should be illegal, because the Bible said so.

Hilton replied, sensibly, that Miss USA should be able to answer a civil rights question without saying hugely offensive/moronic things ("opposite marriage??"). But Kurtz kept insisting she's just a beauty pageant contestant who shouldn't have to answer political questions.

The Miss USA organization would seem to disagree. It says its contest is about "humanitarian goals" and improving "the lives of others," and it wouldn't have appointed a gay male judge if it wanted a simple looks contest.

Maybe the group should show Kurtz and Lauer exactly how it evaluates women on criteria beyond their appearance. The guys might learn something!