The problem is not with Scanlan's answer to the question. Her job is to win over peoples hearts and minds. She did exactly the right thing under the circumstances. The problem is with the circumstances.
America wants to see it's sweetheart put security before democracy. This question was asked because the people who run this pagent know that the spectacle with make their audience feel good by reinforcing their prejudices. Its a litmus of the present state of mind of the general populace.
That state of mind is troubling if you realize that a people who want their sweetheart to tell them how much she prefers safety to democracy are a people who would be willing to allow their leaders to take that democracy away from them if it was necessary to keep them safe.
That is the great danger of the present moment, front and center in one of our most characteristic national spectacles.
BoingBoing's community consists of people along the intellectual fringes of society, and those kinds of people know from history that they are vulnerable to nationalist purges. So to see this sort of thing happen - its scary. If American embraces the dark mistress it is flirting with we're all in a lot of trouble around here.
