Well, well, biting the hand that feeds ya....

MEXICO CITY — Many south of the border reveled in her disastrous evening: First Miss USA Rachel Smith slipped and fell on her bottom during the Miss Universe evening-gown competition. Then she was booed by hundreds in the Mexican audience.

The treatment of the Tennessee beauty queen was nothing personal. It had more to do with Mexico's sometimes tense relationship with its powerful northern neighbor.

U.S. athletes have sparked a similar response. Mexican crowds booed the U.S. national anthem and some chanted "Osama! Osama!" during soccer games against the United States in 2004 and 2005.

Smith was booed repeatedly during her stay in Mexico, including when she carried a guitar and wore an Elvis-style suit during a parade of national costumes in downtown Mexico City.

She kept her poise during an interview Monday night with pageant judges, despite the boos and chants of "Mexico! Mexico!" that drowned out her answer.

"I am very passionate about education, and being in South Africa sparked my interest in that," said Smith, a journalism graduate who volunteered for a month at talk-show-host Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.

I heard about this on the news... She lives about two hours away from where I do, so a lot of people have been talking about. Not to mention is was on the news AGAIN tonight, because the mayor and someone else charged the city something like 4 thousand dollars in travel expenses because they said they needed to show her support... Did they really need to use the taxpayer's money?

I just hope there are repercussions. The girl was an intern at Oprahs show, bet she's burning up.