I ran onto this report of Hillary Clinton tearing up during a campaign presentation at a coffee shop in Concord, N.H. The story makes reference to former Sen. Ed Muskie’s tears of anger over what he perceived as an unnecessary verbal attack on his wife.
In Muskie’s case, the tears are credited with leading to his failure to gain the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. That coined a phrase used in this article: “a Muskie moment.”
Do we really want political leaders who show no tears, no outward signs of stress, fatigue, or emotion? What is there about American concepts of “strength” or “leadership” or whatever that make tears seem improper in a president? Are we no longer human?
Or are we so nationally insecure about our place in the world that we cannot bear to see strong emotion — tears in Muskie’s case, loud shouting in Howard Dean’s case in the last presidential race — for fear that the world will think America is weak or somehow less than perfect??
I say if Hillary Clinton can form tears in public while she’s speaking about her passion to serve and to lead this country, then good for her.
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.
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