Not “crying” again! Please not!

Is the press going to run another circus just because HRC reacted to her (male) mentor’s tears of joy like a human being rather than a robot?

CBS reporter Fernando Suarez, who seems to think that “stymies” is the sort of “multisyllabic gem” (containing, as it does, two whole syllables) that candidates use to “show off,” finds it necessary to report that Hillary Clinton “briefly teared up” on the campaign trail today, and of course to insert the obligatory New Hampshire reference.

Feh.

As Suarez tells the story, her (male) introducer, a mentor from her student days, choked up at the prospect of a student of his running for President, and she responded like a human being rather than a robot. Good for her!

Can we hope that the national press won’t make another circus out of this? Surely no reasonable interpretation of the First Amendment would prevent the execution-by-torment of Jackson Simpson, would it?

This also gives Barack Obama another chance to use the line I imagined for him the last time ’round:

Anyone who can think about what’s been done to this country over the past seven years and not feel like crying has no heart, or just doesn’t understand what’s going on. I’m glad Senator Clinton loves America enough to shed tears over it. I’m only sorry that so many other people seem to think they’re somehow above all that. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com