Meltdown

So, the day before yesterday, Hillary cried. Well, she didn't really cry, she teared up. Actually, she didn't really tear up, she "welled up." Y'know, her voice sorta cracked. A little. Oh hell, just watch for yourself.



Much has been made of this tiny moment. Last night, when I was watching the New Hampshire returns on MSNBC, Tom Brokaw referred to it as a "meltdown." A meltdown, Tom? Really? I mean, seriously. A meltdown?

This week, Maureen Dowd -- a woman I typically admire very much and agree with so profusely that all the nodding gives me a sore neck -- titled her column, "Can Hillary Cry Her Way Back to the White House?" Are you kiddin' me, Maureen?

Only Jon Stewart had a sane response to the whole thing, which was (and I quote):

"That's it? That's the emotional breakdown that blows the election for her? I'm glad no one here ever sees me get a flu shot."

Yeah, Jon ... that was it. Sad, isn't it?

Rachel Maddow (who we love love love) was also on MSNBC last night (and as far as we can tell was the only voice of sanity present), and mentioned that a few months back, when Mitt Romney finally agreed to talk about Mormonism and racism, he cried repeatedly and on three separate occasions within a five-day span, and didn't get one-third of one percent of the press coverage that Hillary's moment received -- and it was a moment, not a meltdown.

Of course, Pat Buchanan's response defended the media scrutiny, saying that it's one thing to cry about your faith, and quite another to cry about the fact that you came in third in Iowa -- a characterization which is totally, emphatically, uncategorically, completely, and all-encompassingly not true.

The sexism that underlies all of this is not surprising, but it's shameful nonetheless.

I mean, c'mon -- given the grueling schedule that these candidates keep, the constant scrutiny they're under, the pressure to say exactly the right thing every time they open their mouths to speak, is it any wonder that the occasional chink in the armor appears? Her voice shook for a second or two because she's exhausted -- and immediately, the cameras start flashing, did you notice? Seriously, go back and watch it again. And yes, she immediately knows what just happened, and so she moves seamlessly from her own exhaustion to her love of country and before you know it, she's subtlely slamming her competition ("Some of us are right, and some of us are wrong; some of us are ready, and some of us are not"). So, okay ... she's shrewd and she's savvy; I've said it before and will likely say it again. And her critics know it just as much as her fans do -- which is why many of them are wondering if she planned the whole thing.

Yeah, because that's how a woman gains credibility on the campaign trail; she cries in a coffee klatch the night before a primary.

And yet, the same pundits who wanted to turn "Hillary's Meltdown" into 2008's version of "Howard's Scream" are now telling us that the moment was "humanizing" and probably worked in her favor, especially among women voters (the implication being that all you have to do is cry and women will feel so sorry for you that they'll want you to be President so that you'll feel better).

No, you assclowns -- if anything worked in her favor, it was your colossal exaggeration of a simple human moment into a catastrophic breakdown of epic proportions, combined with your tireless rants about the utter and complete demise of a candidate who had the audacity to come in third in Iowa after you, the corporate media drones, had proclaimed her "inevitable."

If I didn't already support her, I'd vote for her now, just to spite you. So there.

UPDATE: Have you seen this??!! Un-f#%k-ing believable. (h/t: MaineGay)