Is Crying the New 30 Second Spot?

Hilary cried. And won. What does this mean and why is this so significant?

For years, American politics has existed in a fantasy world where our leaders were required to maintain the illusion of perfection. FDR had polio and no one ever knew. He was never shown in his wheelchair. Better to create the illusion of health than admit that our leader was anything other than perfect. In the early 60s, JFK was blatantly cheating on his wife. Reporters all looked the other way. Anything was better than tarnishing the fantasy of "Camelot." The rest of the world laughed at us and said grow up America. It took us a few decades, but its finally happening.

Hilary cried. And then in her victory speech she said that she "listened" to the people of New Hampshire and actually learned something. News flash: she didn't know it all. She is human. On the other side, Mc Cain finally stopped listening to his slick advisors and started being himself. He won, too, in New Hampshire.

The point of all this is that today, you don't have to create a fantasy or the illusion of perfection. You just have to be human. You can make mistakes and even become more popular afterwards, if you just admit you made them. If Bill had admitted wrongdoing and apologized immediately after the Monica incident, we would have forgiven him. He lost some trust by expending all that energy trying to maintain the façade of perfection. If Martha had just said 'I made a mistake,' she wouldn't have gone to jail. We will forgive imperfections and even embrace them -- what we won't forgive is dishonesty. Or inhumanity. Mitt, stop running those attack ads, they only serve to make you look mean-spirited. Anything that undermines your humanity and personal authenticity will cost you votes. And that is a very good thing. It means that we have gotten smarter. WE know that everyone is imperfect, everyone is flawed, but at least SOME of us are truthful and secure enough to be who we are warts and all, and in today's cynical times, that is at least someone I can trust. I was wrong, there are no weapons of mass destruction. The stakes are too high to lie. Give America more credit. WE CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH.

Credit younger people. They are more worldly then ever before. The internet is, of course, global, and connects us to the world literally in real time. That is great, because historically most of America hasn't wanted to be connected. Only 8 percent of us have passports. We don't live an hour from a dozen other countries like the people of Europe, and we haven't been invaded and had our borders change like most of those same people. We are disconnected geographically and culturally from the world and that makes us naïve. Even our major global brand exports are almost child-like in nature: Disney, McDonalds and Coke. But we are evolving. We have embraced latte, wine lists, and sushi. Candidates are realizing that our political palate has also evolved. We know a Cabernet from a Bordeaux, and B.S. political propaganda from honest sentiments. Crying is fine, as long as they are real tears, and now finally, we would know the difference!

King Arthur's Camelot is dead. Long live Queen Oprah.