You'd think that when one candidate stands onstage gesticulating like a startled chicken—guess who—the simple act of smiling would not discredit the other candidate's performance. But damn did pundits seem to think it would. Even after the debate, CNN, in all its fill-the-airwaves-or-else wisdom, brought on an "expert" to critique the candidates' body language—a fact checker to fact check Hillary Clinton's smile, essentially, as Sam Bee put it last night. (For the record, this particular fact-checker was not pleased with Clinton's smile. Not pleased at all.)
So yes, it's disheartening. But it isn't surprising.
Like Bee said, pundits and experts and hosts have been telling Clinton what she has to do for years—for almost as many years as she's been doing this whole "politics" bit. After all this time, Clinton's more of an expert than anyone else on smiling, on speaking, and, oh yes, on policy and diplomacy and public service. But who's talking about those things?
