A 1969 clip of Fred Rogers sitting before the US Senate Subcommittee and imploring members to reconsider Nixon’s proposed funding cuts to the children’s educational channel has resurfaced with new relevance in the wake of Mitt Romney’s similar threat. Beware, for if you are a crier like yours truly, this intersection of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood is the cross-street of Tearful Street and Sobbing Your Goddamn Eyes Out Boulevard.
He tells the Senate committee, “I give an expression of care to each child, to help him realize he is unique. I end the program by saying ‘You’ve made this day a special day, just by being you. There’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.’ And I feel that if we in public television can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we will have done a great service for mental health.”
