The more I lean about this man, the more amazed I am by him. He is like a saint of American values.

This is from Mister Rogers’ Wiki entry :

During the 1997 Daytime Emmys, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Rogers. The following is an excerpt from Esquire’s coverage of the gala, written by Tom Junod:

Mister Rogers went onstage to accept the award — and there, in front of all the soap opera stars and talk show sinceratrons, in front of all the jutting man-tanned jaws and jutting saltwater bosoms, he made his small bow and said into the microphone, “All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are. Ten seconds of silence.”

And then he lifted his wrist, looked at the audience, looked at his watch, and said, “I’ll watch the time.” There was, at first, a small whoop from the crowd, a giddy, strangled hiccup of laughter, as people realized that he wasn’t kidding, that Mister Rogers was not some convenient eunuch, but rather a man, an authority figure who actually expected them to do what he asked. And so they did. One second, two seconds, seven seconds — and now the jaws clenched, and the bosoms heaved, and the mascara ran, and the tears fell upon the beglittered gathering like rain leaking down a crystal chandelier. And Mister Rogers finally looked up from his watch and said softly “May God be with you,” to all his vanquished children.[14]

Unbelievable. With his quiet dignity, epic sincerity, and gentle authority, he got a whole room full of jaded Hollywood types to sit still, be quiet, and miracle diablu, experience real emotion.

His awesomeness is so epic, he even made the snarky bitchy Esquire writer seem like a total douche for writing about it the wrong way.

Still not convinced Mister Rogers is a modern holy man? Watch this clip of him testifying before the Senate during one of the many times the right wing tried to kill PBS by cutting its funding.

It’s that clip that made me a permanent fan of the man. I was never fond of his show as a kid. As I have said before, he reminded me too much of those adults who talked to me like I was an idiot and were all weird and creepy and slow about everything. Nobody in my family acted like that towards me. I didn’t like it.

But now, after seeing that clip…. I feel bad about any snarky thing I ever said about the guy. I would be quite happy to have any kid I was caring for watch his show, although I probably could not hack to watch it with them. For good or ill, I still cannot hack that kind of treacle sweetness.

But that does not keep me from admiring the hell out of the man, and wishing I was more like him.