Tear Jerker / A Giant Sucking Sound

• George H.W. Bush's assassination. Perot puts aside his political opinions to mourn his predecessor. And Dubya's account of it all:
  George W. Bush: After my father’s death, I felt horribly depressed, I felt into depression. Even the presence of Laura, of my twin daughters couldn’t relieve me of my pain. It’s only thanks to my faith in God that I didn’t fell back in liquor. The world had ceased to exist, just because of an evil dictator who was celebrating in his stone palace in the middle of the desert.
  Before my father went to his fateful trip to Kuwait City, I had spoken to him of my plans to run for the Republican nomination in Texas, the following year, in order to challenge Governor Ann Richards : he was somewhat worried about my chances, but I told him I had met an excellent consultant, called Karl Rove, that would help me in the campaign.
  After his demise, I relinquished all my gubernatorial aspirations into my depression, and Mr. Rove continued his excellent career. But it was different with Jeb : the terrible end of our father gave him a second wind, a new strength, a desire to overcome his pain through victory, he told our mother that the only way he could avenge our father was to defeat Lawton Chiles in 1994 and to enter national politics. From this day, I knew that another Bush was born, and that his fit of energy would drive Jeb to the White House. I was almost right.
• Nagoya's destruction by a nuclear bomb. Especially Perot's reaction. After seeing the devastation, all Perot can say after five minutes of silence :
  Ross Perot: Please, Jeane. Tell me it's not my fault.
• Paul Wellstone's murder. And Stephen Colbert's tearful account.
  Colbert: The Secret Service agent they had graciously dispatched to my room informed me that Senator Wellstone was in intensive care in another hospital, that he had received extensive bullet wounds. I couldn’t believe it. These bastards didn’t wanted to target the hope that he embodied, just the Jewry he characterized in their opinion. And… (he sheds a tear) The agent awoke me in the middle of the night to tell me the news.
  • Not to mention a political cartoon in Newsweek from shortly after: Ann Richards, Al Gore, and Evan Bayh fighting each other in the ruins of the Democratic National Convention, as Wellstone's ghost sadly looks on. The caption? "WE USED TO BE FRIENDS."
• The attack on the Capitol Building that kills Dennis Hastert and cripples Newt Gingrich. Reading that one America's political leaders was crippled and his addressing the murder of his colleague is pretty sobering.
• Harvey Weinstein and Steven Spielberg's murder which horrifies America's entertainment industry.
• The Columbine massacre, which proves to be more destructive, and Ann Richards address:
  Ann Richards: What happened today in the Columbine High School in Colorado is a true disaster, and I, as a mother, as a human being and as President of the United States, send my deepest regards to the families of whose who were killed in the shooting. Yet, we have the duty to look into ourselves and ask what is the cause of this deep trouble into the American soul. Two teenagers shooting with firearms and shotguns randomly at their schoolmates, then burning the school to the ground with homemade propane bombs, it is not a lonely act, it’s an act of terror. A domestic terror, well implanted into our spirits. One would blame far right influence, violence at TV, gun control, gun freedom, violent video games, hardcore music, lack of school security, the economic crisis, lack of opportunities… They would be all right and at the same time, all wrong. What led these youngsters in Colorado to such ends is not a consequence of the wave of violence shown by Stormfront and other far right groups in these last years, and it’s not a new beginning for these : there are clearly the sign of a deep trouble in American society. And we should begin to interrogate ourselves. Don’t ask yourself what you should have said to these young men:tell yourselves that someone should have listened to all the hatred, all the frustration they contained.
• Paul Tsongas' death. Even after having revived his political career, as the first Freedom Party chairman, he still can't stop his cancer. Perot, who considered Tsongas worthy of the White House, is also pretty upset.
• After the Real Life Perot's death in 2019, Masked Pickle made a series of posts honoring the fictional Perot.