We have a tendency when we're faced with great tension to...

We have a tendency when we're faced with great tension to get some relief by writing about it in a way that's less than serious. The effect was that people were plainly suffering and maybe to release some nervous energy he exchanged some emails about how he looked on TV and how his clothes were. It made him look like he was insincere, like he couldn't deal with serious issues, and that all he was interested in was how he looked. It also made him look like he was wasting time when there was no time to waste.