Rep. John Boehner, Republican from Ohio, teared up during his victory speech tonight. Suddenly his otherwise charmless buzzkill speech, in which he chastised his followers not to celebrate but instead to “roll up their sleeves” several times, was declared moving and humane by the table of CNN pundits. Boehner was either crying because he is about to be speaker of the House or because he was talking about his 11 siblings, or both. And of course he has every right to cry: That’s a lot of siblings!
But still, not fair. Bill Clinton could always cry to great effect. Obama has teared up when talking about his grandmother. Both Bushes have teared up on occasion. But imagine if Nancy Pelosi started crying right now on television because she is no longer the House speaker. Sharron Angle would swoop down immediately, yank her hair and yell, “MAN UP!”
