John Boehner is taking it on the chin for his propensity to tear up and weep. Gail Collins has this in the NYTimes: "Weve had to adjust to so many strange developments lately. Im sure well get used to having a speaker of the House who weeps a lot. That would be John Boehner, the new guy.He is known to cry, the outgoing speaker, Nancy Pelosi, told Deborah Solomon in The Times Magazine. He cries sometimes when were having a debate on bills."Pelosi, of course, does not cry in public. We will stop here briefly to contemplate what would happen if she, or any female lawmaker, broke into loud, nose-running sobs while discussing Iraq troop funding or giving a TV interview." Here "The Crying Game."And Collins is correct, girls in Congress can't cry. But I want to remind those over about 45 that we know better. Marlo Thomas song from 1972, "It's all right to cry," opined that it was all right for boys to cry TOO, meaning they could join girls in crying. And just a little nostalgia: here is the line-up from the album, "Free to Be...You and Me." Right after the fold:

Free to Be...You and Me
Boy Meets Girl
When We Grow Up
Don't Dress Your Cat in an Apron
Parents Are People
Housework
Helping
Ladies First
Dudley Pippin and the Principal
It's All Right to Cry
Sisters and Brothers
My Dog Is a Plumber
William's Doll
Atalanta
Grandma
Girl Land
Dudley Pippin and His No-Friend
Glad to Have a Friend Like You
Free to Be...You and Me (Reprise)

Margaret O’Brien Steinfels is a former editor of Commonweal. 

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