17 April 2012

Barney Frank, part II

The previous posting led me to this article/interview by Barney, and it's an excellent read. I have the sense that I should have paid more attention to him while he was in office (he's retiring at the end of this Congressional term).

Later: be sure to read excellent comment below (in "comments") by a local.


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1 comment:

Laura of Mass said...

He has been an incredibly effective representative of the Commonwealth, with a common-sense approach to financial and budget issues. It's very easy to underestimate him - he's unassuming in his presence, has kind of lisp and doesn't grandstand or power-play (despite being quite powerful.) I am pretty sure he was the first openly gay elected official at the national level and never used his influence in any inappropriate way to further any sort of personal agenda. When he announced his retirement, and the resulting feeding frenzy for his seat ensued, it was hard to feel good about the future of the House of Representatives. Not that I was feeling good about it in the first place, but Barney Frank has been one of those few Representatives that behaved with integrity and honor throughout his terms, was not tainted by scandal, even though the Right would have loved to tar him with an evil gay brush. That stuff just never stuck to him - he really is above it.

Whatever the impression held by the rest of the country, Massachusetts has its share of right wing extremists, gay bashers, and racists, not to mention a well-funded core of elite blue-blooded Republicans whose mission in life is to protect their own privileged existence at any cost - but somehow Barney Frank managed to reach his constituency and find common ground where others could not. He is a huge loss to the Congress and to the citizens of Massachusetts. I wish him well, but I wish more that he would stick around.