Even the Boston Globe is getting sick of Barney Frank
When I read this column by Brian McGrory criticizing Barney Frank in the Boston Globe, I had to keep checking the venue to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. Since I’m not a regular Globe reader anymore (although I put in my 30+ years), I thought perhaps McGrory might be its token conservative, although I know that spot is usually taken by Jeff Jacoby.
But no, it appears that McGrory’s a liberal, which makes it all the more amazing that he’s finally giving Barney a taste of the press he deserves. McGrory writes:
Just about every Democrat in Massachusetts has a Barney Frank story, and very few of them would earn him the Citizen of the Year award.
Frank belittles members of Congress. He berates Capitol Hill staffers. It’s not that he doesn’t suffer fools; he doesn’t really suffer anyone.
Now that he’s in his first competitive reelection campaign in 28 years, fending off justifiable questions over his role in the collapse of the housing market and a candidate good at asking them, Frank has toned down his act. But as Barney 2.0 learns to say “Please’’ and “Thank you,’’ his longtime partner apparently hasn’t read the updated script…
Hardly a puff piece.
Seems there’s a lot of stored-up anger and even outrage at Barney’s entitled behavior over the years. Perhaps the press and voters in his district are tired of being his enablers. The calm affability and obvious intelligence of his far more pleasant opponent Sean Bielat may have gotten more than a few of them thinking that it might be a nice change to have a Congressional representative who wasn’t an obnoxious, corrupt, loudmouthed lout.
Hope against hope, but when the dust clears, I would be very surprised to find Barney Frank defeated. My prediction: 53-54 %. He got 64% of the vote in 2008- and that also includes 5% blank votes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts%27s_4th_congressional_district
The best headline I have seen this week regarding this race is “Barney Frank’s Seat in Danger.” Is there a shortage of K-Y in the Commonwealth? The snarky remarks practically write themselves, don’t they?
Don Janousek said:
“Is there a shortage of K-Y in the Commonwealth?”
Could you please explain the reason for such a comment?
Anyone who has had a random encounter with Barney in a one on one social situation knows that his public persona is Mr. Nice Guy. In private, he is even more of a self-important, narcissistic, loudmouthed jerk whose main response to any questions about his political position du jour is met with the equivalent of ‘ your a conservative’ i.e. not as liberal as he is.
I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to vote against him for years as have many others. Running unopposed has simply fed his delusional grandiose self-perception.
Could you please explain the reason for such a comment?
Barney is an out and proud gay man. If his “seat” is in “danger”, he may want to obtain some lube.
Speedy:
I’ll take great pleasure this year in voting for Mr. Bielat.
But I’ve voted against him before. In 2008, right after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collapsed — due, in no small part, to Frank’s support of them, even when the dangers of subprime loans were becoming obvious — Frank ran for reelection on a platform of financial responsibility! Listening to his radio ads, I gagged, I really did.
So I wrote in my wife’s name. At that point, I’d have been willing to vote for Barney the Purple Dinosaur.
Normally, I skip unopposed races; an incumbent with no opposition doesn’t need my support. In this case, I wanted it clear that my vote was NOT going to BF.
And by the way, I couldn’t care less that he’s gay — except for some of his more questionable practices that pertain directly to that.
I do care that he’s an unprincipled, lying, miserable excuse for a human being. I do not want him claiming to represent me.
respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline
Apparently, my trying to be subtle didn’t work with my previous comment. So . .
I R A Darth Aggie;
I didn’t ask that the comment be EXPLAINED to me; I asked WHY such a comment!
Attack Barney Frank for his actions, his policies, his unethical behaviour, etc. But do NOT attack him with gay slurs – that only makes the attacker look like an anti-gay bigot!
The same is true for Obama – attack his actions, etc; but don’t attack him for his race.
The same is true for Pelosi – attack her for her actions, etc; but don’t attack her for her gender.
Stick to the issues, please, as there is no need for nasty slurs