When Barney Frank retired from Congress after spending 32 years in what may be the world's largest hot air chamber, he enjoyed a reputation as perhaps the nation's rudest and most articulate political communicator.
Retirement appears to agree with Frank, who is as smart as ever and has enough rough edges left to generate a steady stream of lightning bots.
As he wrapped up a discussion in Cambridge about his new memoir, Frank entertained a former intern's question about social media before turning it into one final teaching moment about getting things done.
Frank's new memoir, Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage, takes readers through the travails of of a U.S. Representative who championed voting rights, women's reproductive rights, consumer protections and fair housing. As his stature in government grew, Frank saw the need to come out and reveal his personal life choice as he joined the ground swell of support for LGBT rights.
Known in the House of Representatives for his sharp wit and withering manner, Frank embraced a progressive political point of view and believed in a healthy argument. What he can't abide, he said, is political maneuvering that brings government to a grinding halt. Addressing the co-sponsors of the discussion in Parish Church in Cambridge, recorded by WGBH's Forum Network , Frank encouraged them to support their chosen party.
"I'm glad you're here, Young Democrats. Let me say, with all the advances we've made with LGBT issues, I am still a member of a group that is not given sufficient respect and appreciation. I am a partisan Democrat. Partisanship is essential to a democracy. The excessive hyper-partisanship of the Tea Party is essentially lapped over and discredited. You do not have rational politics without political parties that are well-run. The founding fathers hated political parties while they were forming them. So, I respect young people who are responsible members of political parties," he said.
