Barney Frank Has a Way With Words

Barney Frank photo by the World Economic Forum/Flickr

1986: “I’m afraid this bill is the legislative equivalent of crack. It yields a short-term high but does long-term damage to our system, and it’s expensive to boot.”

On voting against a $6 billion anti-drug bill

1996: “I’m used to being in the minority. Hey, I’m a left-handed gay Jew. I’ve never felt, automatically, a member of any majority.”

In a New York Times interview

2004: “Moderate Republicans are reverse Houdinis. They tie themselves up in knots and then tell you they can’t do anything because they’re tied up in knots.”

Commenting on Roe v. Wade in the Washington Post

2009: “Ma’am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to have an argument with a dining room table—I have no interest in doing it.”

Handling a heckler in a town-hall meeting

2012: “I’m…inclined to think they’re called the Log Cabin Club because their role model is Uncle Tom.”

Speaking about LGBT Republicans