WaPo Continues Barney Frank Puffery with 'Barney's Greatest Hits'

November 30th, 2011 12:22 PM

Yesterday we noted how the Washington Post devoted both an A-section front-pager and a Style section front-pager to celebrating the career of Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who announced his retirement from the House on Monday.

Today the Post's "In the Loop" columnist Al Kamen continued the paper's celebration with a look at  "Frank's Greatest Hits", a collection of the Massachusetts Democrat's notable jokes and put-downs.


Kamen noted that while Frank once called to grouse that he hated his column, "we’ll miss his quips and pithy, sometimes withering comments." The Post staffer rattled off thirteen quotes, beginning with  a now-infamous 2009 quip in which Frank dismissed a critical town hall participant by saying that addressing her concerns was "like trying to have an argument with a dining room table."

Kamen also dredged up a Reagan era-quip in which the liberal Democrat said, "I don't begrudge Ronald Reagan an occasional nap" because "it's not the dozing off of Ronald Reagan that causes us problems. It's what he does on those moments when he's awake."