Ever-garrulous curmudgeon Barney Frank was memorably expressive during an appearance on MSNBC last night.
The high-ranking House Democrat was talking with Rachel Maddow about Standard & Poor's downgrade of US credit, with Frank criticizing rating agencies for claiming mortgage-backed securities were "wonderful stuff" prior to the financial collapse in 2008 when the investments were "crap." (video clip after page break)
Then Frank really cut loose --
But with regard to the US budget, they have no special expertise, everybody knows everything. So I am disappointed but not surprised, but the key, Rachel, I think is we have to figure out, all right, what do we do from here and you're right, we got to get some jobs (reverberating sound heard as Frank shifts in seat) and we have to deal with the debt and there's one way to do it ...
In fairness to Frank, it may have been his chair that made the sound in question. One would think, however, that a person of such stellar intelligence would have grasped the potential for trouble before he went on the air -- for example, when he first sat down on the flatulence-mimicking furniture -- and kept his movements to a minimum.
Then again, Frank shifting just as the suspicious rumble wafted over the airwaves could have been his attempt to keep from damaging that expensive suit. Lean forward, indeed.
(h/t, former NewsBuster Jeff Poor at The Daily Caller)
