A great one-liner from Barney Frank (Democratic primaries related)

[DFW]

He was asked why he thought Bernie Sanders should drop out early and make way for Hillary. Since this was such a shocking thing to come from one of the more progressive members of Congress for decades, and one who had worked with Bernie personally, everyone was on the edge of their seats for this one.

He said if he thought someone in their seventies that far left had a chance to win the Democratic nomination, he would have run himself.

This guy had almost as many one-liners as Stan Lee.

[MannyGoldstein]

1. My former congressman was only socially progressive.

Economically, he leaned towards DLC / third wayism.

[swilton]

6. Right you are

DLC/third wayers compensate for their neo-liberalism by trying to appease their base with their liberal (compared to the GOP) positions on human rights issues. His sister Ann Lewis was a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign and has been an advisor to Bill Clinton (Director of Communications, Counselor) prior to that. Don't know if she is currently working for the Clintons.

[catnhatnh]

2. Think for just a moment about your post

Sanders is working a schedule that could kill a workhorse and he's doing purely to advance a progressive agenda within the democratic party and help return the party to it's FDR roots. And sitting on his fat retired entitled ass Barney Franks dismisses this with a clever one liner. I used to respect him. Oh well.

[Juicy_Bellows]

3. Yes. What's his deal?

Hillary isnt exactly youthful and she isnt working as hard as Sanders. Stand up for your freind? Barney! Geesh, I really liked him too. I don't get this new attitude from him, perhaps I've been fooled but he sure seemed like one of the good ones.

[DFW]

4. Barney Frank is not in the best of health

He certainly put in his dues in his career, and his own contributions to the progressive agenda speak for themselves.

Anger-filled post #1746829 on GDP won't change that

[restorefreedom]

5. i hear he works for a big bank now

would explain the pro hillary bernie bashing.

[azurnoir]

7. He's on the board of directors for Signature Bank

[restorefreedom]

8. oh ok board

does explain the shilling for hrc and the bernie bashing imo

[Hoyt]

26. We need more folks like Frank on the boards of banks, corporations, etc.,

notwithstanding the criticism he and others get from so-called progressives.

[appalachiablue]

35. He's on the Board of a Bank-Signature, now. So he doesn't work for the people anymore.

[sabrina 1]

9. So, does he feel the same way about Hillary, who is of the same generation

as Sanders, or does he think Hillary is not as far left as Sanders and himself, and he believes the nonsense that the country is 'center right' as we have been told, contrary to all polls which show that Sanders is right where the country is on the issues?

Not getting his point. Two candidates who are in or very close to the 'seventies. Both are perceived to be 'far Left'.

So, someone should ask him if his 'one-liner' includes the other candidate.

[RobertEarl]

10. I get a feeling

This thread isn't quite working out as well as DFW hoped?

Barney would never have a tenth of the grassroots support that Bernie has already garnered.

Enjoy your retirement, Barney, shove off, sail away.

[sabrina 1]

11. I like DFW, and Barney Frank was great at taking on Republicans, but he is not

the Progressive people think he is. He is more DLC and was often very disappointing when it came to his votes.

You are correct, he would never be able to do what Bernie Sanders is doing because Sanders' message resonates with the majority of the people who WANT the things he is talking about and which most candidates are AFRAID to talk about.

Barney doesn't have Bernie's great progressive record. One the main reasons people trust him, because he's not just talking, never had to evolve on important issues and people see that and they are thrilled to find such a rare politician.

[RobertEarl]

13. 10,000th post

I had just posted a thread in the lounge asking who wants my 10,000th post.

I am duly honored to make it in reply to you Sabrina. You make DU better, and we can only wish others follow your example, eh?.

Having said that; Feel the Bern, Barney!

[SidDithers]

24. 33,843...nt

Sid

[NCTraveler]

18. Sums the difference up very nicely. Nt

[NCTraveler]

17. I thought it was pretty clear.

Last edited Fri Jul 31, 2015, 06:44 AM - Edit history (1)

He is making the assumption that Sanders is far left and that Hillary is mainstream left.

You perceive Clinton to be far left? The rest of the country doesn't outside of conservative circles. In order for you to not get that, you would have to believe that statement. It is simply not believable.

A wise duer recently had an excellent post that put exactly "what you don't get" into perspective. This will clear up your confusion.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251483199#post11

[sabrina 1]

20. Actually I don't think Hillary is 'left' at all. I consider her to be a

Conservative Dem, she is DLC.

And Bernie is not 'far' Left, he is simply Left.

I guess you didn't 'get' my post at all.

Probably my fault.

[NCTraveler]

22. Frank didn't associate Clinton with the far left. The op didn't.

I don't see anyone else doing it.

"Not getting his point. Two candidates who are in or very close to the 'seventies. Both are perceived to be 'far Left'."

Hillary simply isn't perceived to be far left by anyone but conservatives. That is not a shot at you and I am not saying you are making that statement as a conservative. You are anything but conservative, and consistently so. I'm saying I don't see where that thought entered the conversation with Frank or anyone else. Just the opposite.

[sabrina 1]

25. Like I said, you didn't 'get' my post. I asked a question. The question was

prompted by Frank's 'one-liner'.

I know what he said.

Sometimes when people make statements, as Frank did, they raise other questions.

His statement noted Bernie's age and exaggerated where he stands politically, which is mainstream, not far left.

He compared Sanders to himself, re age and political identification. Implying that it was ridiculous to think Sanders could win, because if there was a chance that such an 'old' and 'far left' candidate could win, he would run himself.

He's good at doing this, one of the things I loved about him when he took on Repubs in Congress.

But his words reminded me that Hillary then is also 'old' and is presented to liberals as 'far left' on many issues.

So my conclusion would be, if neither Bernie nor Frank, in his opinion, stand a chance due to AGE and being LEFT, then what about Hillary?

That's all, he made me think of the OTHER candidate and I wondered if those are his standards for NOT winning, did it occur to him that they definitely apply to Hillary also.

It also made me think, 'why join in the negative campaigning, why not simply say that he prefers Hillary and explain why?

He should reserve his excellent verbal skills for Republicans, imo.

[NCTraveler]

41. I think I see why I didn't get it.

Many of your comments are very naive with respect to politics. Something I don't expect to read from you. Many things you are saying are simply head scratchers and don't show a very solid grasp of the current political climate.

[davidpdx]

43. I got her comment just fine

It very well could be a reading comprehension problem or an attitude problem.

If a man had criticized Hillary Clinton's age, you better believe there would be some major screaming and accusations of misogyny. The difference in age between the two of them is 7 years. I guess ageism is A-OK with Clinton supporters and surrogates as along as they aren't talking about Hillary herself.

And for the record I don't always agree with Sabrina.

[delrem]

12. Well, y'know, there's a word for Barney Frank's "analysis".

But I'm too polite to mention it.

Suffice to say, Barney Frank is obviously not like Bernie Sanders. He's obviously very much like Hillary Clinton.
That's his choice - and his right to have that choice.
He's showing us that, like Claire McCaskill, he's a Hillary Clinton surrogate.

But he made no argument about policy.
That's characteristic of Hillary Clinton's surrogates, and it's unfortunate for the electorate.

[murielm99]

15. It's interesting how Bernie has supporters,

but anyone who supports Hillary is a surrogate.

You should post your name-calling in your own little room.

[sabrina 1]

21. Hillary has inside DC surrogates. I hope Bernie gets a few, but

so far all the DC insiders are Hillary supporters and some have acted as surrogates for her, by attacking Bernie.

He doesn't do that, doesn't run negative campaigns.

He speaks about ISSUES even when he is asked about his opponents, he refuses, unlike Frank here or Gutierrez or McCaskill, and makes it clear he will not bash other candidates, but he WILL address the issues.

There's nothing wrong with surrogates representing candidates.

But it WOULD be nice if they represented them on ISSUES.

No one cares if Gutierrez can't remember a colleague and 'wonders' if it is 'the Socialist' whose name he forgot. How did that help any ordinary person learn where Hillary stands on any issue?

So yes, I do hope Bernie acquires some surrogates and I hope when he does, they represent him properly and address the issues he cares about.

[murielm99]

28. He doesn't need what you call surrogates

on the Internet. He has people here, and in twitter and other places who attack Hillary and spread lies and half-truths. Most of us know that not all of them are Democrats.

But go ahead and call her powerful friends and allies surrogates if it makes you feel better. It will not help Sanders win the primary or the general.

[sabrina 1]

29. Give me an example of something comparable to what Hillary's surrogates have said

about Bernie, coming from any of Bernie's representatives?

Eg, Bernie himself DEFENDED Hillary when a media 'journalist' tried to get him to bash her for her insensitive remark 'all lives matter'. He actually got angry and told the moron that he had no intention of criticizing her for that, that he was there to talk about issues.

So who, representing Bernie who is a 'powerful friend and ally' has attacked Hillary publicly as her friends have done to him?

Not some anonymous posters on the internet, Hillary's supporters constantly bash Bernie also, neither she nor he are responsible for that.

But some of his powerful friends and allies, post something any of them have said that is comparable to what Hillary's powerful friends and allies have said about Bernie.

To even compare an anonymous poster to Claire McCaskill, Gutierrez et al, is rediculous. SHE has control over these powerful friends, she has no control over online posters. Same thing with Bernie.

[murielm99]

38. Your use of the word "surrogates"

for Hillary's supporters, powerful or otherwise, makes your post worthless. The way you use the term "surrogate" is insulting, demeaning and unacceptable.

The right wing has done enough of that already. They refer to us as "The Democrat Party" and that has come into common usage as an acceptable term. They have turned the term "liberal" into a dirty word. They tried to get the term "Obamacare" used as an epithet. That one did not work for them.

Your use of language is despicable. You do not deserve any other answer. I will not respect anyone who speaks the way you do. You are doing the work of the right wing.

Also, a criticism of Bernie is not an attack. Learn the difference, or develop a thicker skin. And Hillary does NOT have control over what her friends and allies say. No one has that type of control, not in this country.

P.S. We have spell check here. Rediculous? Seriously?

[sabrina 1]

39. Why? What objection do you have to a politician having surrogates, people who speak for them

as most of them do? And if they were NOT authorized to speak in that way as part of her campaign, then has she admonished them for doing so?

A criticism of Hillary is not an attack. Learn the difference. Several people who are part of her campaign, who are on the media to help get her elected, those are surrogates, have attacked Bernie Sanders. Four of them at this point.

I asked a simple question. Has anyone working to get Bernie elected, speaking on his behalf to the media, any surragate, bashed Hillary? You did not respond to that question so I will, no they have not because Bernie WOULD admonish them. He has ADMONISHED the media who are not even supporting him for attempting to get HIM to bash Hillary.

This is ridiculous, politicians have SURROGATES, it isn't a four letter word. And if all four of these people are NOT surrogates for Hillary she should make that known and state they were not authorized to speak for her campaign regarding Sen Sanders.

[murielm99]

40. More BS.

Barney Frank wrote a well-reasoned article about why progressives should not support Bernie. It was regarded by many of his DU supporters as an attack. It was not. It was a criticism.

The New York Times wrote an article stating that there were going to be two criminal investigations of Hillary Clinton's emails. It was a lie, and an attack. Their retraction was slow, mealy-mouthed and half-hearted.

That is the difference between an attack and a criticism.

I find your twisting of the language unacceptable. I will not stop objecting to your use of the word "surrogates."

[frylock]

32. Because Joe or Jane Blow posting on the internet is just like Claire McCaskill going on cable TV..

and flapping her gums about SOSHULISM!!!12 and entitlement.

[Rectangle]

19. He's a Wall St. Bankster now, He always was Republican-Lite/DLC insider type

so it is no real surprise he is supporting HRC.

[KoKo]

34. Policy is the most important issue in this next election in seleting a candidate....

And, we need to be vigilant.

[appalachiablue]

36. Correct, another selected surrogate just like Gutierrez, McCaskill et al.

Barney is on the board of a bank now, not working for the peeps. I don't know why I haven't seen anything on Corey 'Private Equity' Booker's endorsement of HRC July 29 here. In her email requests for a small donation (you get a free plastic 'rewards type' card too) some recent appeals are sent by Booker. Small donations from many will help smooth out HRC's huge amounts from giant donors, it's been suggested.

[SunSeeker]

14. K & R

[NCTraveler]

16. Frank is a gem.

He does get it wrong on occasion, but we have all supported and enjoyed his sharp tongue and wit over the years.

[Aerows]

31. "Argue with a dining room table"

was one of his moments of being awesome

[Snotcicles]

23. He only left out one thing in that one liner

He said if he thought someone in their seventies that far left, had NO BACKBONE AND a chance to win the Democratic nomination, he would have run himself.

[Gothmog]

27. Barney Frank has a good sense of humor

[KoKo]

33. Very Funny from Barney who always had a good wit...but, disgusting all the same!

What we know of Barney Frank these days....puts the LIE to his sense of humor that always was refreshing until ...We found out what he was ABOUT!

We grow older and heroes seem to become villains these days.

Its difficult to deal with, though. I used to think of Barney Frank as a Great Guy...Working on Bank Bailouts and would support "The People."

Since that time ....he seems to have revealed his "True Views...and Calling."

But, thanks for the post. Its hard to deal with fallen heroes..but, I assume Barney is doing well these days and he can become "Philosophic" in whatever endeavors he is involved with these days. "Revolving Door" comes to mind.

Barney isn't going to go off into the SUNSET when POWER is what drives him.

[Tommy2Tone]

37. Love Barney!

[fadedrose]

42. I miss Barney Frank

for his one-liners, humor and wisdom. Hope he gets in again.

[davidpdx]

44. Ageism is about as funny as racism and being sexist

Barney Frank if an oaf.