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I am missing Barney Frank already. It was not only his success as a legislator. It was not only that he was the smartest member of Congress and the funniest. It was his candor, especially his willingness to remind people that they got the government they chose. When people would bemoan the corruption of politicians he would famously quip, "You know, the public is no bargain either."
But, nothing tops his response to a woman who came to a town hall meeting during the debate over health care reform, carried a picture of the President defaced to look like Hitler, and called the reform effort a "Nazi policy." Congressman Frank's reply, caught on camera, is among the most memorable political events of my lifetime:
