RUTHFULLY YOURS

Photo by Holbert

After 30 years, Barney Frank finally lost my vote.

On election night, he lost my respect as well.

Frank’s road rage acceptance speech was an out-of-body experience.

There was the congressional king of anger, vituperation and vitriol lashing out at the Herald and Fox 25 for, in his words, “anger, vituperation . . . and vitriol.”

What, does he not own a mirror? Is he incapable of introspection? Has he never seen YouTube’s collection of his best TV hissy fits?

Barney seemed to have forgotten: He won. Big. And he was lucky he did.

The contrast between a nasty, bitter Frank and his grateful, graceful opponent, Sean Bielat, could not have been more stark.

Equally glaring is the double standard Frank enjoys. No female politician could last five minutes as such a condescending, abusive bully. Neither could a conservative. So he gets a special pass because why? Because he’s gay? Because he’s allegedly “whip-smart,” as supporters still say?

Alas, Mr. Whip Smart wasn’t smart enough to see the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae disaster that resulted in the cruelest foreclosure crisis since the Great Depression. And he’s not enough of a stand-up guy to fully admit his role.

Now Frank is acting as if the Herald’s tough news stories about him are somehow out of bounds. Really?

This summer, the paper reported a controversial taxpayer bailout Frank arranged for a Boston bank at the center of an ethics scandal involving disgraced California congresswoman Maxine Waters, disgraced ex-state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson and a disgraced banker arrested on rape and cocaine charges.

Then there was Frank’s trip to the Virgin Islands aboard a private jet owned by a bailout billionaire. And the $40,000 his campaign took from bailout banks after he promised not to. And finally, there was the Herald video capture of Frank’s partner taunting Sean Bielat after a debate.

Those aren’t worthy stories?

And to think of it: 20 years ago, when Barney Frank still had more wit than rage, I was among the few to defend him after he hired a male prostitute, gave him a job, then insisted he didn’t realize the guy was running a prostitution ring from his basement. It was a tougher time for gays. Frank had just come out of the closet. It made sense that this frumpy, disheveled guy was duped by a hustler.

I voted for him repeatedly, too. I bought the smartest-kid-on-the-block routine. I heard great things about his constituent services. Plus, I loved his mother, Elsie, a real hot ticket.

But this year he lost my vote. When I look at Frank now, I see an extremely troubled man unable to concede, or maybe even see, his role in the meltdown of America. I just can’t trust his judgment anymore.