![]() Reporters regularly accuse the people they’re interviewing of not telling the truth. In their view, it is their job to debunk, expose, and rebut elected officials, and our role is to be very polite in return. And to reporters, he tweaks their hypocrisy: “A lot of reporters think I am not nice enough to them. To those who worry about money in politics, he announces the enduring viability of democracy: “Money is very helpful in a political vacuum, but when members are forced to choose between their voters and their contributors, votes kick money’s ass.” (p 314). To activists, he attributes democratic delusions: “The most committed activists on the left and the right are convinced that the majority of voters agree with them but that institutional flaws in our democracy prevent popular sentiment from prevailing. Still others to articulate his candid assessments of his allies, including activists, those who lament the influence of money on politics, and journalists. True political courage involves standing up to one’s friends” (pages 35-36). Criticizing allies is something else altogether. Indeed, excoriating- and even more usefully, being excoriated by- one’s opponents is the optimal way to harvest campaign contributions. Others seek to expose political hypocrisy: “We politicians frequently praise ourselves for bravely defying our enemies. If your ostensible objection is resolved, you have no recourse to your true but hidden objections” (page 28). Or, if you must say no to someone, remember: “Whenever you give someone a reason for a decision that is not your real reason, you leave yourself vulnerable. Some of these observations take the form of modern life lessons: “Losers hold grudges longer and more deeply than winners remain grateful,” he tells us, explaining the power of keeping score in politics (page 76). The book’s greatest strength is an astonishing collection of insights and asides on policymaking and politics that Frank has distilled from his long career as a deep-thinking speaker of aphorisms on behalf of the Democratic Party and its causes. And it is an essential account of the politics before, during, and especially after the 2008 financial crisis from one of the leading players of the period. It’s a brief history from the inside on the congressional politics of the Clinton impeachment. It’s a history of the politics of gay rights far beyond same-sex marriage (despite the book’s title). ![]() It’s a personal history with a unique account of his struggles and triumphs in politics during the 1970s and 1980s as a gay man inside the closet, by itself a fascinating, even moving story. Grant, his book has nothing in common with the pabulum that politicians write to coincide with their presidential campaigns. If Frank doesn’t reach the heights of Ulysses S. The result is one of the best political memoirs published in many years. ![]() I’m glad Frank didn’t use a ghost writer to water down his torrential narrative. As one might expect from following the unvarnished Barney Frank as a politician and policymaker, every page pulses with Frank’s characteristic wisdom and intellectual range, presented in a sometimes chaotic style that a ghost writer is usually hired to smooth over. Unusual for a politician’s memoir, there is no ghost writer. House of Representatives 1981 to 2013, has published his political autobiography. This is the first marriage for both Frank and Ready.Review of FRANK: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage, by Barney Frankīarney Frank, the retired Democrat from Massachusetts who served in the U.S. And he was the first congressman to do so voluntarily. Massachusetts Governor Patrick, a champion of states implementing marriage equality, officiated the ceremony.įrank offered up his relationship status back in 1987 by publicly announcing he was gay. And Terrence McNally, the playwright, joined in the hora and a group singalong of "Low Rider" by War, with President Obama-themed lyrics written for the occasion. But Representative Nancy Pelosi stayed late - and swayed on the dance floor to “It’s Raining Men.” Elizabeth Kucinich snapped photographs, as her husband, Dennis, chatted up Representative Steny H. Veteran lawmaker Barney Frank married longtime boyfriend Jim Ready on Saturday night in Newton, Massachusetts, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to marry to a partner of the same-sex. Details are now trickling of what one guest called the "wedding of the century for liberal gay Democratic politics," according to the New York Times.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |