Barney Frank unexpurgated--the complete interview transcript.

Soon-to-be-retired Congressman Barney Frank gave an interview to NEW YORK magazine.  The edited version runs about nine pages.  But here's a link to all fifteen pages of unfiltered Frank--with content sure to irritate both the Left and the Right:

http://nymag.com/news/features/barney-frank-full-transcript-2012-4/

New poem: NEWT NEWT

I'm reminded of a coach


who taught health class

in my high school.

>

He looked like a cross

between Peter Lorre

and Patton Oswalt.

>

And he never failed

to lecture the class

on "survival of the fittest."

>

There was a disconnect

between his public and private behavior.

But I didn't know it at the time.

>

Back then, gossip didn't spread too fast.

You had to stand still in a selected place

to use a telephone

>

and there was no texting

or personal computers

or any of the stuff that now

>

enables us to know hyperquick

about hypocrites, homilies and

counting on the public to swallow it whole

>

Be careful of how many bodies you bury

and all the skeletons you stack in storage.

There's always someone

>

who will take as much time as necessary

to bring petrified sin to the earth's surface

and hit the switch of a giant fan

>

so everyone can sample the putrid aroma.

New poem: SELF DEPORTATION

(thanks to Mitt for the title)

gonna leave the nation of hate




before it sends a 30-day notice



in the mail asking me



WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?



ARE YOU WITH US OR THEM?



>



to be honest,



I'm with THEM



because they see



stars and rainbows



and cats and dogs



and men and men



and women and women



and men and women



all living together



not caring about what US say



>



gonna leave the nation of conditional love



(which isn't real love at all)



before the demagnetizer



enters my brain



and erases memories



of all those times



I didn't have to guess



what other people felt and thought--



I just knew



and they knew



I cared



no matter what



>



you can reach me on the other side



anytime you want



I'll throw you a tin can



with a long string



over the fence



so we can listen to each other speak



and be certain that



no one else is listening



to us



but us alone



.

Newt Gingrich: South Carolina gives an angry old man a further 15 minutes.

Probably the lowpoints of the political coverage I sat through last night:
1. On CNN, Erin Burnett trotted out her superfabulous CEO poll that showed that 11 out of 15 CEOs prefer Mitt Romney to Barack Obama.
2. On MSNBC, Chris Matthews was practically drooling over the Gingrich victory because it extends
the horserace (which Matthews seems to like covering more than the issues beneath it) a few more months.

As far as the Republican scrapfest of back-to-the-past ideological/economic titans is concerned, this primary cycle could climax in the GOP's first down-to-the-convention-floor nomination fight since the Gerald Ford vs. Ronald Reagan duel of 1976.

Let's leave Ron Paul and his scary no-government minimalism off the table.  Consider the Big Three candidates carefully.

If you're not at least a millionaire (either through inheritance or actual work), Mitt Romney doesn't give a damn about you.

If you're not a heterosexual/literal-minded (aka Fundamentalist) Christian, Rick Santorum doesn't
give a darn about you.

And then there's Newt Gingrich, who, in essence, is every scowling, snarling, point-at-the-clock, fake-pious, never-ever-wrong boss (who keeps at least two sets of books) you've ever had the misfortune to work for.

Thanks to John King's Bernard Shaw-esque "gotcha" question (which should have been phrased as a more subtle query on the financial/sexual morality Gingrich asks of people that aren't named Newt Gingrich) and the angry voters of South Carolina (guessing a mix of anger/resentment/overdoses of Fox News/fierce dislike of being told to fall into line behind Mitt Romney), we're stuck with the frightening, monstrous blowhard behavior of ultimate nonwinner Newt into at least the late spring.