It isn’t even funny, Barney gets a pass from Press for Trayvon Joke at Harvard

It isn’t even funny, Barney gets ANOTHER pass from the mainstream press

Photo:  AP

Imagine if a Republican, say U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, were to use the Trayvon Martin shooting as the basis for a joke at a college commencement. Consider a Republican in front of TV cameras telling a black guy getting an honorary degree, “I think you now got a hoodie you can wear and no one will shoot at you.”

Think national scandal, demands for resignation, calls for civility, popping veins on MSNBC.

Then imagine Barney Frank saying the exact same thing, which he did Sunday, at UMass-Dartmouth. Imagine ... crickets.

Nothing to see here folks, move along.

Just like last week, at Harvard, when Barney was recounting his speech on the floor of the House about some “hate-crimes” legislation. He quoted himself:

“It will still be entirely legal to call me a fag — I just wouldn’t recommend it if you’re in the banking industry.”

If Brown had said it, this headline would have appeared: “Brown Threatens Industry He Regulates; Ethics Panel Begins Probe.”

It’s hard to believe these days, but Barney Frank wasn’t always a garrulous fat old fool in need of a one-way ticket to the dog track. Comrade Barney was once regarded as a quick wit. He came up with a lot of great one-liners.

The Big Dig: “Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just raise the whole city?”

The Boston City Council: “There’s only two things can happen if you run for the City Council, and both of them are bad. Number one, you could lose. Number two, you could win.”

Then there was the Republican state rep he once said was so stupid that he was the only human being in the world in danger of contracting Dutch elm disease. I ran into that ex-solon during the New Hampshire primary last winter. He insisted I call him “Dutch.”

Enmeshed in scandal, Barney came up with this: “Your core constituency isn’t the people who are with you when you’re right, your core is the people who are with you when you’re wrong.”

But as Barney rides off into retirement, let us recall the greatest joke of his final years. He told it on July 14, 2008, just before the collapse of the financial system:

“Fannie and Freddie are fundamentally sound, they are not in danger of going under ... I do think their prospects going forward are very solid.”

That was, what, $150 billion in bailouts ago. Tell that joke at your next college commencement, Barney. If not the house, it always brings the economy down.


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