Barney Frank To Cathy Griffin: " This is not the Only Bitter Pill You Will Swallow This Week."
Congressman Barney Frank spoke with The New York Times Magazine on Sunday, and said that he told Kathy Griffin that his inability to pass a “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal within one day would not be the only “bitter pill” she would have to swallow that week.
Times question and answer columnist Deborah Solomon asked Frank, “Why would you let her film you in your office in Washington for a show called ‘My Life on the D-List’?”
Frank responded, “She asked me if I would do it, and if you say no, then you get demonized as someone who is afraid. So she came to my office and said, ‘I demand that you pass the repeal — don’t ask, don’t tell — by tomorrow, and if not, it will be a bitter pill.’ I said, ‘Well, it won’t be the only pill you swallow this week, I’m sure.’”
Asked whether he meant to imply that Griffin was a “pill popper,” Frank responded, “I said what I said.”
Frank also recently wrote a critical letter to Griffin after she referred to the daughters of U.S. senator Scott Brown as “prostitutes” on her show. Solomon also asked the out congressman about that.
As a co-author of the financial regulation bill that was signed into law by President Obama on July 21, were you surprised that so few Republicans voted for the bill?
No. I think the problem is that the Republican Party is in the grips now of its most conservative elements. These are people who are opposed to any kind of government at all.
Times question and answer columnist Deborah Solomon asked Frank, “Why would you let her film you in your office in Washington for a show called ‘My Life on the D-List’?”
Frank responded, “She asked me if I would do it, and if you say no, then you get demonized as someone who is afraid. So she came to my office and said, ‘I demand that you pass the repeal — don’t ask, don’t tell — by tomorrow, and if not, it will be a bitter pill.’ I said, ‘Well, it won’t be the only pill you swallow this week, I’m sure.’”
Asked whether he meant to imply that Griffin was a “pill popper,” Frank responded, “I said what I said.”
Frank also recently wrote a critical letter to Griffin after she referred to the daughters of U.S. senator Scott Brown as “prostitutes” on her show. Solomon also asked the out congressman about that.
As a co-author of the financial regulation bill that was signed into law by President Obama on July 21, were you surprised that so few Republicans voted for the bill?
No. I think the problem is that the Republican Party is in the grips now of its most conservative elements. These are people who are opposed to any kind of government at all.
What do you say to Republicans like Mitch McConnell, who claim the bill merely adds to the burden of small businesses and slows down job creation?
That’s nonsense. He’s speaking off talking points and hasn’t read the bill.
That’s nonsense. He’s speaking off talking points and hasn’t read the bill.
Who has read it? It’s 2,300 pages long. It has been pointed out that the Sarbanes-Oxley reform act of 2002 was only 66 pages.
That dealt with one very narrow aspect of accounting in major corporations. This bill deals with derivatives; it deals with consumers; it deals with mortgages.
That dealt with one very narrow aspect of accounting in major corporations. This bill deals with derivatives; it deals with consumers; it deals with mortgages.
Scott Brown, your fellow Massachusetts resident, was one of only three Republican senators to support the bill. Did you personally try to persuade him?
We spoke constantly.
We spoke constantly.
Were you trying to get his vote when you recently wrote a critical letter to the comedian Kathy Griffin, who described Scott Brown’s two daughters as “prostitutes” on her show?
I did that because I was on the show that day. You get guilt by association — you can’t comment on every offensive thing people do. I have enough trouble commenting on the offensive things I do.
I did that because I was on the show that day. You get guilt by association — you can’t comment on every offensive thing people do. I have enough trouble commenting on the offensive things I do.
Why would you let her film you in your office in Washington for a show called “My Life on the D-List”?
She asked me if I would do it, and if you say no, then you get demonized as someone who is afraid. So she came to my office and said, “I demand that you pass the repeal — don’t ask, don’t tell — by tomorrow, and if not, it will be a bitter pill.” I said, “Well, it won’t be the only pill you swallow this week, I’m sure.”
She asked me if I would do it, and if you say no, then you get demonized as someone who is afraid. So she came to my office and said, “I demand that you pass the repeal — don’t ask, don’t tell — by tomorrow, and if not, it will be a bitter pill.” I said, “Well, it won’t be the only pill you swallow this week, I’m sure.”
What were you implying? Is she a pill popper?
I said what I said.
I said what I said.
For all your love of financial regulation, you’ve joined with the libertarian Republican Ron Paul to write bills that would shrink government. Do you think your bill to legalize marijuana will ever pass?
Yes, in the next five years.
Yes, in the next five years.
Will that expand the tax base? As a nation, do you think we could smoke our way to solvency?
I want to be clear; that’s not my major motivation. My major motivation is personal freedom. When we outlaw marijuana or online gambling, all you do is create more criminals and deprive us of revenue.
I want to be clear; that’s not my major motivation. My major motivation is personal freedom. When we outlaw marijuana or online gambling, all you do is create more criminals and deprive us of revenue.
You also have a bill to cut military spending.
Ron and I again are saying that we are way overextended. The cold war is over, and we’re still acting as if America has to protect everybody in the world. The average American has no sympathy for keeping 15,000 Marines on Okinawa 65 years after the war ended.
Ron and I again are saying that we are way overextended. The cold war is over, and we’re still acting as if America has to protect everybody in the world. The average American has no sympathy for keeping 15,000 Marines on Okinawa 65 years after the war ended.
You grew up in Bayonne, N.J., and attended Harvard and Harvard Law School; why do you still speak with a New Jersey accent?
I’m told that Walter Kissinger, Henry’s brother, was once asked: “Walter, you don’t have an accent and Henry does. How come?” Walter said, “I listen to people.” I hope that’s not the explanation.
I’m told that Walter Kissinger, Henry’s brother, was once asked: “Walter, you don’t have an accent and Henry does. How come?” Walter said, “I listen to people.” I hope that’s not the explanation.
Any plans for a summer vacation?
Well, we do have a campaign, and everyone should be campaigning. My partner, Jim, and I are going to California this month. I’m going to do a fund-raiser for Senator Boxer, speak to the Orange County Democrats and also just hang out.
Well, we do have a campaign, and everyone should be campaigning. My partner, Jim, and I are going to California this month. I’m going to do a fund-raiser for Senator Boxer, speak to the Orange County Democrats and also just hang out.
What did you think when Boxer’s Republican opponent, Carly Fiorina, was caught on an open mic dissing Boxer’s hair as “so yesterday”?
It was a kind of small thing that tells you a lot. There’s a lack of seriousness and also, I’m told, a kind of nastiness that people don’t like. It’s important to be likable when you run for office. The first time I ran, I was too aggressive; I wasn’t likable. The second time I ran, I was more likable.
It was a kind of small thing that tells you a lot. There’s a lack of seriousness and also, I’m told, a kind of nastiness that people don’t like. It’s important to be likable when you run for office. The first time I ran, I was too aggressive; I wasn’t likable. The second time I ran, I was more likable.
Do you think a person can chose to be likable?
You can choose to be less unlikable.
You can choose to be less unlikable.
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