That was his most endearing quality.

As I posted some weeks ago, I knew him personally from an organization of which I was a member which worked in concert with him in the 1980’s to free Jewish dentists who wished to emigrate to America or Israel from the Soviet Union. He was sincere and dedicated. We were quite successful considering the atmosphere in those days.

obit from the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/us/politics/barney-frank-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.j1A.Ozpu.qD72kT8WjGEL&smid=url-share

From their perspective, life begins at conception and ends at birth." - Barney Frank

RIP

from cnn:
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/20/politics/barney-frank-former-congressman

You were an inspiration to so many.

To attack the Democratic Party. I have no ill will but it's not a good look for Party unity and gives Republicans ammunition to attack us with in social media.

For context for people not aware, his last book was "The Hard Path to Unity: Why We Must Reform the Left to Rescue Democracy" in which he wants to pull the Party more to the center and contends that progressives are destroying the Democratic Party.

That was also ironically Barney Frank’s message.

It doesn't sound great, on the face of it. It won't be out until September, but from what I can tell right now, I'm pretty sure I'm going to disagree with a lot of it. But even so, I'm not going to dunk on him for writing a book he must have known would be controversial when his health was failing and he didn't know how much time he had left. I can't fault him for wanting to get his two cents in while he was still capable of it.

Whatecer I may think about what he says in this book, it sounds to me like he wrote it out of genuine concern for the party's future, and I can respect that, even while disagreeing with him about what needs to be done. I'm actually pretty impressed that that he managed to write this book and get it almost to the point of publication when he was in what must have been a pretty advanced stage of heart failure. That says a lot to me about how important he felt it was, and I can't help but respect him for seeing it through.

Furthermore, the content of this upcoming book does not erase what he accomplished and stood for during his active political life, and I will continue to respect and appreciate those things. RIP, Barney. Nobody's perfect, not even you. And that's okay.

well...unexpected.

Will absolutely elect a former college football coach. I'm not saying Doug Jones couldn't pull off a win, I'm just saying those people are idiots and do not vote in their own best interests.

And condolences to Barney Frank's family, especially his husband.

Thank you for caring, Barney.

Last edited Wed May 20, 2026, 01:17 PM - Edit history (1)

I was a member of the Texas Clinton delegation to the 2016 National Convention. The Texas delegation was seated directly behind the Massachusetts delegation. Senator Warren was seated two rows ahead of me. I remember shaking the hand of Congressman Franks at the convention. It was a honor to shake his hand.

Barney was mostly OK.

Thank you for your service in office, Mr. Frank.

Hugs and prayers to those close to him. I hope his passing was easy. He was a tremendous Democrat.

I also hope he gained a sense of how much so many of us appreciated him. He did so much in support of the greater good.

Your service has been appreciated and worthwhile.

Rest in peace.

My very best to those who miss him most.

You had a heck of a run.

RIP

Condolences, to your loved ones.

You made change!

An unabashed liberal who never felt obliged to mitigate his liberal bonafides to appease anyone. Instead he always had an answer for conservative bullshit to which their only response was to cut his mic.

I didn't always agree with you, but we were on the "right" (correct) side together.

I remember him addressing the 1993 gay March On Washington telling us we were turning the corner and the non-discrimination legislation would be federal law in a couple of years. Still waiting...

When I lived in Brookline, MA. He didn't just stand up for issues that mattered, he always brought a wit and intelligence that enlivened the discussion and called out deceptive tactics by the other side.

One funny line from early in his career, I think he was serving on the Boston City Council at the time (though it could be something else), but they were discussing initial proposals for "The Big Dig" to move the elevated I-93 underground through the heart of Boston. When costs were quoted, which were a small fraction of what the project actually ended up actually costing, Barney said, "why don't they just raise the city?"

His wit was entertaining, but it also frequently highlighted the absurdity of those on the other side. We could use a lot more Barney Franks.

RIP

You’ll never be forgotten.

and no one else has ever been able to skewer a conservative as well as Frank did.

Thanks for your years of service to the people of eastern Mass. both state wide and then in Washington. You will be missed.

Link to tweet

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