Barney Frank Knows How To Handle Nuts

The national insanity over health care town hall meetings came to Dartmouth last night, and Congressman Barney Frank created an Internet sensation when he verbally smacked down a question comparing health care reform to Naziism.

We're still trying to find out if the questioner was a LaRouchian or a garden-variety Tea Party activist (whose ill-articulated rage has provided the Internet with so much joy), but her question - essentially, why do you support Obama's health care plan when so much of it is like the eugenics Hitler supported - made Congressman Frank stop for a second before unleashing his sardonic fury.

"When you ask me that question, I am gonna refer to my ethnic heritage and answer your question with a question. On what planet do you spend most of your time?...You stand there with a picture of the President defaced to look like Hitler, then you compare the effort to increase health care to the Nazis...it is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated."

Then the money line:

"Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with the dining room table. I have no interest in doing it."

We've already seen bloggers saying this is the Joseph Welch moment of the health care debate, and preparing their "Palin/Dining Room Table 2012" signs for the front yard. The comment of the day comes from Wonkette: "The 'oh shit, I just became a youtube celebrity for the wrong reasons' look on her face was priceless."

That was the sparkling exchange of the town hall meeting, but Congressman Frank didn't just let it go there. When one protestor suggested that the proposal would cover illegal immigrants, the Congressman immediately "read from the section of the bill that excludes payments for that purpose", dryly noted CNN. He asked the mob, "You want me to talk about it or do you want to yell?", which of course gets to the crux of why the teabaggers are attending the town hall meetings in the first place.

This is the kind of thing you can do when you're funny, grouchy, beloved by your constituents, and faced with a room full of lunacy. So we salute you, Congressman Frank, and hope your colleagues take note of your handling of this issue.