Barney Frank Slams Allen West: 'Not Even Joe McCarthy Would Have Said Anything So Stupid'

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on Wednesday tore into Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) for saying that members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are communists.

"Not even Joe McCarthy would have said anything so stupid and dissociated from reality," Frank said in a call with The Huffington Post. "It's an indication of the significant deterioration of the Republican Party as a responsible entity that an ignorant, mean guy like Allen West is considered one of their stars."

The Massachusetts Democrat, who is retiring this year after 16 terms in Congress, said he is proud of his record over the years in cooperating with even the most conservative of Republicans. But West's remarks -- he told constituents on Tuesday that as many as 80 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are members of the Communist Party -- show that the current flank of House Republicans leaves little room for bipartisanship, Frank said.

"I ask people, when you hear something so breathtakingly dumb and vicious as that, how do people expect us to be able to work out some compromise with him?" Frank said. Asked why he felt West's comments were "vicious," Frank said it is because communism has historically been a doctrine of repressing people's rights.

"It is exactly the opposite of those of us in the Congressional Progressive Caucus who are in support of freedom, in support of democracy, in support of people's basic rights and civil liberties," he said. "Communism is really a reference to some of the worst human rights abuses of our time ... It is meant to delegitimize people and allow no basis for debate. It's a very nasty label."

He added, "I very much object to being associated with Stalin or Khrushchev."

Frank contacted The Huffington Post while in Hawaii, where he said he was campaigning for Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and meeting with Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D), a former House colleague. Frank said his partner, James Ready, was also with him and getting in some surfing, an activity Frank said he preferred to "just watch."

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[RobertJones600]

12:30 AM on 07/21/2012

It is true the progressives want a welfare and universal health care state just like Israel.
Yes that is right Israel has universal health care and welfare so according to Allen West's
logic Israel is a communist state so why are we borrowing 5 Billion dollars from communist
China to give to Communist Israel.
Google the Israeli budget you will see what I am saying is true. Israel is actually a Socialist
state like the UK so we are borrowing money from communist China to give to socialist israel
Bet you didn't know that.
Rand Paul alluded to this during his senate run when he said we should stop sending money to Israel then Mitch McConnell got his hands on him and corrupted him, he has been silent about this since.
For your info Israel spends 16B on defense and 16 Billion universal health care so to plug the
gap if we stopped sending them 5 Billion in aid they could just cut one third of their
universal health care coverage and still have enough money to cover 2/3 of their population
with health care coverage or put another way we are paying for the health care coverage for 1/3 of the population of israel
Interesting how Fox news never says how Obama wants to turn America into a Socalist State just like Israel, its that Isaeli lobby at work!

[jconceicao]

04:57 PM on 04/25/2012

What would anyone expect Barney Frank to say? He's not going to admit that he is a socialist. He doesn't have to. The best thing for him to is to try to discredit Allen West.

[MeMyselfI]

06:25 PM on 04/16/2012

I'm so going to miss Barney Frank and his "frankness," his quick wit, his smarts and his boldness. I really am going to miss him.

[DarkandStormyNight]

01:17 PM on 04/16/2012

Yeah, the Communist Party is taking over America! Run for your lives! What a joke that is. What has come to American though is fascism, wrapped in the flag and carrying a bible.

[DarkandStormyNight]

01:12 PM on 04/16/2012

Go Barney!!! West is a bully and deserves to be called out. The republican party is so extreme at this point that they are on the edge of a cliff and trying to take all of with them.

[JDZSB]

08:55 PM on 04/14/2012

There is a list out of about 70 or 80 members of congress that are either members of, or closely associated, with communist activist groups in this country. There exists an American communist party as well, however, most of these socialist lobbying and activist groups have names that are totally misleading and do not suggest a communist agenda, but their mission is larger government, wealth redistribution, and a "nanny state" government that eventually has nearly total control of your life by usurping more and more of your money and your freedoms.

[DarkandStormyNight]

01:13 PM on 04/16/2012

d.r.i.n.k.

[Faith Jane]

09:03 AM on 04/14/2012

what about Democrat Maxine Waters, who calls Republicans "demons"? Is SHE "dissociated from reality", or did she just grow up in a voodoo cult?

[DarkandStormyNight]

01:14 PM on 04/16/2012

Oh please. Thee is a difference and you should know that.

[Faith Jane]

09:44 PM on 04/16/2012

Please highlight the difference. is it that Demons are universally considered to be forces of evil, while only half the planet (the intelligent half) recognizes that communism is evil and stupid...so maxine's slur was a definite insult, while West's might be taken as a compliment by some leftists, including the occupiers?

[OGigi]

04:04 AM on 04/14/2012

And they tried to paint YOU as a whackO Barney!

Funny

[DarkandStormyNight]

01:15 PM on 04/16/2012

Barney Frank is and has always been a dedicated civil servant.

[JackBlair69]

01:15 AM on 04/14/2012

Wow, this really got Barney upset.

[emanonecafon]

11:13 PM on 04/13/2012

Tell us liberals what is one thing you think is bad about communism? Next, what is one thing you liberals think is great about capitalism?

Judging from the comments I read here every day, I can tell many liberals think America has a lot to learn from communism, and they think capitalism is a greedy, evil, hateful, racist system.

[jimthefireman]

03:06 AM on 04/14/2012

Both Communism and Capitalism in their pure theoretical form are good systems. They both allow people what they need while they might not always provide everything that some people might want.

The countries that have declared themselves Communist and boasted a "worker's paradise" became anything but that. Brutal dictatorships run by an elite and supressing the very people they originally claimed to be "liberating".

The break up of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the transformation of the PRC to a market driven economy (albiet with the Party still firmly in charge) has completed the fall of Communism in the modern day. The system simply failed by corrupted human beings in charge.

A reasonable case could be made that the USA has demonstrated a similar failure of the pure theory of Capitalism, with political patronage,monopolies and corruption too powerful for present legal remedies meaning that free enterprise and equal opportunity simply doesn't exist.

Those who still chose to label everyone as either "Patriots" or "Liberals" simply do not get it. It is about a system being flexible enough to allow opportunity while being regulated enough to avoid human nature sabotaging it for their own advantage. Those countries most successful today, pick systems which work, regardless of labels.

[OGigi]

04:03 AM on 04/14/2012

Tell us liberals

airsick bag needed
STAT

[ed conn]

09:46 PM on 04/13/2012

I bet that most of he GOP in the house would comsider Joe McCarthy a RINO

[map1246]

06:29 PM on 04/13/2012

Barney is trying to rewrite history. McCarthy was right. After we got the Venona intercepts we found out that there were over 300 paid Soviet agents working in FDR's administration. FDR did not seem to mind.

[SteveFromEuless]

03:28 PM on 04/13/2012

Allen West is a real peach.

" Speaking with O’Reilly Factor guest host Laura Ingraham in August 2011, West said the Democratic party is a “21st-century plantation.”

He added, “So I’m here as the modern-day Harriet Tubman, to kind of lead people on the Underground Railroad, away from that plantation into a sense of sensibility.”"

One never knows what will come out of his mouth...

[duh]

01:13 AM on 04/14/2012

One does know the general drift which is vicious right wing insanity.

[JackBlair69]

01:17 AM on 04/14/2012

He's not the first to say that. We've all been saying it for years. How are generations of people locked up in public housing and on welfare not that far removed from slaves on a plantation?

[DarkandStormyNight]

01:25 PM on 04/16/2012

Black or white, when you isolate poor people in public housing you get bad results. The problem is where do people go when they can't afford market rent? Where do people go when they're working 2 jobs at $7.00/hr with a family of 4?

[steelman41]

12:13 PM on 04/13/2012

Allen West was spot on and completely accurate with his comments. Read the history of the progressives and see who has aligned with whom. The unions, the progressives, and the communists are all in bed together. This has been proven many times.....but I guess it is easier to try to smear Allen West than to try to defend Obamas war on women. Paying them so much less in his administration despite his ledbetter bill. Outrageous.

[Billyguitar]

12:28 PM on 04/13/2012

That's poo and you know it. Even the Communist Party denies his accusations.

[Edbeason]

01:16 PM on 04/13/2012

That's right. You folks keep talking and exposing your partisan ignorance and stupidity. Please! If you st_f_u we wouldn't know. Too late now.........

[argved]

11:42 AM on 04/13/2012

So is Rep. Frank saying that he knows about Joe McCarthy and Allen West is no Joe McCarthy, or is he saying that the comments of West tend to make McCarthy look smarter by comparison to West.

[OGigi]

04:08 AM on 04/14/2012

Who cares.
And they want to paint Barney all these years as the WHACKO!