June 4, 2009 (CAP Newswire) — As part of a two-part interview and profile of Barney Frank over at SeekingAlpha.com, a financially oriented blog and news site, the outspoken Massacusetts Democrat had opportunity to fend off harsh attacks on his plans to legalize online gambling with a quick wit rarely seen in American politica.
Which led directly to this humorous exchange:
“After a few non-memorable questions, the elderly gentleman in front of me stepped to the mic and chastised Barney Frank for being in favor of internet gambling … This questioner threw out soundbites such as ‘it preys on the poor,’ ‘it causes suicides,’ and ‘it generates no value.’
“Frank responded … by retorting that the measure of the validity of something is not the ‘value it creates.’ He cited video games as something that can easily be considered a waste of time, but should not be banned. …
“Finally, the guy accused Frank of telling people that gambling was ok, and Frank replied, ‘I don't want to tell people how to live — if everyone lived like me we'd have a population problem,’ which of course generated raucous laughter, and resulted in the old religious nut slinking back to his seat.”