California Conservative

Anyone who’s heard of Harvard Law School student Joel Pollak’s run-in with Barney Frank are likely calling him a hero. I certainly am, especially after I watched Greta’s interview of him last night:

What’s more impressive is what he said about his political journey:

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. He said that it was part of a right-wing attack. I think at some point, you said that you were a conservative. Are you part of some, you know, right-wing organization? You know, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

POLLAK: Sure. Well, when I came to law school, I was actually a Democrat. My first year, I was the section representative to the Harvard law school Democrats. But I found that my positions differed widely from those of some of my friends and those of the Democratic Party, especially on foreign policy, but on other issues, as well. And I liked many Democratic politicians. I voted for Senator Obama when he was running for senator in 2004, but I was disappointed with the job he did for Illinois.

I still had some hope for him as a candidate, but as the election cycle started, I really was alarmed by some of the things he was saying about foreign policy and about free trade and the economy. So I had always admired Senator McCain, and I volunteered on the McCain campaign, and that was my first time that I was involved in Republican politics of any kind.

And one of the reasons I don’t consider myself a Democrat anymore is because whenever you ask a question, you’re labeled. You’re put into a box. I found that even when I was a left-wing Democrat, as I was, and I was so left-wing in my undergrad days that I thought Bill Clinton was too far to the center. When I would go to left-wing events, I found that questioners did exactly what Congressman Frank did. When I went to conservative events, they listened to the question and they gave me an answer. And so I think that that has a profound effect on you over time, if you’re the kind of person who’s curious about the way the world works.

I hope my liberal friends will think about that last paragraph. I hope they ask themselves if they deflect blame onto someone else or if they change subjects without answering questions. I hope they can say they don’t react like Chairman Frank reacted. His behavior, which he consistently displays, is that of a bitter, hateful man who gets agitated by people he perceives don’t wholeheartedly buy into his thinking.

Chairman Frank represents the worst qualities of the Democratic Party. He’s a contemptible man who’d rather belittle people than deal honestly with those who don’t agree with him. Chairman Frank long ago lost the notion that he’s a public servant. Chairman Frank apparently thinks that it’s ok for public servants to belittle the people who pay his salary. That’s a disgusting attitude and there’s no excusing it.

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