Tomorrow is Barney Frank's last day...

This from my friend Eric Smith --

Tomorrow, December 31, 2012, will be the final day that U.S Representative Barney Frank will serves in Congress. His departure will be something to be mourned for fewer congressmen of the past thirty plus years have done more for the cause of full equality. Though as the first openly gay representative he advanced the rights of gays, he also advanced the rights of everyone else; be it African Americans, women, the poor and the dispossessed, you name it; if you were for freedom, for full equality, then Congressman Barney Frank was on your side and he fought hard for you; whether or not you lived in his congressional district in Massachusetts or in any part of the United States.

It didn't matter if you were gay or straight, he fought for you. He far transcended his office and came to embody America as it should be; as it should have been long ago; an America that recognizes the rights of all Americans to be treated with that same dignity and respect with which they wish to be treated; be they black, white, male, female, gay, straight, Christian, Muslim, or Jew. The only thing that mattered to Barney Frank was that you were a human being and therefore entitled to full human rights. If you truly love this country then you simply have to admire the man for he represented the very best in all of us and our nation is a better country because he served and our world is a better place because he lived.