Rep. Barney Frank should not wait for a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee.
Instead, the Massachusetts congressman should spare himself, Congress, and his fellow Democrats a needless ordeal by resigning from the U.S. House of Representatives.This case is not a partisan matter; neither party has a monopoly on morality or common sense. Rather, it is a matter of principle. The fact is that even if every other aspect of his behavior could be ignored, Frank has displayed such horrendously bad judgment that he has forfeited the last vestiges of public confidence. And when a lawmaker loses public confidence he also loses effectiveness.
As the public knows from the intense and continued publicity this case has generated, Frank, an acknowledged homosexual, is in the middle of a scandal over his buying sex from a male prostitute, who then ran a bisexual prostitution operation from Frank's apartment in Washington.
In addition, Frank has admitted fixing traffic tickets for the male prostitute, Stephen Gobie, hiring him as a personal assistant and writing letters on Gobie's behalf to his probation officer. Gobie was on probation for possessing cocaine, committing oral sodomy and producing obscene items involving a child.
So sordid and ugly are the details of the Frank scandal that if his conduct somehow does not violate House rules, those rules should be tightened.
No wonder the growing list of those calling for Frank's resignation includes the Boston Globe, the largest newspaper in Massachusetts, and the Roman Catholic newspaper in his Fall River, Mass., district.
The longer Frank insists on retaining his seat in Congress, the more time and attention this scandal will divert from important legislative matters. Frank should leave - now.