Barney Frank: Liberals Needs To 'Empower' Themselves

Rep. Barney Frank is still mulling his options as he looks toward retirement.

Though there's nothing set as of yet, Frank told WBUR reporter Bob Oakes that he hopes to write a book about the LGBT movement here in the States and perhaps another book advising liberals on growing their political base.

Basically, according to Frank, liberals need to "empower" themselves and be sure to stay out of the government-bashing fray.

I have a couple books in mind: one is what I think liberals should be doing. The fundamental point is going to be that we need to empower ourselves to do more with government than we’ve been doing, both as an end in itself and then there’s a viscous cycle.

People don’t like government, so they deny government the resources, we deny ourselves — which is what government is, ourselves acting collectively — we deny ourselves the resources to be effective and then because we don’t do things right, people get angrier so they deny more resources. The way to break that cycle, in my judgement, is with substantial reduction in America’s worldwide military commitments. I want us to do a better job of using our collective resources through government to improve the quality of life.

Frank later remarked, "I think the mistake many liberals make is in the current situation where government is unpopular, to join in the critique of government but then advocate specific expansions of government authority." And as for the gay rights movement, Frank would like a potential book to address the debate over which tactic is more effective: political activism or demonstrations. Frank prefers the former.

Listen to audio of Frank and Oakes' AFTER THE JUMP.

What It's Like to Run Your Fingers Along Matthew Mitcham's Spine: VIDEO

The spine of his new book, Twists and Turns, of course.

Watch him at a recent appearance at Australia's Booktopia, AFTER THE JUMP...

He also described the book thusly: "It’s the story of my life from birth to present, with absolutely no omissions whatsoever (after all, 24 is really young to write a book!) but it is a very warts-and-all biography, talking about everything from sports to depression, living like a caveman, coming to terms with sexuality, and all the (mis)adventures in between."

Gay Olympic Diver Matthew Mitcham to Release Autobiography

Matthew Mitcham, the gay Australian Olympic gold-medalist, will release a memoir called Twists and Turns in December, GNN reports:

To be released by HarperCollins in December, Mitcham’s book will also take a closer look at the anxiety and “crippling self doubt” that he has battled as a teenager and young adult, which at one point forced him to give up diving and head to the local circus so he could earn an income. 

“People kept remarking on how they were surprised that a gold medal and fame hadn’t changed me,” Mitcham writes in a blurb for the book.

“I always responded, ‘Why would I change? Being me is the easiest person to be’. I was lying. It wasn’t.”...

...Twists and Turns also sees the 24-year-old Brisbane-born sports star discussing his effort at this year’s London Olympics where he failed to defend his crown after missing out on qualifying for the final. With an abdominal injury affecting his preparation for the London Games, Mitcham writes that his self-doubt and depressive tendencies returned with a vengeance.

Seeking Empathy, Straight Christian Posed as Gay for a Year: VIDEO

Timothy Kurek grew up a devout Christian, projecting the beliefs he was taught, that homosexuality was a sin, onto others. Until one day a friend confessed to him that her family had disowned her for being gay.

Kurek has written a book about how he "found Jesus" by getting to know what it was like to walk in a gay man's shoes, he tells ABC News:

"I feel God really kicked me in the gut," he said. "She was crying in my arms and instead of being there for her, I was thinking about all the arguments to convert her."

Kurek's reaction ate away at him, and he wondered what it felt like to be gay and so alone. So even though Kurek identifies as straight, he embarked on what one religious writer called "spiritual espionage." He would live like a gay man for a year.

"It finally clicked," he said. "I needed to empathize and understand."

Now 26 and no longer homophobic, Kurek writes about his journey -- one that included hanging out in gay bars and facing the disappointment of his family and rejection of his friends -- in his memoir, "The Cross in the Closet."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

There's more of his story at the ABC News site.

Barry Diller and Scott Rudin Launch E-Publishing Firm

IAC Chairman Barry Diller and producer Scott Rudin have jumped into the E-book business, the NYT reports:

Mr. Rudin and Frances Coady, a longtime publishing executive, have formed a partnership with Mr. Diller in a new venture called Brightline. It will publish e-books and eventually physical books in a partnership with Atavist, a publisher based in Brooklyn with expertise in producing electronic books and articles.

The alliance creates a new competitor in the rapidly changing digital book market, one that is dominated by Amazon, the online retailer, which has roughly 65 percent of e-book sales. Though fledgling, the new venture will enjoy the support of two influential executives who control a wide array of resources in media and entertainment.

NEWS: Tight Races, The Blame Game, And Farewell

Some black American clergy, unhappy with Mitt Romney's Mormonism and Barack Obama's affection for gays, are telling their congregations to stay home on election day.

On the bright side, Michelle Bachmann is poised to lose her House seat.

Bryan Fischer and co-crazies on why Mitt Romney's tanking:

What if Mitt Romney actually manages to blow this election? The Values Voters will never say that he failed to win the center, because they won’t believe it. They’ll say that he never drew the contrast between what Obama was doing to America and how he and Paul Ryan, specifically, would fix it. They’ll say that this left evangelical voters—few of whom liked Romney in the first placed—disengaged.

(Or maybe Mitt's tanking because his campaign's staff can't stand the man running it?)

A message in a bottle, adrift for 98 years, has been found by a Scottish fisherman.

How the NYPD wished Occupy a happy birthday:

At least a dozen Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested yesterday evening during a march from Washington Square Park to Zuccotti Park, as police repeatedly "plunged" into the group to detain people on the sidewalk ...

Ayatollah Hassan Sanei is for some reason blaming novelist Salman Rushdie for the film Innocence of Muslims, and has demanded somebody finally carry out a decades-old fatwah:

It [the film] won't be the last insulting act as long as Imam Khomeini's historic order on executing the blasphemous Salman Rushdie is not carried out. If the imam's order was carried out, the further insults in the form of caricatures, articles and films would not have taken place. The impertinence of the grudge-filled enemies of Islam, which is occurring under the flag of the Great Satan, America and the racist Zionists, can only be blocked by the absolute administration of this Islamic order.

Tarek Masoud explains one of the reasons the Muslim world is so uncalm.

Two of the Republican New York State senators who supported Gov. Cuomo's push for marriage equaluty last year will have to wait a week to learn whether they've fended off their anti-gay primary challengers:

As the absentee ballots continued to trickle in to county election offices on Friday, Mr. Saland remained unsure of his political future. So did Senator Roy J. McDonald of the capital region, a Republican who also voted for same-sex marriage and who ended primary night in a contest that was too close to call ...

“The bottom line is I have no regrets, and I make no apologies,” Mr. Saland said in an interview ...

Regina Spektor returns to Russia.

Personal note: A magazine has offered me an absolutely un-turn-downable opportunity to do some long-form journalism, and I'm moving on. Thanks to Andy for trusting me with part-time custody of his extroardinary website, and thanks so much to all of you for making Towleroad an endlessly interesting place to blog. Be well.