So, Barney Frank, the dude who brought you Dodd-Frank and a whole lotta other regulatory headaches, finally kicked the bucket at 86. Remember Dodd-Frank? That massive pile of rules that was supposed to fix everything after the 2008 crisis but mostly just made it harder for your local bank to give you a loan? Yeah, that was his baby.

Ol' Barney was a Massachusetts Dem, a lifer in the swamp, and a proud member of the 'regulate everything' club. He chaired the House Financial Services Committee during the meltdown, and his solution was, of course, more government. Because that always works, right?

Dodd-Frank, co-authored with some other swamp creature named Dodd, was supposed to rein in Wall Street. Instead, it mostly helped the big banks get bigger while crushing the little guys. Thanks, Barney! And let's not forget the virtue signaling – he made sure to sprinkle in some consumer protection stuff to make it sound all nice and fluffy.

He came out as gay back in the '80s, which, good for him, I guess. But it doesn't excuse the regulatory nightmare he unleashed on the American economy. He married his dude in 2012, becoming the first sitting congressman to do so. Okay, cool story.

Remember when Trump tried to roll back some of Dodd-Frank? The left went ballistic, screaming about how we were all gonna die in another financial apocalypse. Turns out, easing up on those regulations didn't destroy the world. Who knew?

But hey, at least Barney was consistent. He warned Dems not to go too far left. Imagine that, even a swamp creature like him knew when the crazy train was about to go off the rails. Maybe he saw the writing on the wall.

So, raise a glass to Barney Frank. The guy who proved that good intentions and government intervention are a match made in regulatory hell. May his legacy serve as a warning to future generations: less government, more freedom. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go fill out 75 forms just to open a savings account.

He was also really, really snarky. He was in hospice, KNOWING he was about to die, and he was still roasting everyone in interviews. You gotta respect the commitment to the bit, I guess.

Honestly, I think most people are just happy that another career politician is out of the way. One less vote to worry about.