BOSTON — As he lies dying, the man who once snarled from the floor of the House of Representatives — whose rhetorical rockets' red blare mercilessly exposed the logistical flaws in the arguments of his overmatched opponents, whose piercing, pitiless wit stung his rivals, whose caustic asides roiled his political caucus — can barely muster a whisper.
Barney Frank is on the line, breathing his words — among his last — rather than barking them, his message coming as a murmur more than as mortar fire.
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