Frank gets applause for striking back

DARTMOUTH, Mass., Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., drew applause at a town hall meeting on healthcare when he asked a protester "on which planet do you spend most of your time?"

A woman carrying a poster depicting President Barack Obama with an Adolf Hitler-style mustache approached the microphone at the Tuesday meeting in Dartmouth, Mass., and asked Frank, "Why do you continue to support a Nazi policy?"

Frank -- who is Jewish -- said he would show his ethic heritage and answer her question with a question.

"On what planet do you spend most of your time?" he asked, drawing applause from others in the audience.

Frank called the exchange "a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated."

"Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it," Frank said in ending the exchange.

Frank's handling of the matter drew criticism Wednesday from conservative pundits, who said he treated the questioner rudely, the liberal Web site Media Matters said.