Here is a lovely thing about gay dudes: they really want their lovers to be happy. And that is why Jim Ready was pretty much pushed into retiring Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank's lecherous old arms by his own dying partner. And now Ready and Frank are married, and Barney Frank is nice. Man, those gays can make overanything.

In October 2005, Mr. [Jim] Ready — a carpenter and welder who specializes in awnings and runs a small shop, Jim of Most Trades, in Ogunquit, Me. — had been dragged to a local fund-raiser by his longtime partner, Robert Palmer, who knew Mr. Frank from his days as an adviser to former Gov. Michael S. Dukakis.

At the time, Mr. Ready was acting as a full-time caretaker: Mr. Palmer had been struggling with serious illness, and both men knew that he was dying.

The meeting that night was not entirely coincidental. Mr. Palmer “wanted someone to be there for me,” Mr. Ready said. “He was looking for somebody to look out for me when he was gone.” After meeting Mr. Frank, he recalled his partner saying: “He could take care of you.”

Oh, is there something in your eye?

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill said they began to see changes in their usually cantankerous colleague. “I should’ve known you were here,” said one leading House Republican after bumping into Mr. Ready in a hallway. “Barney was nice to me today.”

Haha, Barney Frank has been ruined by his love for his sweet, caring, nurturing, and also nagging young husband. Let us remember together happier times.

[NYT Vows]