Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., went out needling in announcing his retirement on Monday, taking delight in digs at Republican presidential candidate ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

“I will be neither a lobbyist nor a historian,” Frank, former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told reporters.

It was a dig at Gingrich, who took $1.8 million from Freddie Mac — the troubled federal mortgage giant — for what Gingrich described as his services “as a historian.”

Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae have served as favorite Republican targets.  During one debate — before his gig as a “historian” came to light — Gingrich said that Frank should go to jail because of his ties to Freddie Mac....