Frank got too clever with that one. He is always looking for factual errors in people's questions. He then jumps on the factual error and gets all sarcastic. The problem here is that the factual error in this kid's question, if there was one, is not obvious. So, it just looks like Barney is beating up on a critic. Not his finest moment.

One thing I will say in Barney's defense is that he has been unfairly attacked over his role in the credit debacle by people who have no clue (Bill O'Reilly, for example). Barney screwed up, but some people try to blame the whole meltdown on him. That can't be easy for someone with such a big ego. He should know, however, that beating up on a student is stupid.