less than a month left and i am still not sure whom to vote for. the debated didn't help at all, just political blabbering trying to cover their asses.
OK, now I'm ticked off again at Friedman's campaign. (calling him "Kinky" just went bye-bye) I can't believe this statement was made by his campaign spokesperson. From the Houston Chronicle, about the fallout from the Foley scandal: Laura Stromberg, spokeswoman for independent candidate Kinky Friedman, said, "The latest scandal can only add to the massive amount of cynicism people already feel for the two-party system." "I think most social conservatives are more astute than that. They know, yeah, there's a problem, and it needed (to be) found out and it needed (to be) dealt with. But they also understand that this is a Democrat ploy," she said. "People knew. People held on to it (release of the information) with the express purpose of damaging turnout at this election." Fero, a Democrat, scoffed, "I wish we had that kind of power." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4253295.html I fail to see how Friedman is any different than the Republicans in power who have helped create this scandal. Keep D&D Civil.
thinking its a democrat conspiracy is a bit far, but you do have to wonder about the timing of the whole thing, do you not? if people have known for 5 years, why is it now being released by abc of all news outlets? this isn't a defense of kinky, his campaign has been getting hit left and right, like the true underdog campaign that it is, dean barkley needs to get the staff under control.
The people who knew were Republicans and not Democrats. If they knew for 5 years they wouldn't have waited to spring it on the nation during midterms, it would have been used during the Presidential election when a number of congressmen were also up for elections. Most importantly this talk about it being sprung right now is a red herring. The alternative is that it was still kept a secret. Foley would still have his seat and still be stocking underage boys. Is that really what people are arguing for? It is much better that it came out now.
What I can't abide is that Friedman's campaign spokesperson is repeating, word for word, the same BS out the the Rove playbook for trying to cope with this political disaster for the GOP. The same crap being spewed on Rush, and by every Administration talking head, without scruples, that can get on TV or radio. I thought Kinky was supposed to be an independent? He's running as a Republican, but not a moderate Republican, one who would refuse to repeat this baseless BS. I'm truly shocked. He must be desperate. If he doesn't believe this himself, than he should fire this far-right lyin' mudslinger, and repudiate what she said. Otherwise, why is he running for office? Keep D&D Civil.
looking for more stances that kinky takes? http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/2006/10/right_to_hunt_and_fish.html dont believe the lies rick perry is spreading. and for those looking to vote for whoever has the best chance at beating perry when election day comes - Friedman No. 2 in polls as election day nears http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_4498241
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/4258764.html Oct. 14, 2006, 9:31PM The tin ears of Kinky and Chris By RICK CASEY One of the best pieces of advice given to people who inherit money or win the lottery is to not make any important decisions immediately. So what does Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell do upon receiving a check for $1 million? He leaves a telephone message on Kinky Friedman's cell phone asking the Kinkster to meet with him for the purpose of discussing why Friedman should drop out of the race to help Bell defeat Gov. Rick Perry. How stupid is this? Let's just say we're glad Bell is not in charge of negotiating with North Korea. One of the most important skills in politics is being able to understand the concerns and motivations of others. Friedman, for example, is not coming from the same place as Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the other independent in the race. A drug-like euphoria Strayhorn became an independent because she figured she couldn't win the Republican primary. Years earlier she became a Republican because she figured she couldn't win as a Democrat. Now this is the kind of practical politician with whom, under certain circumstances, one might be able to cut a deal. Kinky Friedman is nothing of the sort. Kerr County records measure his interest in electing a Democrat. He has voted only once since 1994. That was in 2004 when, he told the Dallas Morning News, he voted for President Bush, whom he described as "a good man trapped in a Republican's body." Friedman is, in other words, the passionate personification of "none of the above." He clearly believes that the Democrats are no better than the Republicans. So what, other than the drug-like euphoria of being handed a check for a million bucks, could make Bell think Friedman would quit in order to help him defeat Perry? A refusal to apologize And to leave a voice mail message proposing the plot? Did Bell not even consider how that would play when (not if) it was made public? It was the kind of rookie mistake that will make million-dollar-donor John O'Quinn's goal of hitting up other rich trial lawyers on Bell's behalf even harder to achieve. It was also the same rookie mistake that has Kinky Friedman reeling over racial terminology. In politics, words are very important — not only what is said, but how it is said. The reason is that how it is said has a huge impact on how it is heard. And whether it's in a private phone message to a political rival or a public statement referring to a racial bloc, a politician needs to anticipate how it will be heard. Friedman was the only one of the four major candidates for governor not to be invited to the Texas NAACP convention this week after he refused to apologize for the use of the N-word in comic routines 25 years ago. A year-old television interview also appeared in which he said he would put sexual predators in prison "and throw away the key and make them listen to a Negro talking to himself." Friedman says such usages are intended as satire exposing racism. But black people, who have suffered a long, tortured history at the hands of white people who talked that way, seem to have a hard time getting the joke. In fact, I don't get the joke either, the recent one or the old one. As it happens, I was in the audience 25 years ago. I was living in New York and missing Texas a lot. I saw that Kinky was playing at the then-famous Lone Star Cafe in Greenwich Village. I still have his fine mid-1970s album that included They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore. I knew every word of every song and was eager to hear him in person. But I walked out after getting tired of him spacing his songs with ramblings that included multiple uses of the N-word. If there was satire, it was lost on me. And I'm not an absolutist on this. Mark Twain used the offensive word to good satirical effect in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. But with Friedman, I just took it to be the cocaine talking. Friedman says he quit cocaine after returning to Kerrville in 1985. "I know the effect cocaine and many of these drugs have on your willpower and your dreams," he told my colleague R.G. Ratcliffe last month. "They distance you from your better angels." I can't explain Friedman's more recent gaffes. But for someone who wants to lead Texas, it's not good enough to say you're a satirist and suggest that those who take offense are pathetically politically correct.
On Kinky The fact that this is in the Weekly Standard is going to add fuel to the idea (on this board and in Bell's mind) that Kinky is a Republican. Even so, it's a great read.
maybe a good sign--> not sure what the Round Top Register is, but they're endorsing Kinky Friedman for Governor of Texas http://www.roundtop.com/kinkytexas.htm Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, the state's top Republican donor, is venturing again into national politics, putting more than $8 million into the GOP's effort to maintain control of Congress. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4264077.html that's just ****ing sick.... $8 million?
