Al Franken v. Kinky Friedman

What do Al Franken and Kinky Friedman have in common?

They are two of the best comedians I've had the pleasure of laughing at (or with). They are universally acclaimed for at least a portion of their comedic careers.

What separates Al Franken from Kinky Friedman?

Al has spent a lot of time expressing himself on a personal and political level, prior to his announcing he might announce he'll run for office. He also a movie coming out that we in Texas can go see! And a radio show we can all hear!

Kinky didn't really distinguish himself from his humor (more edgy/satirical than Franken's) before running for Governor of Texas. He relied on friends from all sides of the fence - including the Dixie Chicks - to get him on the ballot.

That's kind of cost Kinky a few steps in the race for governor, particularly because he dismisses people who look back on what he's said and ask what he means by his words. There are some remarks, particularly those made more than ten years ago, which are clearly "Colbert" in nature, and then there those made recently, which I posted about here. They're a little more, huh?

Now, I should repeat myself in that I held the somewhat honorary title of Elections chair (or something similar) for a county Green Party here in Texas. All the candidates were former Republican office holders (mayors, precinct chairs), except for one my age who was a freelance journalist. He refused to run a campaign, but the others did, they were all retired and looking out for their grandchildren as well as their own skin.

The main theme, or party platform: Cut out the corporations and take responsibility. This was in 2002, when we knew how well Clinton cozied up to the Big Corporations with his job-shuffling NAFTA and other supply-side incentives, and we knew how the Republicans were handling "the Golden Rule."

As John W. Dean said, a Goldwater conservative is considered liberal these days.

What's even more funny, when I was in college, in 2000 my more conservative friends (one of whom went on to clerk for Judge Priscilla Owen) were all supporting Bradley in the Primary. I was pulling for McCain, up until he relapsed and played lapdog for Rove. Bradley held a little more dignity.

So it should come as no surprise that I really like the idea of a true independent holding a major office. Indeed, Kinky seems bent on changing things to eliminate corporate interest as much as possible, supplanting it with people interest. And he drinks and smokes. And is friend of Willie Nelson, elderly drug offender. My kind of guy.

(Strayhorn is the Republicans' Lieberman. Well, no, Lieberman is the Republicans' James Carville on almost every vote lately. Strayhorn is to the Republicans what Lieberman is to Democrats of whatever they're venal politicians.)

Anyways, about that movie, Al Franken: God Spoke

In Texas, we can watch it at these places and times:

Houston: 10/27 - Angelika Film Center

Austin: 10/6 - Landmark Dobie


Dallas - 9/29 - Angelika Film Center

That's when the run starts, check your town for show times. I highly recommend checking out the website -- lots of great info, links to Al's books (want to know just how full of BS Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly are? Read Franken and laugh!), and a blog more entertaining than this one, with gems such as:

You can kind of see how the whole thing plays out just by looking at the splash screen that YouTube provides. There’s Al on the left, smiling. Then there’s this oofy guy on the right who looks like a thumb wearing a tie.

I don't know of any more short vids on Kinky - I'm watching the Governor's debate soon, I promise a report. You can listen to Kinky being interviewed by Alex Jones over on youtube, courtesy of the GCN Radio Network. It's about six parts long, and If Greg Palast recommends Mr. Jones, I'll give him a listen. Honestly, it's a great interview.

Anyways, here's a classic from Kinky's friend (and energy guy) Willie Nelson.

A response to conservatives supporting Kinky Friedman.

This was originally intended as a comment on this blog. Unfortunately, I'm using the new-fangled Blogger Beta, and it doesn't play well with non-Beta bloggers. So the comment is below.

I previously posted about this video and one other here.

I will revisit this issue again soon, but I first must sleep and take care of general other things.

COMMENT:

What really troubles me about Kinky's comment is that Joe Lieberman isn't "Pro-Israel." He's anti-Arab, and anti-Arab democracy, and as a consequence, ant-Israel. TO say what Kinky did, that Lamont and the folks who voted for him are "Anti-American and Anti-Israel," is not only wrong, but it's ignorantly knee-jerk stupid. His campaign manager should have slapped him.

You and a select minority of the nation may be giddy that we have our army over there dying under false pretenses, and Kinky may believe that American dominance in the Middle East is paramount to American national policy. It is this mindset, perpetuated by Bush and the GOP, that subjugates Israel, ultimately foisting her up for defeat.

The GOP, expressed through the "Freedom Plan" Bush and Cheney enacted after 9/11, sees Israel simply as an immune military arm enslaved to do bidding of the U.S.

Let's be clear about something: "the bidding of the U.S." refers not to the will of the people, expressed through Democratic means. Rather, it refers to the hegemonic interests of behemoth corporations whose headquarters reside int he U.S. Or at least whose campaign contributions find their way to the GOP.

Take a minute and educate yourself. You don't have to be Liberal to understand that this Administration is very far off base. Just ask John Dean. I'll be happy to recommend some reference books.

Issues with Issues. TX Guv, Money and people flowin'

Have I been too hard on Kinky?

Really, now, I got thinking about it. because I don't want to procrastinate, and the election really gets under way in the next few weeks...

On the issues, Chris Bell and Kinky Friedman are very similar in their positions. They both want a cleaner Texas in both the Environmental and Political sense, both want to bridge the divide between Republicans and Democrats on major issues, both are opposed to the "Trans-Texas Corridor." The Greens don't appear to have a gubernatorial candidate this cycle, at least not posted to their website.

Rick Perry has the party-line Republican stance on issues and Strayhorn hasn't posted a stance on the issues on-line. Both are in support of toll-roads, and largely pushing Corporate interests are and disguising them as the people's interests. This is the undue influence of Special Interests their opponents speak of.

James Werner, the Libertarian candidate, is even further off that "Big Corporation need more freedom to gauge us," meme. He and Kinky are the only to list immigration as issues, and Werner is the only Pro-Immigration (free borders) candidate.

Check them out. Who do you think you'll vote for? Would you prefer instant Run-off Voting?

IRV was a big point of the Green Party back when I was involved in the Bexar County Chapter in 2000. Think about it. With the current set-up, you literally are afraid to vote your conscience for fear of "throwing away" your vote and giving the race to the one candidate you hate the most. IRV allows you to vote for your top choice, and then for the safety as well. . .if our vote is our voice, don't we all want to be heard?

With all the talk of NAFTA, free-trade and secure borders, (meaning: free flow for money and wealth, no flow for human capital) it's important that we think about the incentives that drive people. I'll have a more cogent thought later, but I wanted to pass this on:

Over the Texas Green Party's Site, they're hosting a Flash animation, Who Rules the World? that was put up a few years ago, I believe.

It raises an important question about the corrupting power of money, and the influence that has over politics. Think about it when you consider the practices, in China or elsewhere, of an old-money corporation such as Wal-Mart versus a new-money corporation such as Google.

Take a moment, after, to reflect on how small businesses get treated.

Then think about how the U.S. Congress treats the two companies. Wal-Mart and Google.

I was going to post this awhile back, but I got too busy procrastinatin'

I'll start by saying that I was pleased as pudding when Kinky Friedman announced he'd run for Governor. I like Kinky, and think Texas should have someone in office who can play music and write comedy. I also don't hold personal religious beliefs as a criterion for a candidate.

PLUS: He loves animals.

Problem was, and still is, Kinky doesn't have much of a platform. Not that the Actual platforms offered are all that good, but you know what I mean. Lazy fare ain't what we need in Texas right now.

Almost all of his campaign is Kinky talking shit about the other candidates. The rest is wisecracks that evade the issues. Again, not better than the rest, not quite not worse.

If you only watched mainstream media, you wouldn't even know that a Democrat was running, since the media only reports on the circus.

Then he appeared on Scarborough Country and said the dreaded words: "[Lieberman] is Pro-Israel and liberals are not." Watch it yourself. Also, if you're curious, check out Lamont's and Lieberman's ad campaigns so far, and see how wrong Buchanan is again.

Part of the problem with his attempt there is that over on his website, he and his campaign manager are pointing to Lamont's victory as a sign that people want change. Kinky, what kind of change is happening, exactly, and how do you fit in?

Here's a clip of Kinky being funny, but I don't get it. If you know what he means by the phrase, clue me in. Something about the death penalty, but what?


More on the Democrat's candidate, Chris Bell, and the other independents later.