Day: September 14, 2006

Kinky Friedman (yeah, that’s right) is running for Governor of Texas, and he’s trying to capture the reefer vote.

Kinky Friedman says he favors legalizing marijuana to keep nonviolent users out of prison. If Texas elects him governor, he says, he’ll try to get locked-up pot users released to make room for more violent criminals.

“I think that’s long overdue,” Friedman told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. “I think everybody knows what (U.S. Sen.) John McCain said is right: We’ve pretty well lost the war on drugs doing it the way we’re doing it. Drugs are more available and cheaper than ever before. What we’re doing is not working.”

Friedman, the often irreverent singer, entertainer and mystery writer, is running as an independent in a bid to unseat Republican Gov. Rick Perry, and he’s getting some serious attention.

Kinky is probably right. Legalization could be the way to go, so long as the government poisons the crop before it’s packaged and sold. That’d solve the drug addict problem.

Bush, on the death of former Texas Gov. Ann “Ma” Richards, 73.

“Texas has lost one of its great daughters. Ann loved Texas, and Texans loved her. As a public servant she earned respect and admiration,” Bush said in a statement. “Ann became a national role model, and her charm, wit, and candor brought a refreshing vitality to public life.”

Ann once called George Bush, “some jerk” and she became famous for this remark made during the 1988 Democratic National Convention, a jab made toward George Bush Sr. She quipped…“Poor George, he can’t help it … He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”

Did she deserve such kind remarks today from the President? In George W. Bush’s world, that doesn’t matter. He looked past partisan rancor and complimented Richards’ service, her likability, and her ability to shoot straight. That’s Bush.

Contrast this with the comments made during Sen. Paul Wellstone’s funeral.