Kinky for Perry

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My friend Odis alerted me to this piece.  I feel compelled to share a glimpse of what politics CAN be.  After reading, you are welcome to draw your own conclusions.  Oh, I voted for Kinky over Perry.  Can I pick ‘em, or what?

                                                                                    

By Kinky Friedman | The Daily Beast – 14 hrs ago

Rick Perry has never lost an election;    I’ve never won one.  Maybe that’s what’s wrong with the world.  On the other    hand, I’ve long been friends with Bill Clinton and George W., and Rick    Perry and I, though at times bitter adversaries, have remained friends as    well.  It’s not always easy to maintain friendships with politicians.  To    paraphrase Charles Lamb, you have to work at it like some men toil after    virtue.

I have been quoted as saying that when    I die, I am to be cremated, and the ashes are to be thrown in Rick Perry’s    hair.  Yet, simply put, Rick Perry and I are incapable of resisting each    other’s charm. He is not only a good sport, he is a good, kindhearted man,    and he once sat in on drums with ZZ Top.  A guy like that can’t be all bad.  When I ran for governor of Texas as an independent in 2006, the Crips and    the Bloods ganged up on me.  When I lost, I drove off in a 1937 Snit,    refusing to concede to Perry.  Three days later Rick called to give me a    gracious little pep talk, effectively talking me down from jumping off the    bridge of my nose.  Very few others were calling at that time, by the way.  Such is the nature of winning and losing and politicians and life.  You    might call what Rick did an act of random kindness.  Yet in my mind, it made  him more than a politician, more than a musician; it made him a mensch.

These days, of course, I would support    Charlie Sheen over Obama.  Obama has done for the economy what pantyhose did    for foreplay.  Obama has been perpetually behind the curve.  If the issue of    the day is jobs and the economy, Rick Perry is certainly the nuts-and-bolts    kind of guy you want in there.  Even though my pal and fellow Texan Paul    Begala has pointed out that no self-respecting Mexican would sneak across    the border for one of Rick Perry’s low-level jobs, the stats don’t entirely    lie.  Compared with the rest of the country, Texas is kicking major ass in    terms of jobs and the economy, and Rick should get credit for that, just as    Obama should get credit for saying “No comment” to the young people of the    Iranian revolution.

More to the point, could Rick Perry    fix the economy?  Hell, yes!  Texas is exhibit A; Rick’s fingerprints are all    over it.  He’s been governor since Christ was a cowboy.  The Lone Star State is booming.  The last time I checked, Texas is kicking in a hell of a lot of    the U.S. GDP.  Unemployment is lower than the vast majority of the other    states.  Hell, we could probably even find a job for Paul Begala.

As a Jewish cowboy (or “Juusshh,” as    we say in Texas), I know Rick Perry to be a true friend of Israel, like Bill Clinton and George W. before him.  There exists a visceral John Wayne    kinship between Israelis and Texans, and Rick Perry gets it.  That’s why he’s visited Israel on many more occasions than Obama, who’s been there    exactly zero times as president.  If I were Obama, I wouldn’t go either.  His    favorability rating in Israel once clocked in at 4 percent.  Say what you    will about the Israelis, but they are not slow out of the chute.  They know    who their friends are.  On the topic of the Holy Land , there remains the    little matter of God.  God talks to televangelists, football coaches, and    people in mental hospitals.  Why shouldn’t he talk to Rick Perry?  In the    spirit of Joseph Heller, I have a covenant with God.  I leave him alone and    he leaves me alone.  If, however, I have a big problem, I ask God for the    answer.  He tells Rick Perry.  And Rick tells me.

So would I support Rick Perry for    president?  Hell, yes!  As the last nail that hasn’t been hammered down in    this country, I agree with Rick that there are already too damn many laws,    taxes, regulations, panels, committees, and bureaucrats.  While Obama is    busy putting the hyphen between “anal” and “retentive” Rick will be rolling up his sleeves and getting to work.

A still, small voice within keeps    telling me that Rick Perry’s best day may yet be ahead of him, and so too,    hopefully, will be America’s.