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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Ink for the Kink
Texas’ next governor, Kinky Friedman (hey, it’s possible) might not reduce the number of executions, but he could surely crack up prisoners during last meals. He’s a funny guy in song (“They Ain’t Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “I’m Proud To Be An Asshole From El Paso”). He’s funny in print (Static recalls reading one of his books years ago, in which a character mentions the “skid marks” left by the heels of a corpse that had been dragged across a floor. Kinky’s character replies something like, “Those are heel marks; skid marks are what’s on your couch.”) And he’s funny in person — proved again during a May 25 campaign stop at The Flying Saucer in downtown Fort Worth. He could call his campaign the Strolling Blunder Review, since he is crossing the state, pointing out mistakes from yahoo politicians and assuring everybody that he could do better. “Musicians can run this state better than politicians,” he told a crowd of about 100. “Beauticians can run this state better than politicians.”
His campaign slogans — “How hard can it be?” and “Why the hell not?” — seem like goofs but are actually on the mark. Friedman’s entire campaign seemed like something of a goof until he hired political strategist Dean Barkley, a Minnesotan who figured a way to make blowhard wrestler Jesse Ventura that state’s governor. At The Flying Saucer, however, Barkley seemed more excited about Fort Worth Weekly than stumping for Kinky. That week’s cover featured Fort Worth Cats manager Wayne Terwilliger, and Barkley nestled it in his hand like a Mickey Mantle rookie card. Terwilliger spent eight years coaching Barkley’s hometown Twins, including two World Series seasons. “I can’t believe you have Twig on the cover!” Barkley said.
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