Kinky Friedman: Speaking TRUTH to Words

Kinky address borders, gays and his past statements

By MICHAEL RODDEN
The Daily Sentinel
Thursday, September 28, 2006

The Twilight Ballroom at SFA campus was full of "Kinky Fever" Thursday as independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman spoke about current issues and fielded questions from the audience.

His first point was that he is not a politician. Politics, he defined as "poly," meaning more than one, and "ticks," meaning blood-sucking parasites."

Friedman addressed topics such as border security, legalized gambling, gay marriage, prayer in schools and the TAKS test, and he clarified statements he has made in the past.

"It's nothing personal," Friedman said of the other candidates running for the governor's seat," But I think everybody is ready for a change."

He said the race is about "Kinky against apathy," and if the people of Texas show up to the polls, Perry's gone.

In the last gubernatorial election, only 29 percent of Texans voted, and Friedman said the number needs to rise to around 40 percent. He encouraged younger people to vote to make the numbers rise.

One issue that requires a change is the lack of security on Texas' border, said Friedman, who proposes sending 10,000 troops to secure the border "now!"

He said the minimal troops that are at the border have "weapons, but no ammo" and they don't have the power to get the job done.

"They are down there for show," he said.

I.D. cards issued following background checks would allow immigrants to work in Texas, and stricter punishments for employers who hire illegal immigrants would improve the situation, Friedman said.

Clarifying previous statements he made on Hurricane Katrina evacuees, Friedman said only a small number of the evacuees are responsible for the rising crime rate in Houston. He said he was previously misquoted as generalizing all of them as "crackheads and thugs."

"This is not racial, in any way. If it were Corpus Christi spring-breakers who were killing people, I would send money to Corpus Christi to put more cops on the street," Friedman said. "That's what I want — more police on the streets in Houston."

Friedman defended himself by saying he is "not a racist, but a realist."

One of Friedman's main stances in the governor's race is regarding Texas' energy situation. He said he wants to wean Texas off of the "dinosaur wine."

As soon as a sizeable number of Texans try bio-diesel, he said. "you'll find that the environment gets cleaner, the engine gets cleaner, the prices at the pumps drops, and they stay down."

"Then we would have the chance to lead the American parade once, instead of following it — to be first in renewable fuels," Friedman said.

You will not find a candidate as diverse as he is, Friedman said. He is for gay marriage and prayer in schools. The major parties won't let their candidates support both, he said.

"Boy, I'm so glad he (Rick Perry) spent all this time banning gay marriage while education, immigration and the environment are all cratering in Texas," Friedman said. "In education we rank 50th, right now. Guam and Samoa are sneaking up on us, right now."

Part of the blame has to do with the TAKS test, according to Friedman. He said students should be taught more than just what will be on the test.

As a way to help fund education, Friedman said legalizing gambling could bring in the much-needed funds instead of Texans sending their money to surrounding states through gambling.

"If you don't want it here, then vote it out. It will be a local option," Friedman said. "For places like Galveston and Padre, it's going to be huge."

He said this will bring in a steady revenue for education and would also lower property taxes. Friedman also wants Native Americans to be able to open casinos on their lands.

"I am 100-percent sure this would pass," he said. "We are only fueling the economies of five other states."

Recently, Friedman was reported as saying he wanted to legalize marijuana, but he took the time to clarify what he said he really meant Thursday.

"Legalizing marijuana is not bright; decriminalizing is the way to go, for many reasons," Friedman said.

People make mistakes, he said, and not all should go to prison or have a criminal record for it.

"We don't have enough room in our prisons for the really bad people, like pedophiles and politicians," Friedman said.

Many people flocked to voter registration tables that were set up, and Friedman was available to sign autographs, meet and talk with people after the event.

"I will sign anything but bad legislation," Friedman said.

source: http://www.dailysentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/09/29/kinky_9_29.html
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Pot Decrim a Kinky Idea

With new FBI crime stats revealing that more than 800,000 pot users were arrested last year – the vast majority for mere possession – at a cost of some $10 billion per year (see "Weed Watch," p.24), the pot decriminalization stance being taken by indie gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman doesn't sound as off-the-wall as pot prohibitionist politicos might have you believe. During a recent editorial board meeting with the Associated Press, Friedman said he supports legalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana as a means to free up jail and prison space and financial resources that would be better spent on drug education, prevention, and rehab programs. He also supports legalizing medi-pot for use by seriously ill patients on the advice of a physician, said his spokeswoman Laura Stromberg. While Friedman's pot decrim position may be a hard sell for status quo drug-war-addicted pols (with the exception of a handful of Texas legislators, most notably Houston Rep. Harold Dutton, who authored a decrim bill last session), his medi-pot position could have legs. So far, legislators on both sides of the aisle – including Austin Democrat Elliott Naishtat, outgoing Austin GOP Rep. Terry Keel, and Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, R-Lampasas – have thrown their support behind medi-pot legislation. Each medi-pot bill has languished in committee, but as support for such a measure continues to grow, it's clear that medi-pot will remain a perennial issue under the dome – one that could finally find sunlight with a little gubernatorial support. – Jordan Smith


Friedman Fights Off Racism Charges

Kinky Friedman was forced on the defensive last week for racial slurs he made during a 1980 stand-up comedy performance in Houston, explaining his use of the n-word was a satirical dig at bigotry. The independent candidate for governor refuses to apologize for the remarks, which first surfaced on the Burnt Orange Report Web site and drew immediate criticism from his campaign rivals and African-American leaders.
"I'm not a racist, I'm a realist, and fuck 'em if they can't take a joke," Friedman said Friday from New York, where he was attending a fundraiser. "I was an equal opportunity offender," he said. "I was one of the first. Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor were ahead of me; Chris Rock was after me."
Friedman was especially critical of Gov. Rick Perry for weighing in on the racial comments. "Now he thinks he's Jesse Jackson," he said. "He's shocked by comments about people of color – that really takes the prize. This is the man who told gays to leave Texas if they didn't like the ban on gay marriage."
News of his 1980 comments followed another stir he created earlier this month when he referred to the Katrina evacuees in Houston as "crackheads and thugs." Most of the evacuees in Houston are black. Additionally, opponents dusted off a video of a CNBC interview last year when he announced what he would do with sexual predators: "Throw them in prison and throw away the key, and make them listen to a Negro talking to himself." The line appeared in one of his earlier mystery novels. The CNBC interview drew little attention at the time because Friedman wasn't considered a serious candidate. But recent polls show him neck-and-neck with Democrat Chris Bell and ahead of fellow indie Carole Keeton Strayhorn, both of whom desperately need Friedman out of the way to close in on Perry. Said Kinky: "The fact that this is popping up now is great news for us."
Friedman has backed off of other incendiary comments he's made. He says he no longer supports the war in Iraq, and he doesn't really hate young people, nor does he support teenage suicides, as he has stated in several interviews. On the war, he says, "It's clear to me that Willie [Nelson] was right. I lost a thousand dollar bet to Willie on that. I bet that Bush and Blair would be heroes within a matter of months [after the invasion], and Willie won a thousand bucks from me, which he still hasn't collected." He also says he's re-evaluated his thoughts about young people, the group his campaign is targeting to drive up voter turnout in November. "I would say that the evidence today is that teenagers love Kinky, and there's hardly any of them in Texas who want to grow up to be like Rick Perry," he said. "Young people and I are getting along really well right now. Maybe because we both feel that we're bucking the system, and maybe there's a connection there." – Amy Smith

source: http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A406134