Burnt Orange Report

Introducing Matt Hardigree, as if he needs it

By Matt Hardigree

Matt Hardigree (who has inspired me to add Urban Studies as a double major to my Government degree plan) is our newest addition to the Burnt Orange crew. He'll be running a, well, "humor" column each Wednesday on this site, with the permission to make you laugh and cry at our expense. And to totally help us regain market share from PinkDome among 14-28 year old gay men who have been distracted by that pretty new site design. But don't worry ladies, and sorry guys, I hear that Matt is indeed one of those het-er-o-sex-uals. Welcome him nonetheless. -KT

My name is Matt Hardigree and if you don't know who I am, where have you been?

Karl-T, on numerous occasions, has asked me to grace this site with my unique wit, which knows no bounds, and my unique-for-BOR perspective, which extends beyond liking girls. The constant begging, the late-night calls, the threats of self-immolation convinced me that it was perhaps time to give-in.

For those few who may not have heard my name on the lips of important people, or read of my glory in the pages of important periodicals, allow me to briefly indulge myself in recounting my conquests.

At the age of 18, I ran a ficus plant against my congressman, Kevin Brady (R- The Woodlands), and have never been the same since. The ficus lost, but not without garnering some great media attention. It is where I learned to appreciate the grassroots.

I've done campaign work and legislative work for two State Reps and, most recently, co-created the Max Sandlin for Congress website. Like the Ficus, he also lost (though the Ficus, it could be argued, had a more reasonable district).

At the University of Texas I was the president of the Texas Union Student Events Center (what was the Texas Union Council, for older alum) which was much larger and more important than Marcus' organization… but he's okay with that.

The accomplishment that most qualifies me for posting on the Burnt Orange Report was my stint as a weekly columnist for The Daily Texan. What made me the most beloved columnist for the paper was not my command of the English language, which soon-to-be legendary editor Ben Heath once described as "Piss poor at best," nor was it my political insight, which, though better than Byron's at a municipal level, lacks a certain sophistication. My one great asset was my humor, infectious and modest.

That isn't to say BOR writers can't be funny, Dobbs is hilarious. It's just that Dobbs is unintentionally funny, the way children are.

On this site, I will act as an ombudsman of sorts, offering critiques
of the net-roots community, of those who make comments, of the BORers
and, you can be assured, never of myself.