Why the Hell Not? Because Bell is Better

I will actually urge others to vote for him. But he will never be welcome at my dinner table. 

I do agree with Molly that Ann would have put things aside as well and voted for the party and so she would have voted for Bell. And so it is, as she points out, a vote for Ann and all the things she believed in.  End of subject.

I hope he wins but I also hope in a year or two I don't have to post a "I told you so."  A gentle hint to a new governor.

Believe us -- if Bell can win, BOR will be among those that follows him the closest. We believe he won't disappoint, which is why we've pushed so hard for so long.

Now, a very great man once said that some people rob you with a fountain pen.

Some are taking offense at her endorsement of Chris Bell on the same basis others took offense at Liz Smith's endorsement of Kinky Friedman.

Maybe Liz Smith knew Ann Richards better than Molly Ivins did. But maybe Molly Ivins knew Ann Richards better than Liz Smith did.  No one will ever know who Ann Richards would have endorsed if she endorsed anyone or who she would have voted for.

I think Molly Ivins endorsed Chris Bell simply because she realized that Kinky Friedman could not win at this point and Chris Bell can and so if we really want to get rid of Rick Perry, we have to vote for Chris Bell.  She should have left it at that.

Regardless of her reason, I trust her decision.  Which is why I said if she endorsed him, I would vote for him.

By mail. I'm off to Italy.  Ciao.

in regards to ITPT, i posted almost the exact same thing this morning.  great minds and all that.

Fudd's first law of opposition: Push something hard enough and it will fall over.

A lesson in that for all of us.

If I could do no better than letting a columnist or blogger pick my vote for me, I would be too ashamed to vote.

Molly Ivins has been the voice of Democrats in this state and this country for some time.  For her to endorse anyone is reason enough for me to vote for them.

People use all sorts of inputs to help them decide.  Whatever gives them peace and gets them to the polls, I'll bless.

XT

Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

I just updated my sig here and at DKos appropriately.  Or at least, I think I did.

I will not concentrate on any other election than TX-23. ... Go Ciro!

The best reason, still, is Molly Ivins and her endorsement.  What bothers me, however, about Molly Ivins is why is it okay for her to speak for Ann Richards but not okay for Liz Smith?  Seems a little hypocritical.  Actually more than just a little. 

Molly is being roasted on Sunday in Austin.  Maybe someone should hire a psychic and channel Ann and let her speak for herself!  Although it might embarrass everyone.

Ciao. Again. Hopefully.

First, Liz Smith inaccurately said that Ann Richards would have supported Kinky.  We know that this was inaccurate because Liz later retracted her misstatement (while Liz retracted her misstatement, Kinky still waves around the erroneous "endorsement" like a bloody handkerchief).

In contrast, Molly Ivins did not say that Ann endorsed Bell or anyone else; Molly's main point was to correct Liz (which should hardly seem controversial because Liz had previously corrected herself, and Ann's family had released a joint statement that Liz had grossly misspoken about their mother's views).  Here's what Molly said:

There was a bit of flap recently when Liz Smith claimed the late Ann Richards would have been in favor of Kinky for governor. Maybe Liz knew Ann better than I did. But I’d bet not. Listening to her memorial service, I was reminded how hard we fought and how tough it was. I thought of the slippage since she left office—blacks and browns left out again. All we have to do to win this is get Democrats to vote. Let’s make it a vote for Annie.

Second, and more importantly, Liz's inappropriate comments were contrary to Ann's family's strongly held beliefs about Ann's political views.  Molly's comments were consistent with, and followed, Ann's family's views.

This is why I do not fault Molly Ivins while I do fault Liz Smith.

Not necessarily.  You and quite a few others apparently didn't read the Austin American Statesman story in which Liz Smith "explained" rather than "corrected" herself.

"Smith said earlier by telephone that Richards found the Kinkster smart and funny but might not have wanted to hurt Democratic candidate Chris Bell, a Houston congressman, with an outright Friedman endorsement."

""Is the Democratic candidate worth blowing up with gunpowder?" Smith asked."

http://tinyurl.com/k...

Liz Smith's column in the New York Post is still there.  Gardner Selby's story in the Austin American Statesman is still there.  Neither have been corrected or retracted. The story and the column stand. Which is probably why Kinky Friedman has not removed the link to Liz Smith's column. 

Liz Smith didn't say Ann would have endorsed Kinky Friedman. She implied it. Molly Ivins didn't say Ann would have endorsed Chris Bell. She implied it.

For that, I fault both. They should have endorsed their candidate themselves. And left Ann out of it.

Someone asked me this morning why anyone in Texas would vote for Kinky Friedman. I told them the Texas legislature is a joke so who best to govern it and Texas but a jokester?

I was then asked who I was voting for.  I told them I was voting for Chris Bell because Molly Ivins had endorsed him. They asked who Molly Ivins was.

Big bird awaits.  Ciao.

Voting in 2004 had to do with everything.  Outing Valeria Plame, enormous deficits, increased poverty and abortion, misleading the public on WMD, a quagmire in Iraq, failing to catch Bin Laden, enormous job losses, etc. Do I really need to spell out how abismal the Bush record was even by 2004?  Voting for Bush in 2004 says that you are not politically astute, so you don't deserve even a moderately high position in government, let alone governor of Texas.

I will not concentrate on any other election than TX-23. ... Go Ciro!

Question: So does this idea of the honorable cowboy have anything to do with why you threw your support behind President Bush in this last election? You did, didn’t you?
Friedman: Yes. I did in this last election, but I didn’t vote for him the first time.
Question: Who did you vote for in 2000?
Friedman: I voted for Gore then. I was conflicted. . .but I was not for Bush that time. Since then, though, we’ve become friends. And that’s what’s changed things.
Question: So it’s your friendship with him that’s changed your mind about having him as president more than his specific political positions?
Friedman: Well, actually, I agree with most of his political positions overseas, his foreign policy. On domestic issues, I’m more in line with the Democrats. I basically think he played a poor hand well after September 11. What he’s been doing in the Near East and in the Middle East, he’s handling that well, I think.

Interestingly, it cannot be true that Kinky "voted for Gore" in 2000 if "Friedman voted in the 2004 presidential general election but not in any other contest since 1994." 

So not only is Kinky a Bush-Republican, he's a liar.