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September 19, 2006

Cleaning out the Capitol

Perhaps a musician in Austin is better than a politician

Story by: AJ Eaton

The Shorthorn Opinion Editor

When speaking with Kinky Friedman, I asked numerous questions and received numerous answers, but I think the most important question I asked was, “What does Texas need right now?”

Every candidate in the gubernatorial race has solutions to problems posed to them, such as education, immigration and crime, but to the question of the condition of Texas politics, it seems only Friedman has a clear answer.

Friedman’s policies are questionable, and when asked how he is going to implement them, he couldn’t come up with a clear answer, but he made his stance on politics clear: “Kinky is for musicians, not politicians.”

Thursday he told The Shorthorn that Texas is not moving forward.

“We’ve got politicians right now and not statesmen,” he said. “A politician is looking at the next election. A statesman is looking at the next generation.”

Friedman said the government cannot continue on the way it is being run.

“If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’re gonna get what we’ve always got,” he said.

While the Friedman campaign has its problems — namely the inability to pinpoint how it will fix Texas’ problems — it also has one key thing going for it: a new political philosophy.

For too long Texans have allowed career politicians to simply ramble about issues and not fix anything. Higher education in Texas is suffering as the students are forced to dish out more money every year to pay their tuition. Since the deregulation of tuition by the Perry administration, Texas public college costs have gone up a total of $653 million. According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, students have seen average tuition and fees jump more than 50 percent since the 2001-02 year.

No one person can be blamed for Texas’ problems. The system, which over the years has forgotten the people, is the problem. While Friedman may have some views I’m not in line with, I can agree that the game of politics needs to be changed.

The entire system is not broken. There are diligent, hard-working legislators trying to make things right. But the majority of the politicians these days are only looking for two things — re-election and a paycheck.

I don’t know who the best candidate is to fix our problems, but I know Friedman is not the standard politician. He is not a suit and tie that shakes hands, offends no one and does nothing.

I don’t know how Friedman would be as Governor, but I am glad he is running. I am glad someone is attempting to change how Texas government and elections work. You may not agree with legalizing casino gambling or the push toward biodiesel, but at least it’s a new idea from a man who is admittedly not a politician.

White middle-aged men with power ties have been running things too long. Maybe we need a Jewish cowboy, novelist and country singer.