February 18, 2005: Headlines: COS - Malaysia: Writing - Malaysia: Humor: Politics: Election2006 - Friedman: Baltimore Jewish Times: When asked why he's running for Texas governor, Jewish humorist Kinky Friedman calmly responds: "I need the closet space."

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Malaysia: Special Report: Author, Humorist and Malaysia RPCV Kinky Friedman: February 9, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: RPCV Kinky Friedman (Malaysia) : February 18, 2005: Headlines: COS - Malaysia: Writing - Malaysia: Humor: Politics: Election2006 - Friedman: Baltimore Jewish Times: When asked why he's running for Texas governor, Jewish humorist Kinky Friedman calmly responds: "I need the closet space."

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-123-27.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.123.27) on Sunday, February 27, 2005 - 5:15 pm: Edit Post

When asked why he's running for Texas governor, Jewish humorist Kinky Friedman calmly responds: "I need the closet space."

When asked why he's running for Texas governor, Jewish humorist Kinky Friedman calmly responds: I need the closet space.

When asked why he's running for Texas governor, Jewish humorist Kinky Friedman calmly responds: "I need the closet space."

Kinky Friedman For Governor

Joshua Runyan
Special to the Jewish Times

FEBRUARY 18, 2005
Philadelphia

When asked why he's running for Texas governor, Jewish humorist Kinky Friedman calmly responds: "I need the closet space."

When asked what he'd do as the Lone Star State's chief executive, he dryly remarks: "I will make my Palestinian hairdresser, Farouk Shami, the Texas ambassador to Israel."

And yet when Friedman, 60, is questioned if he is even remotely serious about the independent candidacy he announced on Feb. 3, the mystery writer and country music star resoundly proclaims: "Hell, yes!"

"Most people see it as a breath of fresh air," says Friedman, speaking from his office in Austin, Texas. "The governor of Texas is not all that powerful, but a lot can be done, not in the area of heavy-lifting, but in influence."

Friedman identifies education as his No. 1 issue. "Take any subject, education, for instance, the first question here is always how are we going to get more money?" he says. "That's missing the point. The question should be: What are we going to do with the money? Build more gymnasiums? Buy more computers from Dell?

"We need to find all of these people who work in resource-strapped schools, gather them together and listen to them," he continues. "It should be, 'No Teacher Left Behind.' "

On his campaign Web site, Friedman advocates legalizing gambling to fund education, as well as abolishing political correctness, outlawing the declawing of cats, and appointing country-music headliner Willie Nelson as "energy czar."

'All about freedom' Despite Friedman's supposed confidence — the "Kinkster" frequently speaks of himself in the same sentence with such notables as Jesus, Moses, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi — he readily admits he has an uphill battle in a state that last saw an independent gubernatorial candidate in 1859, with the running of Texas revolutionary hero Sam Houston.

According to Texas law, to be listed on the ballot Friedman would need 45,000 signatures from voters not participating in either of the major-party primaries, a situation he describes as "perverse."

"It's impossible to make an independent candidate here," he laments. "But this is not a political campaign. This is a spiritual one. It's spiritual in that it's all about freedom, all about independence, and the only advisor I have is my father Tom, who died two years ago."

Sherry Sylvester, spokesperson for the Republican Party of Texas, which dominates most state offices, sees no threat in Friedman's candidacy, which follows on the heels of such unconventional candidates as former Montana Gov. Jesse Ventura, a pro-wrestler turned Reform Party candidate, and current California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican.

Adds Sylvester: "I think that independent candidacies of jokesters like Friedman only work when you've got an uninformed electorate. Texas voters are anything if uninformed."

Friedman, in his characteristic Southern twang, brushes off the criticism. "We've hurdled from a joke to something that people think seriously about," he says of his campaign. "The real joke is Texas is first in executions, but 49th in education."

This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.





When this story was posted in February 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

The Peace Corps Library Date: February 7 2005 No: 438 The Peace Corps Library
Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state.

Make a call for the Peace Corps Date: February 19 2005 No: 453 Make a call for the Peace Corps
PCOL is a strong supporter of the NPCA's National Day of Action and encourages every RPCV to spend ten minutes on Tuesday, March 1 making a call to your Representatives and ask them to support President Bush's budget proposal of $345 Million to expand the Peace Corps. Take our Poll: Click here to take our poll. We'll send out a reminder and have more details early next week.
Peace Corps Calendar:Tempest in a Teapot? Date: February 17 2005 No: 445 Peace Corps Calendar:Tempest in a Teapot?
Bulgarian writer Ognyan Georgiev has written a story which has made the front page of the newspaper "Telegraf" criticizing the photo selection for his country in the 2005 "Peace Corps Calendar" published by RPCVs of Madison, Wisconsin. RPCV Betsy Sergeant Snow, who submitted the photograph for the calendar, has published her reply. Read the stories and leave your comments.

February 19, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Date: February 19 2005 No: 449 February 19, 2005: This Week's Top Stories
NPCA Board positions are open for nomination 17 Feb
Mike Tidwell on trial for climate action protest 17 Feb
Katie Dyer is co-owner of Cadeaux du Monde 16 Feb
Cyclone misses Tonga and Samoa PCVs 16 Feb
Phil Hardberger in debate for Mayor of San Antonio 16 Feb
Edmund Hull is Princeton Diplomat-In-Residence 16 Feb
Bruce Greenlee is longtime friend of Latino community 15 Feb
Mike Honda new vice chairman at DNC 15 Feb
Jospeh Opala documents slave crossing from Sierra Leone 14 Feb
Dear Dr. Brothers: Aren't PCVs Hippies? 14 Feb
Joseph Lanning founded the World Education Fund 14 Feb
Stanley Levine draws Marine and Peace Corps similarities 14 Feb
Speaking Out: JFK envisioned millions of RPCVs 13 Feb
Chris Aquino visits mother's homeland of Vietnam 12 Feb
Is PCOL blocking users from posting messages? 12 Feb
JFK Library opens Sargent Shriver Collection 1 Feb
RPCV responds to Bulgaria Calendar concerns 28 Jan

WWII participants became RPCVs Date: February 13 2005 No: 442 WWII participants became RPCVs
Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service.
Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps Date: February 7 2005 No: 436 Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps
The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress.
RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service Date: January 30 2005 No: 405 RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service
RPCV Groups mobilize to support their Countries of Service. Over 200 RPCVS have already applied to the Crisis Corps to provide Tsunami Recovery aid, RPCVs have written a letter urging President Bush and Congress to aid Democracy in Ukraine, and RPCVs are writing NBC about a recent episode of the "West Wing" and asking them to get their facts right about Turkey.
RPCVs contend for Academy Awards  Date: January 31 2005 No: 416 RPCVs contend for Academy Awards
Bolivia RPCV Taylor Hackford's film "Ray" is up for awards in six categories including best picture, best actor and best director. "Autism Is a World" co-produced by Sierra Leone RPCV Douglas Biklen and nominated for best Documentary Short Subject, seeks to increase awareness of developmental disabilities. Colombian film "El Rey," previously in the running for the foreign-language award, includes the urban legend that PCVs teamed up with El Rey to bring cocaine to U.S. soil.
Ask Not Date: January 18 2005 No: 388 Ask Not
As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

Read the stories and leave your comments.






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Story Source: Baltimore Jewish Times

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Malaysia; Writing - Malaysia; Humor; Politics; Election2006 - Friedman

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