Three-Point Shots, Vol. 2, No. 7: June 28, 2024

A catastrophic debate, the passing of Kinky Friedman, and a new hope for the future.

         Welcome to another edition of Three-Point Shots, a part of my Life Its Ownself Substack page. If you enjoy reading it, please 1) hit the Like button, 2) subscribe to Life Its Ownself, and 3) share it with others in the link below. Comments are welcome and encouraged.

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         But first, your moment of Zen … One of the great cowboy songs of all time, Kinky Friedman’s “Ride ‘Em Jewboy,” from Austin City Limits.

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Friday, June 28, 2024

Quote of the Week:

“How can you look at the Texas Legislature and still believe in intelligent design?”

Kinky Friedman

1.   The Debate Debacle

         I watched the debate last night at a friend’s house. Unfortunately, we failed to take my own advice and get sloshed on drinking games. For an hour and a half, we watched two of the most appalling debate performances ever to disgrace the adjective “presidential.”

         Donald Trump lies like a guy trying to win a hot dog-eating contest – jams as many of them as he can into the available space. Most of the time, though, he was Reasonable Trump instead of Crazy Trump; he didn’t talk about sharks and batteries or his luxuriant hair as he often does during his unhinged rallies.

         Biden, on the other hand, had one job: look presidential, like he knew what he was talking about and doing. He failed the test. Instead, he looked addled – close your mouth, Joe! – and overmatched.

         The format did not help. The CNN moderators treated Trump’s lies and exaggerations as if they had some factual basis. Only later, and mostly today, will we get some fact-checking.

         But it doesn’t matter. This debate has been scored, and not based on factual statements and detailed policy provisions. Trump won because it looked like he was debating a feeble old man, and the contrast was striking.

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         What next? It’s fair to note that there are still have four (!) months until the election, and a lot can happen between now and then. I remember being dismayed by Barack Obama’s first debate performance against Mitt Romney, but Obama clobbered him in their second debate and handily won the 2012 election.

         This does not feel that way. What can Biden do to erase the impression formed last night, the first time most people were paying any attention? That impression will be locked in during the next days of rebroadcasts and excerpts and commentary. And if he cannot erase that impression, how does he get out of the way?

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         Here’s what must happen:

A) Biden, his family, and his closest advisors must sit down and decide if he’s up to this – not as an old man’s final act of vanity, but as an existential necessity for America’s future. SPOILER: he’s not.

B)  Biden must announce that he will decline the party’s nomination when it meets in August.

C) So must Kamala Harris, who has underperformed as Vice President (a long story) and inspires even less confidence than her boss. For the good of the party and the nation, she must voluntarily step aside. If it’s perceived she was pushed out, the Democrats will lose crucial segments of the Black vote. (This is easier said than done, of course.)

D) The Democratic Party must fashion some way to get public input into choosing a successor for Biden and Harris. The Europeans do “snap elections” all the time – take a page from their book.

E)  While all this internal drama rages, Democrats must keep attention focused on Donald Trump: his increasingly unhinged ramblings, his slurring and forgetfulness, the mean spitefulness of his whole political project.

         The Democrats, and by extension America, have a long road in front of them. The betting markets on Biden collapsed after last night:

         There’s still time to right the race, but it may be past time to pretend Biden can win.

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2.   Kinky Friedman

        One of Kinky Friedman’s iconic (and, dear God, politically incorrect) country-western songs from the 1970s is called “They Ain’t Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore.” Well, they don’t make Jews, or Texans, like Kinky Friedman anymore.

         Kinky died yesterday at the age of 79 at his Echo Hill Ranch near Medina after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was a larger than life, Texas version of a Renaissance Man. He was a singer-songwriter, bandleader, novelist, magazine columnist, raconteur and, yes, candidate for Governor of Texas. His most fulfilling role, though, may have been turning his Hill Country property into an animal rescue ranch

         He was a familiar presence in Austin, attired in his black frock coat, cowboy hat and ever-present cigar. I knew him only casually, most often running into each other and grabbing breakfast at the old Las Manitas on Congress Avenue.

        Rest in peace, Kinky. May your memory always be a blessing.

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3.   Laura Kelley

         Sometimes a pebble drops into a still, sky-mirroring pond. Slowly and then more rapidly, tiny ripples radiate outward in all directions, disturbing the water in a symmetrical ballet of elegant precision. The world itself seems to dance in the rippling waters, calming as time passes and …

         I forget where I was going with that. Oh, yes. Laura Kelley.

         Back when I worked for Rodney Ellis, we had an intern in our office named Laura Kelley. Laura was very smart and keenly interested in how government worked and, importantly, how it served the people. After finishing her undergraduate, law and Masters of Laws degrees, (I told you she was smart) she moved to Florida (inexplicable, I know), where she built a thriving immigration law practice and got involved in her community.

         Now Laura is running for State Representative in her home district in Miami-Dade County. She is smart, decent, and running for all the right reasons.

         In these sad and cynical times, I am happy to be able to recommend Laura to you. Check her out and see if you cannot contribute to support her campaign.