Kinky is way too liberal for my blood even though he has a little bit of a libertarian streak.  I like him a little better today after reading an article he wrote for the Daily Beast.  I liked this paragraph a lot:

When I ran for governor of Texas as an independent in 2006, the Crips and the Bloods ganged up on me. When I lost, I drove off in a 1937 Snit, refusing to concede to Perry. Three days later Rick called to give me a gracious little pep talk, effectively talking me down from jumping off the bridge of my nose. Very few others were calling at that time, by the way. Such is the nature of winning and losing and politicians and life. You might call what Rick did an act of random kindness. Yet in my mind it made him more than a politician, more than a musician; it made him a mensch.

Rick Perry was willing and thoughtful enough to make the call. Kinky Friedman was willing to take the call and gracious enough to respond to it positively. I liked Rick Perry a lot before I read the article and Kinky Friedman almost not at all. I think I like them both a little bit better now.  Read the whole thing.

H.T.  Kevin Williamson at National Review Online