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Home Front: Politix
Kinky Friedman and Katrina Refugees
2006-09-13
AUSTIN — A Houston-area lawmaker said Tuesday that she is "vehemently insulted" by independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman's derogatory comments about Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Friedman last week attributed a spike in Houston's crime rate to the "crackheads and thugs" who evacuated New Orleans.
He's not the one equating 'crackheads and thugs' with any racial group - it seems to me Ms. Thompson is the racist.
Her mind did just seem to leap to a single race, didn't it?
"He has demonstrated a total lack of human sensitivity," said state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston. "The people of Katrina have lost everything and are suffering not only from the loss of loved ones, but the trauma of the event itself. What has precipitated from this tragedy is behavior that results from a disastrous event."

Friedman campaign spokeswoman Laura Stromberg said Friedman is "one of the most compassionate people I've ever met."

"The fact of the matter is Houston has seen a tremendous surge in crime ... we're talking about homicide jumping 20 percent and many of those are being linked to Katrina evacuees," Stromberg said. "Was he politically incorrect? Sure. But Kinky's not afraid of the truth. He will be honest at the risk of losing some popularity."

Houston police have reported that 59 of the 262 Houston murders between Jan. 1 and Aug. 26 involved Katrina evacuees, either as victims or suspects.
I don't get it - I thought Texans would stomp our thugs, but instead they're just sending them back to us.
"Kinky Friedman has called himself a 'compassionate redneck,' " said Thompson, chairwoman of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. "He would do well henceforth to highlight his compassion while de-emphasizing his redneck tendencies."
Posted by:Glenmore

#15  "Run them out of Rudy's also please"

Wussah matter Besoeker? They eatin' up all the Brisket and Ribs, or are they tryin to pay with a FEMA card?
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-09-13 14:19  

#14  Houston also reported a 40% increase in felony arrests.
Posted by: ed   2006-09-13 12:59  

#13  Run they out of Rudy's also please.
Posted by: Besoeker   2006-09-13 12:57  

#12  Ditto here in Austin, although we about to cut off their alowances.
Posted by: texhooey   2006-09-13 12:51  

#11  Looks like Barbara Jordan. Obviously doesn't think or act like her. By the way, anyone recall Barbara's advice on illegal immigration from way back when ?
Posted by: SOP35/Rat   2006-09-13 12:33  

#10  Here is the cow, er, Hon. Representative herself!



Posted by: Texas Redneck   2006-09-13 10:55  

#9  That's funny, Friedman was a lot more sensitive when he headed the Texas Jewboys.
Posted by: Perfesser   2006-09-13 09:23  

#8  We've also seen an upswing in criminal activity here in San Antonio, and yep, you guessed it, a disproportionate amount of it comes from Katrina evacuees.

I'd never vote for Kinky in a million years, but I agree with him on this one. Send every last crackhead and thug from New Orleans back where they came from.
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-09-13 09:13  

#7  So does she object because she thinks he's wrong or because she thinks it's impolite to point it out? That "reality based" thing can be tricky.
Posted by: Elmelet Pheamble4067   2006-09-13 08:00  

#6  He will be honest at the risk of losing some popularity."

Somehow, I don't think his popularity will be hurt at all.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-09-13 07:31  

#5  Excellent point, SB! Bam!

I think you're right, SPoD - he has the huge advantage of not really caring whether anyone approves of him or not, lol. I wouldn't vote for him over Perry, but...
Posted by: .com   2006-09-13 06:09  

#4  Kinky can hold his own against the real bigots.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2006-09-13 05:42  

#3  Funny, I thought that Houston's current chief of police said that Katrina refugees were a big part of the crime spike. But then again, he's black....so it's not like Senfronia and the TX Legislative Black Caucus are going to confront him in the same way....
Posted by: Swamp Blondie   2006-09-13 05:34  

#2  Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston.

Send Frank on in hea!...."it's a GIRL!"

The "D" preceeding Houston, about as necessary as preceeding the word bird with the "winged."
Posted by: Besoeker   2006-09-13 02:59  

#1  "Senfronia"

LOL. Sounds like her parents were demented botanists... Gosh, I wonder where she got her knee-jerk racist attitude. She would do well to focus on a mirror... Unless she looks like Cynthia, of course.
Posted by: flyover   2006-09-13 02:41  

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