Burnt Orange Report is in a contemplative mood, looking back at the major events of the year. Their biggest scoop was posting years-old clips of Kinky Friedman's comedy routine, wherein the entertainer lets loose with the dreaded N-word in the course of his routine. BOR magnate Phillip Martin says "I'm not sorry for posting the audio clips, or for our coverage on Friedman, but I am sorry that I didn't cover it better. I should have waited for all the show to be uploaded before putting up the clip (something we eventually did), even though I feel the full show is more damning. Still, it would have been more fair."

Granted, with his history and profile, Friedman was operating a different type of campaign, one which ultimately was horribly unsuccessful. Still, I'm not sure how much BOR's disclosures actually hurt him. On Election Night, it was only Kinky's hardcore Kool-Aid swillers, and looking back, I think it's likely that's how it was all along.

The blogosphere is abuzz with news about the Speaker race in the Texas House. The latest:

• Robert Talton is the first Republican chair (Urban Affairs Committee) to publicly pledge support for incumbent Tom Craddick's opponent Brian McCall.

• Craddick is hemorrhaging pledges.

• Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie) says he'll also throw his hat in the ring.

• Also, Quorum Report has a decent rundown of the arcane structural maneuverings required for the actual vote.

So weird. With all this talk of pledges, nominations and seconds, it's like marauding hordes of Patricians and Plebeians invading the Sadie Hawkins Dance.

Only the Statesman editorial board could fuck up something as simple as a tribute to president Gerald Ford. On Ford's defining moment, his quick turn-around in pardoning Nixon, they say "as the nation got to know this modest man better, most accepted that Ford really did act in what he believed was the best interest of the country." "Most" is further defined as Kay Bailey Hutchison, and a quote from Ted Kennedy calling it "an extraordinary act of courage." (So is storming hell with a glass of ice water – that doesn't make it a good idea, though.)

Aside from setting a questionable precedent, one which lead to Clinton's long vilified Marc Rich pardon, there's a greater danger in Ford's actions, one we're reaping the wretched spoils of today. In sweeping Nixon's crimes under the rug for the sake of "the country" ("the landed Beltway gentry" is more like it), Ford began the pushback against the transparency Watergate promised, entrenching what we know today as the theory of the "unitary executive" allowing Bush's ambitions to roam unchecked. It's no accident that Donald Rumsfeld and the architect of the Imperial Presidency, Dick Cheney, served under Ford, the latter's views no doubt forged in reactionary response to hardened congressional oversight.

Granted, it's poor etiquette to speak ill of the dead. But with Bush committing crimes that would make Tricky Dick blush, there's a more appropriate cliché: those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Seems like I'm not the only one to take Time's accolades seriously, John Edwards has announced he's running for president in 2008 – via YouTube. To wit:

I thought Edwards made a great potential VP in 2004, his debate with Cheney being a timeless example of youth and idealism versus age and... pure evil? I'm definitely digging what he emphasizes here also (expanding health care, raising the minimum wage, combating genocide and rejecting the 'surge' in Iraq). 2007 will definitely be an interesting year.

Indeed, the year is drawing to a close, and we're preparing our Top 10 lists. Hard to believe, but Northcross only blew onto the scene in the year's fourth quarter. What were the local, state, national and international stories that mattered the most in 2006?

Despite the warnings of my three visiting Christmas spirits, I’ve neglected my blog again. This time, however, it wasn’t because of laziness or boredom or even the lure of sweet, sweet Internet pornography.

Nope, I haven’t been blogging lately because, when my positive, pro-Cowboy rants became laughingly naive, I hung up my keyboard, afraid I’d jinxed my beloved team.

But on Christmas, when the Cowboys fell 23-7 and dropped the division, though I hadn't written a thing about the game, I realized my blog isn’t jinxing the Cowboys. Apparently, they read my blog for motivation, for the kind of tough love only someone like myself, or perhaps Coach Graham T. Lubbock from Just the Ten of Us, could provide.

Just as Coach Lubbock would let his unholy amount of daughters learn lessons the hard way or just as my own dad sent me off to kindergarten each morning with a rousing, “You were an accident, and you ruined my life,” my crushingly cynical observations gave the Cowboys the drive to succeed.

Without the knowledge of my parents’ constant desire to “abandon [me] in an Arby’s bathroom somewhere,” I would certainly not be the successful Internet sportswriter I am today. So how can I expect the Cowboys to succeed without my gruff brand of encouragement?

As the year sputters to an end, we see more round-ups, countdowns and accolades. More often then not, they're pithy, inconsequential and arbitrarily awarded, but every now and then, they make the right choice. Like Time awarding me – a blogger, MySpacer, YouTuber and Flickrer (I think I got that one right) – their Person of the Year award. Finally, they got one right.



I, Wells Dunbar, thank you for my award.

   Yes, friends, it’s here. Bowl Week. 'Tis the season for the conclusion of football season. Bowl Week? Before we get to the good stuff – the BCS bowls that actually mean something – we are offered a plethora of bowl games that seem, like illiterate families from the Florida panhandle, to multiply every year. Thanks to the corporate interests that give us such intriguing games as the Papa Johns.com Bowl, Capitol One Bowl, and Outback Steakhouse Bowl, Bowl Week is actually more than two weeks long.
   Does anyone remember the Poulan Weed-Eater Bowl?

Responsible Growth for Northcross has an application ticking-off the 60-day building moratorium at Northcross minute by minute. Heavy.