Ride 'Em Jewboy

After a stupidly protracted legal battle, country singer/novelist Kinky Friedman, a candidate for governor of Texas, will be allowed to use his stage name on the ballot. He'll appear as Richard "Kinky" Friedman—even though he hasn't used the "Richard" since the early 60s.

This might not have become an issue at all, but for the ploy of rival independent candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn (Scott McClellan's momma). Strayhorn claimed that voters knew her best as "Grandma," because 1)she used "One Tough Grandma" as one of her slogans and 2)she's old. There's no love lost between the two independents: When Strayhorn claimed her entry into the race to beat Gov. Rick Perry made it a "two-way contest," Friedman snarled: "I agree with her; it's between Carole and her ego."