If you haven’t heard of Kinky Friedman, you may never. But then again, he may be the next governor of Texas. He is a singer-songwriter, a New York Times listed best-selling author, an animal philanthropist, and now a gubernatorial candidate. I saw him on CBS’s Sunday Morning last Sunday. Now I’m not saying that I endorse Kinky, I am saying that I do agree with at least one of his notions. Kinky and I don’t believe in “political correctness”. This phrase came into being in the late ’80s. Shortened to “PC”, it spread from a few voices, to the public, and into what is now a legally enforced (in some communities) acceptance of “watching what you say and how you say it.” So quickly and rampantly has it hit America that Google alone has 1,880,000 sites listed for it. Books are prolific about it and, let’s face it, some of us are afraid to talk to, or in front of, strangers because we might say something not PC. It ran rampant in our household in the years my children were in college. Several of us older adults in the house seemed never to be PC. I will tell you what I told my children — “tough!” I grew up accepting everyone and letting them show me what they were like. Their skin color, sexual persuasion, political views, ethnicity, etc., etc., did not matter to those in our family. What mattered was their being an honest hard-worker, with faith in God, a respect for others and nature, and a willingness to accept others. In my teen years I joined an international organization as a touring choir member; it was called Up With People. It promoted loving people for who they are (God’s gift to the rest of us) not what they are or what they do or don’t do. After all these years, living all over the country, and out of the country, meeting and working with all kinds of people, I think I can safely say that making people be PC will NOT change their hearts or minds about how they feel about others. There is only one thing that can do that. For me to tell you what it is is not PC. I am not supposed to mention religious views. I will tell you that forcing people to be PC seems to infringe on freedom of speech rights. But I don’t usually get on a soapbox regarding freedom of speech because, frankly, I wish some people would shut up. (Now my grandma is spinning in her grave because if she taught us one thing, it was not to tell people to shut up.) We in America are so free and unappreciative of our freedoms, it is no wonder other countries look at us and at the very least shake their heads in disbelief. Please don’t expect me to be PC and I won’t expect you to. Do what your granny taught you — if you can’t say something nice about someone, don’t say anything at all. The weather is always a safe, non-PC subject. As far as Kinky Friedman goes, maybe Texas could use a governor who speaks frankly, is not afraid to offend some people, and has a wry sense of humor. Illinois had a statesman like that once, not as flamboyant as Kinky, but not afraid to tell it like it was. His name was Abe. He didn’t do so badly.
