Friday, December 22, 2006

R U THERE? PUT ON BURQUA

Sometimes I wonder if old-school folks like yours truly are really relevant in this topsy-turvy crazy world we live in today and right now. But I got me some validation this afternoon.
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Well-known bridge player, baseball fan and political dinosaur Paul Burka posted (and by "posted," I mean he had his assistant do it) two items regarding The Earth-Shattering Speaker's Race That Has Gripped Our State. Normally this would be a fairly interesting story -- if there were a Speaker's race (people, can you feel the sarcasm dripping from my keyboard?).
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Let me let you in on a little secret. No, come closer. Even closer. Alright. THERE IS NO SPEAKER'S RACE!
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I was able to thoroughly discredit Mr. Burka, the executive editor of Texas Monthly, by using an old trick Billy Clyde developed in the '80s when he was a newspaper reporter. He called the people supposedly involved, he asked them questions until he was comfortable that they told him the truth, and then he politely said "good-bye" and hung up.
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Yeah, it takes a lot of effort. But sometime the old tried-and-true methods still work.
-30-

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So much for your reporting skills dude

Anonymous said...

Hey, Billy Clyde, it's not really Anonymous. It's Shake Tiller, your old roomie from El Rancho Borracho.

Is it too late to "bet you a dollar" on there being a speaker's race?

BC, you forgot Rule No. 1 in a Speaker's Race: Everyone lies.

Billy Clyde said...

Shake, I am so disappointed in you.

Members of the House don't lie. Sure, there are misunderstandings that stem from ambiguities and imprecise statements. Or sometimes they forget stuff.

But I would chalk this up to the Speaker's Statute making members more nervous than the actors in Sam Jackson's upcoming flick "Snakes In Your Sleeping Bag."

In the highly improbable event I am wrong, Billy Clyde shall acknowledge it. Yeah, rigt.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to all. The Bookmans send their best. Also, Big Ed wishes you would settle down and get right with the world.

Anonymous said...

Ummm..
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4427702.html

Never mind.