“So would I support Rick Perry for president? Hell, yes! As the last nail that hasn’t been hammered down in this country, I agree with Rick that there are already too damn many laws, taxes, regulations, panels, committees and bureaucrats. While Obama is busy putting the hyphen between ‘anal’ and ‘retentive,’ Rick will be rolling up his sleeves and getting to work.”
— Kinky Friedman, musician and former gubernatorial candidate, in a column that ran Wednesday in The Daily Beast endorsing presidential candidate, Gov. Rick Perry.

“Perry is going to be the Republican nominee. His coalition is pretty obvious from these numbers. It’s the South, the evangelicals and the tea party geezers. What’s more, these elements of his constituency appear to be fiercely loyal. …We might as well skip the primary and go straight to the general election.”
— Paul Burka, senior executive editor at Texas Monthly, in his blog responding to Wednesday’s Gallup Poll results indicating that Perry leads among Republican presidential candidates.

“We know Texas Longhorn fans are among the most loyal and enthusiastic in college sports, so we’re pleased to add the Longhorn Network.”
— Terry Denson, vice president of content strategy and acquisition for Verizon, according to the Dallas Business Journal. Verizon announced Thursday that it will pick up the Longhorn Network, which launches today.

“Texas finds itself at the epicenter of the national debate on the future of higher education. … No university system is better poised than the University of Texas System to lead the debate and offer solutions to benefit our students, faculty and staff.”
— Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa at the UT System Board of Regents meeting Thursday while introducing his new nine-point plan for improving Texas higher education, according to The Texas Tribune. The board unanimously approved the plan at the meeting.

“The task forces, system leadership and the 15 presidents have worked tirelessly and made significant progress over the past several months on many of the major issues. We must focus and redouble our efforts in the spirit of continuous improvement and advance a culture of innovation and positive change across the University of Texas System and its institutions.”
— Cigarroa in a statement released Thursday detailing his plan.