Our Man in Austin

Hometown Hero Dennis Bonnen, the state Representative from Angleton, has made the cover of a statewide publication thanks to his leading role in dismantling environmental regulations in Texas.

It was only a few years ago that Bonnen seemed to be just a piece of the Legislature furniture as he didn't seem to do much to raise anyone's attention.

Boy, has that ever changed.

Now Bonnen is being depicted as a tool of the chemical industry who stalks the floor of the Texas House cracking his GOP bullwhip and hissing at colleagues who cross him.


Bonnen, who never met a newspaper photographer he didn't like on the local seen, is depicted on the cover page of the latest Texas Observer in a photo that is hopelessly outdated. One wonders if the liberals at TO did this on purpose, just to give Bonnen a media wedgie.

A more recent photo of the lawmaker is featured on an inside page, a picture that makes Bonnen appear to be on the back end of a three-day bender.

Yes, the two photos really are of the same person, lending further evidence to the old adage that a few years public office adds 25 years of wear and tear to a politician's visage.

Anyway, to his credit, or discredit, depending on your political stripes, Bonnen is lauded by the Observer for one of the bills he sponsored.

Overall, though, they pretty much place him at the top of the Darth Vader category of public officials.

Crazy, man, crazy.