Whereas, Legislature did right by John Kelso

The Legislature, controlled by a party that gave us a president who believes many journalists are the enemy of the people, honored my late friend and colleague John Kelso on Tuesday.

Thank you, Texas Legislature. For you skeptics out there, this is a timely reminder that our lawmakers can do good.

Longtime American-Statesman columnist Kelso, 73, died July 28 after an extended bout with cancer and a longer career of pointing out weird stuff about people and institutions, including the sometimes perplexing Texas Capitol.

Kelso, not necessarily a fan of politicians (particularly some of the GOP ones), would’ve gotten a chuckle and a column out of this. And we all would have gotten a chuckle out of the column.

The Senate resolution was an eight-whereases deal authored by Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, and a bit of a wise guy himself. His Senate Resolution 101 was a dignified and appropriate appreciation of Kelso, though I did get a laugh when it called him something I don’t think I ever heard anyone call the ever-informal Kelso: “Mr. Kelso.”

“Whereas,” SR 101 said, “John Kelso was a hardworking newspaperman and a beloved figure in the Austin community. He was famous for his eloquent and humorous writings and for his inimitable style for telling tales. He was known to many as the bard of South Austin.”

SR 101 noted that for 40 years Kelso’s column “was a defining voice for Austin