A couple of things stood out from Gen. Tommy Franks’ talk Thursday night at the annual BSA Lyceum.

Rush Limbaugh said what? That he would leave the country if Congress passes — and President Obama signs — health care reform legislation?

Well.

One of the many maddening aspects of guys like Limbaugh is that they can utter such nonsense and not have to be held accountable for their hyperbole.

He’s not alone in making such idiotic threats.

Alec Baldwin, the actor/comedian/political activist, said the same thing in 2000 if George W. Bush was elected president of the United States. I can’t recall Baldwin’s precise language, but he went on at some length about how the nation would be going to heck in a handbag if the Texas governor ascended to the White House. Baldwin didn’t want to be associated with the country if that were to occur.

Bush won — and won again four years later. But Baldwin’s still here, making a handsome living with a network TV show. And no one has said much in recent years about that pledge to leave the country.

I’m guessing Daddy Dittohead’s threat will draw a similarly silent response if health reform passes.

Darn.

Communication is vital, especially when you’re dealing with people who are paying for a service.

I’ll have more to say on the subject in my column, to be published Sunday.

But it appears that chronic dummying-up by airline employees needs to be eradicated when things go wrong.

The weather brought some havoc to air travelers arriving at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport late Sunday. It was too foggy to land. The plane was diverted to Lubbock. One of the passengers on that flight was my wife. She wasn’t happy.

What got her so worked up? It wasn’t the diversion to Lubbock. It was the lack of explanation from anyone who might know something, and who might be able to tell her how the airline planned to get her home.

Talk to us.

I’m mystified.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry dismantled his two Republican gubernatorial rivals this past week, winning the GOP primary with an outright majority — garnering 52 percent to 30 percent for Kay Bailey Hutchison and 18 percent for Debra Medina.

But I cannot locate anyone who says they voted for him. Granted, I haven’t talked to every Republican in Amarillo. But I’ve talked to quite a few of them, many of whom are mainstream conservatives. One guy, a prominent Amarillo lawyer, said he never could vote for Sen. Hutchison “because she favors Roe v. Wade,” so he voted for Medina. Another friend, a strong supporter of Congressman Mac Thornberry and other leading Republicans, said he “held my nose and voted for Kay.” Others have said much the same thing: They just couldn’t vote for anyone with great enthusiasm. Medina, the Wharton County “tea party” activist who shot herself in both feet near the end of the campaign with that nutty talk about 9/11 possibly being an inside job, did well among the most ardent conservatives.

That was the vote Gov. Perry was targeting. The ballot totals suggest he did quite well, avoiding a runoff.

But where are they? The folks I’ve encountered in the days since the election aren’t fessing up to voting for the guy.

It’s reasonable to note that Perry doesn’t engender much warmth. He’s a tough dude, able to campaign as hard as anyone who’s come along in decades — as Hutchison learned.

Great politicians — like Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Reagan and John Kennedy — often have their names become political adjectives. I haven’t heard anyone yet declare himself to be a Perry Republican.

Gov. Rick Perry conducted a heck of a campaign against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison en route to winning the Republican nomination for governor. He has cleared a big hurdle in his quest for a third full term.

The scaffolding is down from the 1909 Courthouse in Canyon.

The exterior renovation is complete and the building looks pretty spiffy. But the question now, as always, is this: What happens now?

The inside of the structure is still a rat hole. It is unoccupied and it likely will stay that way for a good while. Yet many well-intentioned historical preservationists persuaded enough Randall County voters to pony up the public funds to fix up the exterior of the building.

I would agree that the building has a number of possibilities. It could become a museum; a private firm — such a law firm or an insurance agency — could move in; the Chamber of Commerce might consider using it.

But it’s quite clear that the county has no use for it.

The head-scratcher, though, is that the county had to pay a good bit for its exterior makeover.

As a Randall County resident, I’m truly glad the building looks so good — especially with the clock tower sitting atop it. I’m equally troubled, though, that the county is stuck with a pretty shell of a structure with a future that might be determined eventually, but likely will sit empty for a good, long while.

Are there any takers out there?

It’s becoming clear already, barely a day after the Republican primary vote for House District 87, that Rep. David Swinford didn’t do his chosen successor, Victor Leal, many favors with his endorsement.

Those wacky Texas Republicans were at it again Tuesday. There’s so much to say about the election, but we’ll start with this: What in the world produced the Railroad Commission upset of incumbent Victor Carrillo in the Republican primary?

Carrillo is a one-time Taylor County judge, geologist and lawyer. He has served a stint as chairman of the three-member Railroad Commission. He’s smart, savvy and well-versed on the energy issues for which the RRC is responsible.

But he lost the renomination battle to a guy from Giddings, accountant David Porter, who spent next to zero money and almost as little time campaigning for the office.

Does that remind you of anything? Oh yes. How about the 2002 state Supreme Court Republican primary race between Justice Xavier Rodriguez and challenger Steven Wayne Smith? Rodriguez was appointed to the seat by Gov. Rick Perry. He was supremely qualified. He, too, lost to a no-name upstart who barely campaigned for the office.

The prevailing feeling then was that Smith won because Rodriguez’s surname worked against him. Carrillo predicted something like that would might occur now, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Well, did it?

One can draw only that conclusion, given that Porter lacks the qualifications and knowledge that the incumbent possesses.

If so, it is a sad testimony to prejudice.

I just heard about the new cast of “Dancing With the Stars,” but one name just jumps out at me.

Don’t tell my sons this, but I learned something this morning: Length of years doesn’t equate to depth of knowledge.

My MP3 music player, which I strap onto my arm when I work out in the morning at the Amarillo Town Club, began acting up. It wouldn’t change songs. It was in “Repeat” mode. It was driving me nuts.

I looked around the gym and saw mostly more mature individuals. I probably was the oldest one in the room. But then it came to me: I’ll ask a young woman who works at the Town Club. Her name is Amanda, who — I learned not long ago — is just 23 years of age. She’ll know how to fix it, I thought.

Hey, Amanda, do you know much about these gadgets? I asked her, pointing to my maddening MP3. Sure, she said.

She took all of about, oh, three minutes to navigate her way around the various displays, finding the menu. She fixed it. Presto! Voila!

There you go, she said.

The moral of this little tale? Despite what I told my sons when they were growing up — that old folks know everything — I learned a lesson I knew intuitively already: When it comes to these techno-gizmos, the younger you are the more apt you are to know how to fix them.