I must admit to being stupidly happy when I heard about the King Of The Hill revival. I was an avid viewer when it aired on Fox from 1997-2008. We’ve only seen the first 3 episodes of the Hulu revival but it’s good to be back in the land of propane and beer. Yup.

I am, however, disappointed that Bobby Hill didn’t become a prop comedian or rodeo clown. He’s a chef, which is more socially useful that his past passions. Yup.

One thing I’ve always liked about the show is the fundamental decency of Hank Hill. He’s an old school pre-MAGA conservative who still hasn’t gone over to the dark side. His crazy neighbor Dale Gribble is a proto-Trumper: a conspiracist in search of a conspiracy. Thus far, he’s not overtly MAGA in the revival, but we know where Dale the Bug Man stands. Yup.

The Dale Gribble character was inspired by then House majority whip and former exterminator Tom DeLay. He was also a Texan but from the Houston burbs, not the Dallas metroplex. DeLay was the power behind the throne in the House after Newt Gingrich’s ouster and Bob Livingston’s flop. DeLay gave us Denny Hastert as Speaker who turned out to be a pudgy Jeffrey Epstein, only he preferred boys to girls. Still, a pervert is a pervert. Yup.

DeLay did indeed appear on Dancing With The Stars on which he proved that his belt buckle is bigger than his brain. Both DeLay and Hastert were convicted of felonies, but the Bug Man’s corruption conviction was overturned.

You’re probably wondering what I’m on about. Tom DeLay was behind the post-census Texas redistricting in 2003. That, in turn, led to the first Texas Exodus of Democratic legislators. I’m not the only who remembers, so does Josh Marshall:

Twenty-two years ago, mid-decade redistricting was unheard of. There was, as we say now, a very strong norm against it. The U.S. Census comes out every decade and then congressional seats are redistricted for the next election. That created regularity and prevented the chaos and gamesmanship of state legislatures rushing to redistrict at every moment of partisan advantage.

 

In 2002, Republicans had secured full control of the Texas state legislature for the first time since 1873. Texas was already a fairly conservative state. And it was trending increasingly Republican. But inertia and incumbency had allowed Democrats to hold on in the House. That ended in 2002. Too bad for Texas Republicans that it hadn’t happened two years earlier! Then they could have used those new majorities to redistrict the state in Republicans’ favor. Oh well!

 

But that didn’t account for Tom DeLay, House Majority Leader and largely the power behind the throne of House Speaker Denny Hastert. DeLay, who was also facing an increasing swirl of legal troubles, saw an opportunity to pad the Republican majority in the House, and he took it.”

History isn’t supposed to repeat but it has a nasty habit of doing so:

In 2003, the Speaker of the House was in thrall to another politician. In 2025, Speaker Yellowbelly is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Kaiser of Chaos. Corruption is running wild and there’s a POTUS doing illegal shit. In 2003, it was torture, rendition, and imprisonment without due process. Sound familiar?

Don’t believe the Bushies who claim that their guy was a good president. Dubya brought us the great recession, endless wars, and Sam The Sham Alito. Bush has better table manners than the Insult Comedian but in many ways Bush 2.0 foreshadowed MAGA. It’s not just the Tea Party, y’all. Yup.

The 2003 Texas Exodus collapsed out of home sickness and a belief that the other party was wrong but not evil. Nobody believes that in 2025. I hope that the Texas legislators stick to their guns and don’t bow to pressure. We’re looking down the barrel of autocracy: President Pennywise inspired the Texas redistricting special session out of fear of losing bigly in the 2026 mid-terms. Yup.

As to the Bug Men: I’m glad Dale is back and that Tom lives in obscurity. He tried to dance his way back into the nation’s good graces but all he did was look ridiculous in his boots and big belt buckle. Yup.

A final sidebar: When my mouse hovered over pictures of Dale Gribble on Bing, Microsoft Copilot informed me that it was Steve Scalise. He’s been bugging me for years, so it works. Yup.

The last word goes to the short-lived 1990’s super group, Little Village featuring Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, Nick Lowe, and Jim Keltner:

Yup.