Riddle-cryptic 9

There's a few of these in this clue; don't doubt it. / I'll write a piece in the paper about it!

If someone says that yours is bad, / They don't mean your father's mother. / They mean the way you take your words / And connect them to each other.

The colonel sports a curtain of fringe / To impress his rapt beholder. / Part the fringe -- what do you see? The colonel's boring shoulder.

He ran against George B. and lost; / He warns of global warming. / His curtailed name sounds like this gunk / That in ponds is often forming.

The silversmith crafts a masterpiece / For the queen of the realm. (Yes, for her.) / The item, when finished, is exquisite and regal -- / A crowning achievement, for sure!

This cow's mad at that cow / Are feelings hurt? Yes, very! / A perfect place for this other beast, / Since it's quite the "drama dairy".

You'll find yourself with a ruing word / If you add an R to this water bird.