remembering Molly
Molly Ivins was a divider in a land overrun with sappy, New Age, touchy-feely directives that we should join together, be a mass, toe the company/government line.
In a world where Prez Bush wanted nothing more than our steady and unflagging support, no matter what, Molly Ivins said, “You’re an idiot, and you’ve lost your fucking mind.”
I loved Molly Ivins. Brilliant. Acidic. Salty as a sailor. No nonsense. Practical. Personal. Visceral.
She was an honest liberal who wasn’t insulted by the title, and she was never, ever afraid to speak her mind.
She died this week after a long battle with breast cancer, and the world of journalism is worse off for that. There isn’t an equal liberal voice out there. Al Franken is just too smirk-y. And, Garrison Keeler is too, too sweet.
You can check out Molly’s last editorial here.
Some of my favorite Molly Ivins quotes:
The first rule of holes: when you’re in one, stop digging. (About the Iraq War.)
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You can’t ignore politics, no matter how much you’d like to.
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What stuns me most about contemporary politics is not even that the system has been so badly corrupted by money. It is that so few people get the connection between their lives and what the bozos do in Washington and our state capitols.
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During a recent panel on the numerous failures of American journalism, I proposed that almost all stories about government should begin: “Look out! They’re about to smack you around again!”
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I am not anti-gun. I’m pro-knife. Consider the merits of the knife. In the first place, you have to catch up with someone in order to stab him. A general substitution of knives for guns would promote physical fitness. We’d turn into a whole nation of great runners. Plus, knives don’t ricochet. And people are seldom killed while cleaning their knives.
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You want moral leadership? Try the clergy. It’s their job.
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The problem with those who choose received Authority over fact and logic is how they choose which part of Authority to obey. The Bible famously contradicts itself at many points (I have never understood why any Christian would choose the Old Testament over the New), and the Koran can be read as a wonderfully compassionate and humanistic document. Which suggests that the problem of fundamentalism lies not with authority, but with ourselves.
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There is one area in which I think Paglia and I would agree that politically correct feminism has produced a noticeable inequity. Nowadays, when a woman behaves in a hysterical and disagreeable fashion, we say, “Poor dear, it’s probably PMS.” Whereas, if a man behaves in a hysterical and disagreeable fashion, we say, “What an asshole.” Let me leap to correct this unfairness by saying of Paglia, Sheesh, what an asshole.
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As they say around the Texas Legislature, if you can’t drink their whiskey, screw their women, take their money, and vote against ‘em anyway, you don’t belong in office.
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Good night, Molly, and thanks.