RIP Molly Ivins
It is with great sadness that I recognize Molly Ivins, who died of cancer today at age 62. Molly was an pubished author, a newspaper columnist and a political commentator. I discovered Molly a few years ago when I worked at a library. I thought her books were wonderful and I agreeed with most of her opinions. It's a shame that we have lost such an honest and uncensored voice in American politics. I will miss her.
Some of my favorite Molly quotes:
* "There are two kinds of humor. One kind that makes us chuckle about our foibles and our shared humanity -- like what Garrison Keillor does. The other kind holds people up to public contempt and ridicule -- that's what I do. Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. I only aim at the powerful. When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel -- it's vulgar."
* "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. Politics is not a picture on a wall or a television sitcom that you can decide you don't much care for."
It's the complacency and the apathy that gets me most of all. Why do people think what's going on in Washington doesn't affect them? Stand up and be counted or don't complain.
* "One function of the income gap is that the people at the top of the heap have a hard time even seeing those at the bottom. They practically need a telescope. The pharaohs of ancient Egypt probably didn't waste a lot of time thinking about the people who built their pyramids, either. OK, so it's not that bad yet -- but it's getting that bad."
Oh, but it is that bad. When the average CEO makes 400 times what one of his workers does, it's pretty much the same thing. Imagine making a year's worth of money in one day! That's shameful!
* "We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there."
And let them know that "supporting our troops" is not sending 20,000 extra soldiers when they don't have enough trucks, body armor or even tents for them over there!
* "Everyone knows the man has no clue, but no one there has the courage to say it. I mean, good gawd, the man is as he always has been: barely adequate." --on Geaorge W. Bush
* "Conservatives have been mad at the Supreme Court since it decided to desegregate the schools in 1954 and seen fit to blame the federal bench for everything that has happened since then that they don’t like."
Heck yeah!
* "If he gets even more sedate, we will have to water him twice a week."--on (then president) Ronald Ragen
* "Let me say for the umpteenth time, George W. is not a stupid man. The IQ of his gut, however, is open to debate. In Texas, his gut led him to believe the death penalty has a deterrent effect, even though he acknowledged there was no evidence to support his gut's feeling. When his gut, or something, causes him to announce that he does not believe in global warming -- as though it were a theological proposition -- we once again find his gut ruling that evidence is irrelevant. In my opinion, Bush's gut should not be entrusted with making peace in the Middle East."
Amen, sister. Amen.
Molly Ivins
August 30, 1944- January 31, 2007
Rest in peace
Some of my favorite Molly quotes:
* "There are two kinds of humor. One kind that makes us chuckle about our foibles and our shared humanity -- like what Garrison Keillor does. The other kind holds people up to public contempt and ridicule -- that's what I do. Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. I only aim at the powerful. When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel -- it's vulgar."
* "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. Politics is not a picture on a wall or a television sitcom that you can decide you don't much care for."
It's the complacency and the apathy that gets me most of all. Why do people think what's going on in Washington doesn't affect them? Stand up and be counted or don't complain.
* "One function of the income gap is that the people at the top of the heap have a hard time even seeing those at the bottom. They practically need a telescope. The pharaohs of ancient Egypt probably didn't waste a lot of time thinking about the people who built their pyramids, either. OK, so it's not that bad yet -- but it's getting that bad."
Oh, but it is that bad. When the average CEO makes 400 times what one of his workers does, it's pretty much the same thing. Imagine making a year's worth of money in one day! That's shameful!
* "We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there."
And let them know that "supporting our troops" is not sending 20,000 extra soldiers when they don't have enough trucks, body armor or even tents for them over there!
* "Everyone knows the man has no clue, but no one there has the courage to say it. I mean, good gawd, the man is as he always has been: barely adequate." --on Geaorge W. Bush
* "Conservatives have been mad at the Supreme Court since it decided to desegregate the schools in 1954 and seen fit to blame the federal bench for everything that has happened since then that they don’t like."
Heck yeah!
* "If he gets even more sedate, we will have to water him twice a week."--on (then president) Ronald Ragen
* "Let me say for the umpteenth time, George W. is not a stupid man. The IQ of his gut, however, is open to debate. In Texas, his gut led him to believe the death penalty has a deterrent effect, even though he acknowledged there was no evidence to support his gut's feeling. When his gut, or something, causes him to announce that he does not believe in global warming -- as though it were a theological proposition -- we once again find his gut ruling that evidence is irrelevant. In my opinion, Bush's gut should not be entrusted with making peace in the Middle East."
Amen, sister. Amen.
Molly Ivins
August 30, 1944- January 31, 2007
Rest in peace
posted by Cherry Red at 8:12 PM
2 Comments:
Speaking of supporting the troops, just in case you wanted/needed more motivation to get ticked at these people, here's a link to a NPR story on some truly horrible stuff happening to some of these guys when the get home.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6576505
If you'd rather not have random links clogging up your blog, feel free to delete the comment. :)
Amen, Molly was awesome and sahe will be sorely missed.
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