I just found out that Molly Ivins died. I have been a huge fan of her books and columns, and enjoyed the perspective she brought to the worst administration in American history.
Ivins was known for her incisive wit and her strong liberal views, which stood out all the more given her Texas roots. If you want to understand our president’s ignominious background, the range of his business failures and bailouts, and his callous record as governor of Texas, you need do little more than read her wonderful book Shrub : The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush.
In an epoch when good journalism is hard to find and much of our most honest news comes from humorous sources, Ivins was a national treasure and will be sorely missed.
February 1st, 2007 at 12:20 am
Yes it was sad news indeed. To tell the truth in Texas these past years took courage, humor, and insight. She was blessed with all three. May she rest in peace.
February 1st, 2007 at 6:45 am
But I doubt Bush will be shedding too many tears.
February 1st, 2007 at 2:31 pm
she was one of the best. let her message live on… raise more hell!
February 1st, 2007 at 9:08 pm
Mark, thanks for posting this, I hadn’t heard. I thought she was a wonderful writer, funny and sharp and I loved her book Shrub. I’m really sad to hear this, I thought she had the cancer beat. Damnit.
February 2nd, 2007 at 4:28 pm
It is a political and social loss. I have wondered, and still do–why did she remain front and foremost when the males got demoded to ‘hard to find?’ like Noam Chomsky–(uproarious laughter follows) or Mark Russell (Have to go through several layers of contacts to locate him). Yet she always stayed front and center.Does that mean that the power centers never took her seriously because after all ‘she was only a woman?’
February 2nd, 2007 at 6:43 pm
One of the scariest columns she wrote was when she explained how the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution has basically been done away with—the powers that be can now find ways to search your “private” living area without a warrant.
February 2nd, 2007 at 8:30 pm
A great loss indeed! She was an original, and her commentary was always on target. May she rest in peace — or may she haunt her favorite targets, whichever makes her happiest!
February 3rd, 2007 at 9:45 pm
I didn’t think that you would have been old enough to have been reading her during the Carter administration.