Molly Ivans Tribute (by her editor on her homepage.)

[Mugsy]

Molly-I's editor, Anthony Zurcher, has posted a tribute to Molly on her Creators Syndicate homepage:

MOLLY IVINS TRIBUTE
BY ANTHONY ZURCHER

Goodbye, Molly I.

Molly Ivins is gone, and her words will never grace these pages again -- for this, we will mourn. But Molly wasn't the type of woman who would want us to grieve. More likely, she'd say something like, "Hang in there, keep fightin' for freedom, raise more hell, and don't forget to laugh, too."

If there was one thing Molly wanted us to understand, it's that the world of politics is absurd. Since we can't cry, we might as well laugh. And in case we ever forgot, Molly would remind us, several times a week, in her own unique style.

Shortly after becoming editor of Molly Ivins' syndicated column, I learned one of my most important jobs was to tell her newspaper clients that, yes, Molly meant to write it that way. We called her linguistic peculiarities "Molly-isms." Administration officials were "Bushies," government was in fact spelled "guvment," business was "bidness." And if someone was "madder than a peach orchard boar," well, he was quite mad indeed.

Of course, having grown up in Texas, all of this made sense to me. But to newspaper editors in Seattle, Chicago, Detroit and beyond -- Yankee land, as Molly would say -- her folksy language could be a mystery. "That's just Molly being Molly," I would explain and leave it at that.

But there was more to Molly Ivins than insightful political commentary packaged in an aw-shucks Southern charm. In the coming days, much will be made of Molly's contributions to the liberal cause, how important she was as an authentic female voice on opinion pages across the country, her passionate and eloquent defense of the poorest and the weakest among us against the corruption of the most powerful, and the joy she took in celebrating the uniqueness of American culture -- and all of this is true. But more than that, Molly Ivins was a woman who loved and cared deeply for the world around her.

(more)

The Progressive media has lost a titan, for without whose trailblazing on Liberal politics expressed with humor there'd be no Bill Maher or Jon Stewart. And the only voice of reason that could possibly have calmed a brewing fight between Bill O'Reilly and Al Franken in 2003. :)

[Bozita]

1. My large pot and large spoon stand ready for action!

RIP, Molly.

[Mugsy]

3. I posted her 2003 Bill-O/Al refereeing online.

I clipped Molly's comments from the 2003 L.A. Book Expo when she intervened in the escallating argument between an obnoxious Bill O'Reilly and Al Franken.

http://www.bi30.org/4blog/Molly-LA_Book_Expo-030602.mp3

Her comments about what she feared Iraq might turn into were quite prescient.

[fooj]

2. Authentic.

May your heart always see clearly.

And may your spirit shine brightly upon us, Molly.

:patriot:

[Briar]

4. Now it's up to us

to end the war, as she urged in her last column.

"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. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge."

That would be a marvellous memorial for her.

http://www.creators.com/opinion/molly-ivins.html

[fencesitter]

5. The Texas Observer home page

http://www.texasobserver.org/

Worth a look.

[JPZenger]

6. She Tried to Warn the Country before the 2000 Election

Molly wrote an extremely detailed book entitled "Shrub" before the 2000 election that desparately tried to warn the people about the real personality of King George. She had seen him up close in Texas for many years. Unfortunately, few people paid attention. I didn't read the book until 2 years later.

That book described in detail Bush's past business scandals, insider trading, misuse of eminent domain, influence peddling, directing of government contracts to immoral buddies, and total lack of concern about poor Latinos.

If only more people had listened to her. May she rest in peace.

Considering that Molly spent most of her life in the most polluted region in the US, I wonder whether Bush's environmental crimes helped to cause her breast cancer.