We really did lose a great voice when we lost Molly Ivins. I have found myself thinking about her a lot. She would be having a lot to say about the religious right trying to infuse themselves into government so much.
She often spoke up about the
religious right mixing in politics..."Two hundred years of not terribly rigid separation of church and state has given us one precious gift. As a quote attributed to James Madison (never been able to find the correct citation on it) put it, "The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries." Religious strife is still soaking the soil with blood, isn't it, in Kosovo and elsewhere. To the extent that politics should be based on moral and ethical considerations, of course it has religious foundations. But dragging God into partisan politics is a sin.
Is it Christian to cut money for Head Start? Is it Christian to cut poor children off healthcare? Is it Christian to cut old people off Medicare? Is it Christian to write memos justifying torture? Is it Christian to cut after-school, nutrition and AIDS programs so multimillionaires can have bigger tax cuts? Historically, the Bible has been used to justify some stupefying crimes, including slavery and genocide. I see no indication that we are any better at divining the Lord's intent now than we ever were.
She spoke about the takeover of the Texas Republican party by the religious right.
IVINS: The Texas Republican party has been completely taken over by the Christian right. You're not looking at any kind of old-time Republicans. You're not looking at like, Poppy Bush Republicans, or people you would think of like that. These people really believe that public institutions should be destroyed. They're trying to destroy the schools. They're trying to destroy the welfare system. They don't think government should be used to help people.
And it's really not because they're mean. They really think that government is bad. And that we should be doing all this on our own, through the churches. Well, the fact that that's not doable, that it's impossible, that it's an absurd proposition, is not something you can talk to these people about.
I think she would be surprised to see the socially liberal chairman of the Democratic party being replaced by a social conservative Democrat who does not support women's choice and does not support civil unions for gays.
She once wrote a very comprehensive article on Howard Dean, and she really caught on to his centrist ways....but she realized he was for the people and what was right for them.
Molly Ivins goes to VermontMeanwhile, there's old Dean, causin' excitement. I went up to Vermont and talked to a bunch of liberals there. They all said Howard Dean is no liberal. Funny, that's what Howard Dean says, too. And indeed, he isn't, but in politics, everything's relative. The conventional wisdom first dismissed Howard Dean (the man has never been to a Washington dinner party!), then condescended to him, then graciously offered him instruction on how he should be running his campaign -- which seemed to be going along quite well without their input.
I talked to some big money guys who assured me Dean Can't Win. But of course I'm noticing this interesting thing: Dean has so much money he actually turned down public campaign financing (since I'm a card-carrying liberal, I was naturally deeply unhappy over this. But since Dean's money comes from Real People instead of corporate special interests, I'm not that unhappy.) Let me second the notion that this year, the Internet is to politics what television was in the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon race.
For a while, I fretted over Dean being angry, or at least appealing to the political anger that is normally manipulated by right-wing radio jocks. Anger makes liberals uncomfortable: We prefer peace, reason and gentle persuasion. Beloveds, it is way past time for us to get mad -- social, economic and political justice are being perverted by the Bush administration.
...."I know, he's even less of a liberal than Bill Clinton was, but I don't think Dean is a moderate centrist. I think he's a fighting centrist. And folks, I think we have got ourselves a winner here.
Molly lived to see us take back Congress in 2006. I wonder how she would react to the Conservadems whose loyalty is to corporations, the people be damned. I doubt she would like the fearfulness many of the Southern Dems displayed in voting yesterday against the Matthew Shephard bill. And she would speak out on it. I know she would.
Howard Dean gave her a
tribute when she died.Howard Dean Says:
February 1st, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Molly Ivins was, in addition to being wonderful, warm and witty, a serious force for democracy. She punctured blowhards, and seared an Adminstration that valued power over principle. We are all going to miss her a lot, but I am so glad she lived to see November 7, 2006. That is the day we began to restore out great American Democracy, and she played a big part in turning around our country.
Sincerely, Howard Dean
I remember she once said Barack Obama should run because he was the only candidate with
a little bit of Elvis in him.In many of her lectures, she would exhort her audience to believe in their power. She'd say: "I hear people whine: 'I can't do anything. I'm just one person.' " Then she'd lift her head high and quote from the Declaration of Independence in her Barbara Jordon voice and remind them, "As a U.S. citizen, you have more political power than most humans who've ever lived on this earth."
In fact, we know how she would have felt, because she was as prescient about this election before her death two years ago as she was about all the other tragedies of the Bush years. Carlton Carl, CEO/publisher at Molly's beloved Texas Observer, recalls her saying after Obama's 2004 speech at the Democratic convention, "You know ... that young man could be president some day."
Before Barack Obama announced his candidacy, Chicago Magazine asked a number of luminaries if they thought he should run. Opinions varied. Molly was succinct and direct, and with her usual wit and certainty said: "Yes, he should run. He's the only Democrat with any Elvis to him."
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