Molly Ivins, Rest in Peace

Molly Ivins spoke at a Lloyd Doggett fund raiser thrown by my friends, the Mehtas, about 15 years ago. She was the flame-headed metapresence swaying through the room, tall as I am, with a half-smile on her face and a beer in her hand. Her speech was essentially one of her columns, and she was funny in an acerbic, curmudgeonly way. I was in awe of her, and too shy to go up and tell her, which I'll always wince at myself for. I've done what I can to read everything she's written, since I moved to Texas in the late 80s, and I will miss her.

From her last column, January 11, 2007:
"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."

Three of my favorites:
"The United States of America is still run by its citizens. The government works for us. Rank imperialism and warmongering are not American traditions or values. We do not need to dominate the world. We want and need to work with other nations. We want to find solutions other than killing people. Not in our name, not with our money, not with our children's blood."

"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."

"I still believe in Hope - mostly because there's no such place as Fingers Crossed, Arkansas."