Molly Ivins, RIP
Dean
Molly Ivins has died at age 62 of that horrible beast known as cancer.
It's hard for me to know what to say about this. It's like finding out that Ann Coulter or Maureen Dowd have died. I can't quite think of what exactly I should say.
I always liked her Texas attitude--I am a fellow Texan after all--and I tend to like ballsy women. Even if they are faux-liberals like Molly.
But it's hard to think of any major political commentator of the last few decades who's been more shallow and spiteful, except maybe Michael Savage or Paul Krugman or Ann Coulter or Maureen Dowd. On the other hand, there's much to be said for just saying what you honestly think and let the world be damned.
I'm sure she was much beloved by her friends, and admired by devoted fans to whom she devoted a career to saying every nasty thing that they ever wanted to hear. She also had a tough life in a lot of ways, usually undeservedly so, which probably fed a lot of the anger that so obviously fueled most of her work.
So I guess I'll just say:
Go with God, Molly.
And as much as I disagreed with her pretty much 100%, 62 is way too young, and that disease way too cruel. I would rather have her sparring with Tony Snow than have this happen.
I don't wish cancer on anyone short of a murderer or torture artist.
www.thoughttheater.com
I'm still very sad to hear of her passing. I didn't know she'd had a relapse.
I take no pleasure in her passing, but I'm not going to praise her just because she died of a horrible disease. Molly Ivins, like Maureen Dowd, was a symptom of what is wrong with political debate in this country. I'm sorry she died of cancer, I shed no tears that her shrill partisan voice is no longer going to be spreading her own version of bile anymore.
I'd say exactly the same thing about Ann Coulter, it's not about partisanship, it's about civility and decency in public debate.
He didn't have to. He could have stayed absolutely silent. But he's a good, honest, decent man.
Oh, and then a little "go with god" as you take the knife out?
No class whatsoever.
Perhaps the "trashing" of her on the occasion of her death is because that's when her name is in the news and the commentary is relevent?
I wonder how long it would take me to find an occasion of Molly Ivins trashing some conservative on the event of his/her death. Want to take some odds on Ronald Reagan?
Since we're discussing hypocrisy and all you know...
The woman made her living brutally savaging decent people. I will not fail to note that fact on the occasion of her death.
I think you do not know what the word "hypocritical" means, because what would be hypocritical would be ignoring the nastiness that defined her career and saying nice things about her just because she had an unpleasant and undeserved death.
By the way, the way you pick and choose is interesting. I compared her to nasty pieces of work like Paul Krugman, Maureen Down, AND Michael Savage and Ann Coulter. Which is a comparison I stand by without shame. Interesting that you chose only to be outraged that I compared her to the right-wing nasties and not the left-wing nasties. Why, I wonder...?
There are no left-wing nasties, after all.
Oh, right. I forgot.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.