This is a very sad day.

Molly Ivins was a great political commentator with quick wit and great ideas. She had a way of appealing to both conservatives and liberals that few can do today. This is a sad day indeed.

See Molly Ivins at her satirical best in a video called The Dildo Diaries...here:

www.thoughttheater.com

This is a sad day for our country.... a bright light has just gone out for us, But you have to believe that Molly is flying with the wings of an angel now and she goes to a much better place. #3 Daniel, Thanks for that link. I agree one of her best!

She was my inspiration. After I read Bushwhacked, I knew I had to do something with what I'd learned. Thus began "Know Bush Facts" , gazillions of hours on line googling, and my own Know Bush: Launching Facts That Shock and Awe, A OnePerson Patriot Act.

I strongly recommend her last column, a clarion call to us all.

A large thorn has been taken from George Bush's side.

Damn!

Thank you Molly! The handful of people in the media who stood tall isn't quite a handful anymore.

The neoCon MSM is probably breathing a sigh of relief, figuring they will not be exposed by more of her American style journalism.

The MSM have abandoned American style keep-a-critical-eye on government journalism and have instead become lie whores who stand on the corner and spread infection thru the land.

The Iraq invasion and occupation is the bastard child of the neoCon republican lie sperm donors and the MSM wannabe journalists.

A sickening state of affairs to say the least.

Long live the spirit of journalism that Molly lived, and down with the putrid propaganda a la Faux news.

Molly was a 20th century fox, and the neoCon MSM are a 13th century faux.

Molly would have laughed out loud at the story of an ad campaign featuring a fictional character giving the finger (link here).

It brought down an American city in the sense that everyone ran inside and the gestapo came out to save the world. Bomb squads, helicopters, red orange glow in the dark alerts everywhere.

Molly would have written a book on that one. We have become a pathetic cowering and senseless society at the hands of the fascists. She was warning us.

I am with you Barbara, Molly was my inspiration to read all I could on Bush's background, beginning with his so called Governorship here in Texas.

All I wish for is that the good, truth telling souls who have left us will help us from above. It is such a frightening time for all of us and our children. It seems NO ONE is trying to stop these two mad men, Bush and Cheney from taking us over the cliff.

Barbara Bellows-TerraNova:

Aren't you supposed to be baking cookies? Who do you think you are, Elizabeth Dole?

CTR and quit trying to bring trouble to Pleasant Valley.

Larry Bergan:

I'll bake cookies --- LOTS OF THEM --- when Bush/Cheney go to prison.

Until then, I'll keep my priorities straight, remembering Molly's friend, Ann Richards' retorte:

"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government to everyone'."—

As for CTR ("Choose the Right" - an LDS slogan, for those not up on Mormon lingo) --- I have my own translation: CHOOSE TO REVEAL! The lesser-known truths, that is.

And for the next few days, I'm going to catch up on some reading.

Rest in peace, Molly.

Light a Candle for Molly. Click on a candle that has burned out and leave a message, etc. It will light for Molly & burn for 48 hours.

Now is the time to bang our pots & pans - ITMFA!!! AND PROSECUTE all the criminals FULLY. THAT is the PATRIOTIC thing to do.

Now is not the time for more Bipartisan Folly [see link for Robert Parry's 2001 article about how the Democrats turned a blind eye to bush41's involvement in the Iran Contra scandal.] Also see Brent Budowsky's article Feb 1, 2007 - Dems Give Bush More Bipartisan Cover.

Hooray for New Mexico and Vermont - put IMPEACHMENT back on the table.

Let's do it for MOLLY!!

I've been wanting to post this link somewhere, but couldn't figure out where. As it is good populist stuff, I think Molly would approve, and it continues the subject of states doing good things (from Kira's post), taking the lead.

National/Real ID's --- Maine and Montana say, "No!" Check out the Montana links, too. No wimpy stuff there.

So long, Molly. I've read you and loved you for a long time. Our time will come, and you've been a big part in making it happen.

Democracy Now had an interview with Molly from just before the election, (I think). What a hoot! Molly opines on the Bush family.

Arry, I knew I didn't like the sound of the Identity Card & now I know exactly why. I definitely vote NO-NO-NO!!!

Thanks for the link.

You forgot, Brad, Democracy NOW!'s tribute to Molly Ivins. Amy Goodman 30 minute interview with Molly Ivins...replay of interview from a few years ago...

"""The syndicated columnist and best-selling author Molly Ivins passed away last night following a long bout with breast cancer. Her weekly column appeared in over 400 newspapers making her the most widely read progressive columnist in the country. [includes rush transcript]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The syndicated columnist and best-selling author Molly Ivins has died at the age of 62. She passed away last night in her home in Austin, Texas following a long bout with breast cancer. Her weekly column appeared in over 400 newspapers making her the most widely read progressive columnist in the country. The writer Harvey Wasserman wrote this about Molly Ivins: “If Mark Twain has a female counterpart on today’s political and journalistic scene, it is Molly Ivins. She has that miraculous ability to slice and dice an entire raft of political horse-dung with a single simple sentence, laced with wry, seeded with sweetness, and so often utterly cleansing and clarifying.’
Molly Ivins began her career in journalism at the complaint department of the Houston Chronicle. In 1970, she became co-editor of the Texas Observer. In 1976 she joined the New York Times. Six years later she returned to Texas to write. In recent years her work focused on fellow Texan, President Bush. With Lou Dubose she co-authored the books “Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush” and “Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush’s America.” Both became national bestsellers. Her most recent book was titled “Who Let the Dogs In? Incredible Political Animals I have Known.”

Molly Ivins was first diagnosed with cancer in 1999 and she continued to write despite her failing health. In a moment we will hear Molly Ivins in her own words but first we turn to the late Ann Richards, the former governor of Texas who also died of cancer. I recorded governor Richards after she was introduced by Molly Ivins at a celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the Texas Observer. """

http://play.rbn.com/?url...roto=rtsp&start=9:09

I don't think anybody's linked to Jim Hightower's site yet --- another great tribute to Miss Molly.

Molly Ivins, 1944-2007
By Jim Hightower - Thu., 07/1/07

Molly is a spirit. A big, boisterous, joyful, irreverent, hell-raising, fun-loving, muckracking, uninhibited, maverick spirit.

As such, she lives. [read the rest of his tribute at link above]

AND speaking of Jim Hightower - visit this site to watch Hightower's video - Nobel Prize for Greed re:WalMart sweatshops.

Thanks Jim Hightower. Keep up the good work!

PS - here's a link to the John Tierney article that inspired Hightower's video
Shopping for a Nobel 10/2006

For a great website-ful of tributes, go to www.texasobserver.org .

Meanwhile, the Salt Lake Tribune has published in today's paper the following as the "Letter of the Week":

Ivins' clarion call
Public Forum Letter
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:02/03/2007 12:59:35 PM MST

In the second of Molly Ivins' two books on Bush, Shrub and Bushwhacked, written with Lou Dubose, she pointed out,

"We were tempted to begin this book by observing, 'If y'all had've read the first book, we wouldn't've had to write this one.' "

Following Katrina, Molly was more serious.

"To use a fine Southern word, it's tacky to start playing the blame game before the dead are even counted. It is not too soon, however, to make a point that needs to be hammered home again and again, and that is that government policies have real consequences in people's lives."

Liberal? Yes. But the stories she told revealed political misdealings offensive to anyone. She encouraged talking with people who think differently than we do, to communicate, not to destroy possibilities with hostility.

In January, responding to Bush's "surge," she rose to write one last time to her readers. It was a clarion call to action - to stop the war.

Now she is silent. But she has left us her words, which still serve to reveal the nature of the Bush presidency, based on his Texas years. It is not too late to know more and to "raise hell" to stop Bush/Cheney before it is too late.

It's in our hands. What can we do today?

Barbara Bellows-Terra-Nova
Salt Lake City