“What you need is sustained outrage…there’s far too much unthinking respect given to authority.” – Molly Ivins

While I don’t want to take political sides in this blog, I can’t help but wonder what Molly Ivins would have to say about state and national politics today.  If she had lived, she would have been sixty-seven next month on August 30.

What would she think of the possibility that Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry might seek the Republican nomination  for president in 2012?  Would she regret her support of  Barak Obama instead of Hillery Clinton in 2008?  Would she be outraged that our troops are still in Iraq?  Would she be disappointed that President Obama’s health plan did not  include a single payer?  What would she have to say about this summer heat in Austin?  How would she react as a senior citizen?

For those of you not from Texas or perhaps too young to remember, Molly Ivins was a newspaper columnist, political commentator, humorist and author.  Her books included, “Molly Ivins Can’t Say that, Can She?,” “You have to Dance with Them What Brung You”,  and “Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush.”   She grew up in the affluent River Oaks section of Houston, but she wrote with a down home gutsy style that overshadowed her eastern education at Smith College and Columbia University’s School of Journalism.

 Austin, Texas was her home for many years where she wrote colorfully about  Texas and national politics.  She loved Texas but delighted in poking fun of its government – “The Lege” as she referred to the Texas legislature.  Yes, she was liberal, but she had no trouble criticizing Democrats, Republicans and anyone else in between that she felt needed taken down a notch.  She spoke out for the underdog and was passionate about any cause that she supported.  She was wickedly funny and always a rebel to the end.

She died in Austin in January of 2007 of breast cancer.

Other Ivins quotes:

“Any nation that can survive what we have lately in the way of government, is on the high road to permanent glory.”

“It’s hard to argue against cynics — they always sound smarter than optimists because they have so much evidence on their side

“The thing about democracy, beloveds, is that it is not neat, orderly, or quiet. It requires a certain relish for confusion. “

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.”

I miss  Molly Ivins!