Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment
When Molly Ivins died 13 years ago this week, the
world lost one of its great wits, social commentators, and fighters for
civil rights and social justice. The void she left was huge, which is
why we’ve been posting our “Molly Ivins Moment” in C&J every
Thursday since she passed. I think now more than ever we could use a
good dose of Molly, so here's a Texas-size handful of her greatest hits…
Janice Engel’s documentary “Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins,” which opened to Texas-sized rave reviews, is now available via streaming and DVD.» “Although it
is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions,
that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in salaries,
benefits and working conditions. If you are making a decent salary in a
non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that
corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their
hearts.” » “How can you not love Texas politics? You pick up the paper in the morning and it's kind of like finding Fidel Castro in the refrigerator.”
»On Pat Buchanan's culture-war speech at the 1992 Republican convention: "It probably sounded better in the original German." » “We get so scared of
something—scared of communism or crime or drugs or illegal aliens—that
we think we can make ourselves safer by sacrificing freedom. Never
works. It's still true: the only thing to fear is fear itself.” » “My friend Mercedes Pena made
me get in touch with my emotions just before I had a breast cut off.
Just as I suspected, they were awful. ‘How do you Latinas do this—all
the time in touch with your emotions?’ I asked her. ‘That's why we take
siestas,’ she replied.” » “I have been attacked by Rush
Limbaugh on the air, an experience somewhat akin to being gummed by a
newt. It doesn't actually hurt, but it leaves you with slimy stuff on
your ankle.” » “Keep fightin' for freedom and
justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let
your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats,
rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get
through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be
sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.”
(I have the DVD if anyone would like to borrow it.)
Ruth Steffen passed away in early December. Her visitation and service will be held on January 11, 2020. Use the link below to read her obituary. She was an extraordinary woman.
Mark of the Tiger: So you want to be a writer;
what would your mother say? Marc Thwaits was a general science
teacher at SPASH and Ben Franklin Jr. High, retiring in 2008.
He is a
prairie farmer, falconer, and has banded falcons in Greenland. He also has
worked with
the
Madison Geology Museum studying fossil mammals in South Dakota. Marc was a
zookeeper in the Vilas Zoo in Madison. He went to China in 2010 and taught
English.
