FAREWELL MOLLY IVINS

From the Houston Chronicle:

Noted Texas liberal Molly Ivins dies

Molly Ivins, the irreverent nationally syndicated columnist from Texas who rankled conservatives and delighted liberals, died late this afternoon after a seven-year battle with breast cancer. She was 62.

A self-described leftist agitator, she infused her writings with both passion and wit. Her career spanned some 40 years, and in that time she thought nothing of calling President George W. Bush "Billy Bob Forehead," and current Texas Gov. Rick Perry "Governor Goodhair." Her columns drew such attention that her picture once graced billboards in North Texas above the words, 'Molly Ivins Can't Really Say That, Can She?' (That later became the title of one of her best-selling books).

Ivins sided with underdogs. In an interview last year with the Houston Chronicle, Ivins said she made a career writing about "who was getting screwed and who was doing the screwing." She was a diehard liberal in a state that turned from Democrat to Republican in the span of a decade and she hardly ever let an opportunity pass to lament the change.

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Ah, bloody hell.

I really loved Molly Ivins. I first discovered her writings not long after I had decided that I was a liberal, and she taught me that there was nothing anti-Texan about moving toward the left. Indeed, she showed me how to be a Texas liberal: be loud and in-your-face; be smarter than the conservatives; be funny. Fuckin' A! She's the one who wrote that great Ann Richards line about the first President Bush, "Poor George, he was born with a silver foot in his mouth." This is so sad. She was so fucking great, and she was just too young to die. Not only has Texas lost one of its best, the whole damned country has good reason to mourn.

Farewell, Molly.

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