FAREWELL ANN RICHARDS

From the Houston Chronicle:

Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards dies at 73

Richards was the quintessential Texas woman, with a sassy homespun charm, sharp wit and tough pioneer spirit. With bright silver hair, a weathered face and an affinity for cobalt blue suits and pearls, Richards was instantly recognizable to national television audiences.

As a Democratic politician, Richards' 1990 race for governor against Republican cowboy oilman Clayton Williams became a battle of the sexes. Her victory symbolically broke down gender barriers for a generation of Texas women who were seeking professional careers.

Richards labeled her administration the "New Texas," appointing more Hispanics, blacks and women to state boards and commissions than any previous governor. She pushed for increases in public education funding and promoted business expansion in the state.

Click here for the rest.

You know, I usually write these memorial posts to show respect for some kind of progressive or artistic accomplishment, for an individual's life's work. Rarely, am I truly saddened when I write about these deaths--after all, I don't really know any of these people personally. Tonight, however, I'm pretty sad. Ann Richards was the first Democrat, the first liberal, for whom I ever voted. And even though I've since moved much farther to the left than Governor Richards ever was, supporting her, instead of the conservatives I'd always supported, was a very important step in my political growth. Back in 1990, when she became governor, it had only been two years since I'd voted for our current President's daddy, and even though I would go on to support the first Iraq invasion in 1991, I did so as a Democrat, a moderate Democrat to be sure, but I was certainly no longer a Republican--she made it all much easier than it might have been.

And Ann Richards really made being a Democrat into great fun. Her razor wit, which just cut the right wing back then to ribbons, was extraordinarily appealing to me in particular. The Republicans simply had nothing like her--Rush Limbaugh was, and still is, a big pile of stupid shit in comparison. Her constant barrage of rapid-fire barbs is how Richards, and her speechwriter Molly Ivins, showed me how to be a Texas liberal: because there are so many thick-headed conservatives in the Lone Star State, a Texas liberal has to shoot from the hip, fast, to kill, and smile while doing it. I hope my writing here honors her memory.

Man, I'm going to miss her presence and guidance.

Farewell, Ann Richards.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$