What Would Molly Do?

To femme fatale,

I honestly believe that if Kerry was elected it would had made no difference at all either regarding the war or foreign or domestic
policy. Just scan what Clinton did during his presidency from shoving
NAFTA and WTO down our throat and outsourcing jobs and cutting welfare
and interrupting his first election campaing to execute a retarded
black man and on and on .... The elections are a sham and all the candidates are representing big money and big business only.

I find two things troubling: First, that "we the people" to some folks here seems to refer to just those visiting this site, which leaves out about 90-odd percent of the population, with political and social views running the full range from far left to far right, and a few taking a completely different direction. Second, the notion that anyone out there other than us is paying any attention whatsoever to how you voted if your votes only amounted to a blip on the screen. We have a very strange situation shaping up, and I have no idea what the late, great Ms. Ivins would think of it, where a fairly substantial group of right-wing republicans may be voting for Clinton (because they think she's more conservative than McCain, according to Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh--good grief!), and the equivalent group on the far-left will be voting third party or not at all, so the republicans may well elect the next democratic president. Assuming Hillary's nominated, of course. Some people might say this is a weird form of progress--that two of the most likely candidates are so far in the center that you can't tell which side they're on. Sort of anti-polarizing in a way, Oh, but I forgot, we love to hate everybody that doesn't think just like us. Right, back in step. Seriously, though, do you really have NO choice among the remaining viable candidates? Can't you at least picture which would be worst? I think it's worth not making a point that no one's paying attention to in order to make sure we're not stuck with McCain and his new Hundred Years' War and all the republican members of Congress he's likely to drag in on his tails. Do you honestly think that it would have made no difference at all if Kerry had won in 2004 rather than Bush? I can't tell you how many people I heard screaming that there was no chance then either. And what have we lost since?

I can't find anything that Molly Ivins ever said about Obama, but I'll bet she would never endorse a triangulating, Reagan-praising, duplicitous Republican shill like him.

And to compare Obama to a true anti-war presidential candidate like Eugene McCarthy! Sickening!

I just wish I coulda had a beer with her and maybe a two step.

Remember that sacred cows make the best hamburger. Keep up the heat. We are not doing this in hopes of changing them. It is literally, for our own collective sanity and because it is a hell of a lot of fun.

Go ahead .....poke em.

Olympia WA.

STUPOR Tuesday! I can't imagine having to listen to ANY of these corporate shills from now until November and then---oh, forget it. Shillary is going to "make it so your job is safe." YUH! And last night: "What I love about this system is that it's based on merit. Nobody has any special advantages in this race." When I came back from vomiting, Obama was talking about "change." No idea what he means....

Oh, the drama! Look at some folks gettin' all riled up.

Its soooo scary! The wealth will all go away! ooooooooooo!

The U.S. mint produces certified 99% gold and silver bullion coins.

You can purchase them at coin/jewelry/precious metal dealers.

The gold goes for around $970 an ounce coin and the silver $20.

When the B.S. "stimulus" tax "rebate" comes your way, spend all of it or much of it on these gold and silver coins.

This will accelarate the "economic reajustment" without which I doubt there can be real Needed Change.

And because, with this "readjustment" Genuine precious metal coins are at their cheapest NOW and will only increase in "worth", investing your "stimulus rebate" in this way not only subverts the short term goal of Power - to create a sudden reduction in debt through all of us suddenly paying chunks from our credit or long-term loan debt, thus restoring some semblance of balance to the system to allow their stragglers to get out before the Fall, and, also disrupts the secondary goal of creating more consumer spending in order to keep the "economy" running. But also:

It would provide for a "redistribution of wealth" as long as the small coin holder held on to them long enough.

Of course, any run on precious metal coins by the masses will throw the price sky high, hurting the dollar and the Bullshit economy sure, but also locking many out of the "rebate" coin buying game, since surely the checks will not all come on the same day and even if they did, not all dealers would have the stock to meet the rush.

Might I suggest co-operation as a solution?

If some sort of national organization can be put together between now and the rebate, to organize a "buy gold and silver day" great, but I doubt it, I wouldn't know how to do it, would you?

Another idea could be for families or friends or other groups of people, like co-workers, unions, poker-buddies, yoga classes, or whatever, to pool their money and purchase gold or other metals in quantity.

Remember that gold and silver coins are "money" in a way that paper will never be, just like arable land, forests, mines, fishing rights, navigation rights, and workers are "wealth" in a way that "money" will never be.

With a little effort, the common People could have all these things.

Then they wouldn't be so Anxious, and so easily Controlled.

Any way:

Everyone needs to relax, the only end that's coming Near is the end of the Life-Cycle of that strange generation that the Television has had us living(part-time, one hopes) in the subconscious imagination of -the Boomers.

Don't let that massive panic response to the realisation of Mortality skew your Worldview.

We ARE going to make it through this. And there IS something you can do about it.

I'll repeat that.

We ARE going to make it through this. And there is something YOU can do about it.

Young people:

Get used to it, Dad's gonna die, time to grow up.

Old people:

Mom, we know you meant to give us a better shot than you got, and we thank you, but it might be time to retire and take it easy, for the grandkids sake?

Remember to have Fun kids, this ride is supposed to be FUN,

-matti.

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--ALWAYS.
Mahatma Ghandi.

(Eugene McCarthy)...he forced those who did win to put an end to America's other mistake of a war."

Susan I mostly like your work but this is one of those myths that needs to die, like hippies spitting on soldiers in airports. Neither ever happened. Cherished mythology of the failed American Left. Five years AFTER McCarthy, the draft ended. Five years of dead Vietnamese men, women, children, napalm, and Agent Orange. Seven years AFTER McCarthy, the war ended. Seven years of dead Vietnamese men, women, children, napalm, and Agent Orange. Causality is stretched to New Age phantasmagorical levels to make that one work.

'68 was the Tet Offensive, Walter Cronkite, King, Kennedy, COINTELPRO, Chicago, Mexico D.F., and Paris. McCarthy didn't stop anything. Good man. Decent man. Didn't stop anything. Neither did the protest movements, though we caused them some inconveniences. That's it.

They could kill us with impunity and everybody knew it. Anybody who seriously threatened the "American Way of Life", e.g. Male supremacy, gender slavery, human slavery, constant war, and genocide - was ritually defamed, falsely imprisoned, or murdered by the authorities.

Now it's worse. Everything they did then that was illegal, is now the Law of the Land, such as it is, given there's no Constitution and no Bill of Rights and NO AMERICAN PRESIDENT WILL RECOGNIZE EITHER EVER AGAIN. Just try to get a straight answer from any of our prospective Caesars. How's that retroactive immunity for AT&T coming along?

Face it. Your Republic is DEAD. The monsters were willing to kill for what they wanted. You weren't. You weren't even willing to get arrested. Taking candy away from children.

That level of murderous commitment has never been equaled on the left. Once the Civil Rights and Anti-War people recognized that their efforts not only failed but that they were betrayed and abandoned by the very people they'd sacrificed everything for - they got jobs and got what good they could in what remained of their lives. But don't try to get a Passport if you were arrested for protesting the War in the 60's. YOU'RE STILL A TRAITOR TO THE REICH.

Difference is, now I get to watch this racist atomized genocidal insta-grat monster go cannibal and eat itself as it burns itself to the ground. And MASTER is going to bring the matches, the kindling, and the boy scout juice.

You see, Master is in the process of making you all into renters, if you aren't already. At the same time he's taking the last of the wealth out of the country. As we tank into the worst depression this country has ever seen ('29 small change), their Overseer Political Class will do nothing. Like voyeurs they will watch you and your children starve to death because Master FEEDS ON OUR MISERY (Democrat Pres to America: Time to get rid of Public Education and Social Security now - cannot afford luxuries). But they are your Masters and Master has always been worshipped in America. He's RICH.

KIss the whip child. Maybe he'll let work on one of his slave plantations. But then he may already have enough slaves. If so, just find a ditch and die. Don't ask for mercy. We don't sell that here. Don't look for any Loving God. He's only for the Master's children, not you. You're the muck. They get the "Loving God" you get the jackboot and the cattle prod, just like our victims for 300 years.

Oh yes, America the beautiful. Burned alive. I have heard fire is the best purification for genocide and for Empires got from slavery. Enjoy the show. It will be history if anyone writes one.

Pieces of 8.

Losing Molly was a great and terrible loss... I'm inclined to believe she just couldn't bear another year or two of watching what Bush and Company were doing to her beloved country and the image of Americans in the world.

Rest well dear Molly, you have inspired many of us to fight on in your name if not with your skill.

Heaven knows that the corporate machine has tried hard to choose our candidates for us, namely McCain and Hillary, but I think MOST Americans have finally learned not to blindly go the direction the highly-paid, highly-insulated pundits seem to be pointing... "This Way To The Egress!"

It appears to me that even Edwards couldn't bear to see Hillary walk away with the Democratic nomination, so he fell on his sword in hopes that Obama prevails.

At least the Republicans would have to invent some NEW fairy tales, rather than trot out the old ones we paid Ken Starr $55 million to dream up. Too many people STILL believe some of that crap!

I'll join you in a toast to the lovely lady John Thomas.

Let's celebrate Molly's life, not her death day. She made living easier for everyone who could read and understand her words. As long as America can produce people as good as Molly and Moyers we still have a chance to become civilized apes. I'm going to have a Jim Beam and water and lift it to... you know who, my love, dear Molly.

J D Smith... after that comment about where Molly is now...

...maybe you should go back and chomp another handful of dry aspirin, then wash it down with another glass of warm vinegar.

I support her support of Bill Moyers, for his unfailing belief in open, reasoned debate to bring us to the closest possible verifiable version of the truth.

So if conjecture about Molly Ivins is in order, isn't it just as fair to say that, after seeing the empty suit worn by Obama, she may have come around to the possibility of a Hillary presidency? Did she really hate Bill Clinton that much? And is Bill Clinton running?

Vote Green, we end up Red...and the Earth turns Brown.

To Daniel David,

The Democratic party stopped being leaning to the left a long time ago.
So do not kid yourself or try to bullshit us into thinking otherwise.
Do you remember the Clinton presidency which did exactly evrything
the Republicans wanted.
The solution is a third party. Yes it will loose the election but by
perseverance and as the people wise up it will win in the end.
Looking for CHANGE and keeping alternating between Republicans and
Democrats will not solve any thing.
And by the way, Obama is calling for CHANGE but he does not give any
specifics to what he wants to change. Just good old oratory and bullshiting.

She would make the following bumpersticker and NOT confuse it with real democracy:

Democrats: The Republican's Airbags

That is all the dems are now. The protection from the Republicans ever feeling how mad people are at the gov.

People who dont follow politics think "Bush must not be THAT extreme about NSAs War etc, otherwise the Democrats would be kicking and screaming"

THey're paid very well not to. Their function is to legitimate extremist measures, and make it seem mainstream. Of course todays " middle of the road" is always far to the right of yesterdays.

But False opposites prevent people from seeing this.

In tribute to Molly Ivins, we, the members of our Social Justice Committee at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent went out to protest the "surge" by standing in front of our church and banging pots and pans like Molly urged us to do. Sure, we got some funny looks from people driving by, as we stood there in the cold rain making our statement, but it felt wonderful to be paying such a visible tribute to Molly while making a statement about how we felt about the escalation of this illegal war in Iraq.

After all, there were many of us who were around and living in Kent in 1970 when students protested the invasion of Cambodia and therefore an escalation of the Vietnam War, which led to the shootings of unarmed students on May 4 of that year by National Guardmen. We've never forgotten that, those of us who remember it and were living here in Kent at the time. We know what the significance of that whole thing meant.

But good golly, Miss Molly, we knew that standing out in front of a church banging pots and pans and waving anti-war signs wasn't going to get us shot for doing so. We were doing it to honor the late columnist as well as to speak our voices loudly that we did not approve of a troop surge and that we wanted our existing troops there to come home now. I think Molly would have been proud that we did what we did that day. I sure miss her wit and her skewering pen that knew no bounds. She skewered with equal opportunity both Democrats and Republicans. And I loved her for it. RIP, Molly Ivins. We miss you.

YES to IRV voting. This is something I have been activily involved in at a local and state level. And we are making some progress. And there is great progress being made on eliminating the use of the Electoral College. The National Popular Vote has been signed into law in 3 states and is in the legislatures in 44 other states at various stages of passage. Campaign finance reform propably isn't going anywhere.

That being said, none of those things are going to happen before November. So, like I said before, I'm sitting tight for a while longer. And preparing for the worst - no election at all because of some very ickey event that will probably happen between now and then. Oh well.......

Do you really, truly believe anything will change - for the better - when a Democrat is elected?

What party expanded the Viet Nam war, killing millions of innocents? Democrats. Who bombed a Sudanese pharmaceutical factory? Democrat. Who promised to bring healthcare to all Americans and then didn't, just to save the insurance industry? Democrat. Who pushed NAFTA and free trade down our throats, sending thousands of jobs overseas? Democrats. Who threw poor, single mothers out of their homes and away from their kids and into a nightmare job? Democrats. Who pre-emptively bombed Iraq, before Bush did it? Democrats. Who said they'd end the war if voters would put them in the majority? Democrats. Who said, "Impeachment is off the table?" Democrats.

Who believes you'll always be in their pocket because you have no where else to go? Democrats.

THE "TWO-PARTIES" IS A TOOL the status quo capitalists (powers-that-be) keep around just so you can think you are part of the action and you won't be tempted to stray or cause real trouble.

The DEMS AND REPUBS WORK TOGETHER. Gasp! When it was feared that hundreds of thousands of voters would bail from the Dem party, the "two-parties" devised this plan:

1) See to it that Bush steals the presidency, even though he didn't really win. The Dem candidate will walk away, "politely," the "stalking horses" will get promotions (Howard Dean, Al Gore). The Democratic candidate will share in winning the Nobel peace prize for a book on the environment, even though he received a paltry 64% lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters. That's "D" grade. For comparison, John Kerry has over 95%.

2) Once Bush is in office, the lesson begins! Bush will push the limits like no one else has, taking the country towards fascism that will be difficult to counter. That'll teach 'em to stray!

3) The Nader left will be made to feel that they were the guilty ones.

4) Bush trashes the Constitution and all codes of morality and ethics and the Dems go along big time but say their hands are tied. they claim they'll turn things around once they reach a majority.

5) Dems reach a majority and still, they do nothing.

6) Voters, even more fearful of breaking loose (see # 2), settle for the two-parties choice and are less likely to leave the fold (see #3)

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." (Kris Kristofferson)

Has our time arrived? Will the future thank us or curse us? Shall we wait until things get better, once a Democrat is elected? Ha! If you think it's going to get easier down the road, I have a collapsed bridge to sell you. Wanna buy?
http://www.naderexplore08.org

Thanks, brevity, for posting Kucinich's speech. Just think, a few weeks ago, this guy was a candidate for president! It makes it even more depressing what we're left with.

Instead of hand-wringing, we should be promoting Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) wherever and whenever we can. It seems to be the simplest way to smash this 2 party system.

Just wondering:

Why do you still believe in Democrats at all?
Do you really, truly believe anything will change - for the better - when a Democrat is elected? What party expanded the Viet Nam war, killing millions of innocents? Democrats. Who bombed the Sudanese Pharmaseutical factory? Democrat. Who pushed NAFTA and free trade down our throats? Democrats. Who threw poor, single mothers out of their homes and away from their kids and into a nightmare job? Democrats. Who pre-emptively bombed Iraq, before Bush did it? Democrats. Who said they'd end the war if voters would put them in the majority? Democrats. Who said, "Impeachment is off the table?" Democrats.

Who believes you'll always be in their pocket because you have no where else to go? Democrats.

The "two-parties" is a tool the status quo capitalists (powers-that-be) keep around just so you can think you are part of the action and you won't be tempted to stray.

The DEMS AND REPUBS WORK TOGETHER. Gasp! When it was feared that hundreds of thousands of voters would bail from the Dem party, the "two-parties" devised this plan:

1) See to it that Bush steals the presidency, even though he didn't really win. The Dem candidate will walk away, "politely." the "stalking horses" will get promotions (Howard Dean).

2) Bush will then push the limits like no one else has, taking the country twards fascism. That'll teach 'em to stray!

3) The Nader left will be made to feel that they were the guilty ones.

4) Bush trashes the Constitution and all codes of morality and ethics and the Dems go along big time but say their hands are tied. they claim they'll turn things around once they reach a majority.

5) Dems reach a majority and still, they do nothing.

6) Voters, even more fearful of breaking loose (see # 2), settle for the two-parties choice and are less likely to leave the fold (see #3)

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." (Kris Kristopherson)

Has our time arrived? Will the future thank us or curse us? Shall we wait until things get better, once a Democrat is elected? Ha! If you think it's going to get easier down the road, I have a collapsed bridge to sell you. Wanna buy?
http://www.naderexplore08.org

I don't remember ever disagreeing with Ms Ivins when she castigated republicans. On the other hand I never agreed with her apparent belief that top-of-the-heap democrats were not owned by same powers that own the republicans.

To back for president anyone who worked intimately for LBJ, and doesn't apologize daily for the indiscretion, was silly.

Not-a-republican is not a quali-fica-tion.

What would Mollie have done is less important than what she's probably doing - looking for fans and AC.

Without DK, I'll vote Nader. At least I won't puke on election day, or have to hold my nose, or stay home.

"I knew and admired Eugene McCarthy, but I think it's safe to say he was no Barack Obama."

Yeah, no Barack Obama as in:

1) He actually supports the rule of law?
2) He's not a Israeli whore?
3) He's not a pandering little pussy?

Which?

"That's a fine mess you've gotten us into, (M)Ollie!" Well, she actually is trying to get us out of the mess we've created for ourselves, and probably felt she could do more from the Other Side, so left us a year ago. That her Spirit lives on in our memories is saying something. What is our responsibility with regard to voting? A vote for evil, the lesser of 2, is still a vote for evil, as we have heard so many times. Perhaps John Freeman has the right idea. Vote for the Republican, then start from scratch. I won't, but won't condemn those who do. Perhaps it is time to let it all go and start anew. Where is Jim Hightower? I haven't seen a thing from him for ages.

peace,
st john

doughyden January 31st, 2008 1:30 pm "He never said he was going to spend a trillion dollars to guard against the threat of extraterrestrial invasion."

It, in a way, would be better spent for that than what we're spending it on today. Who knows maybe we would find a new cheap non-polluting energy source.

John Freeman January 31st, 2008 3:41 pm "McCain vs The Clinton Family. In that case, I'm voting Republican and letting them run what's left right into the ground, which will leave the outside chance we can start over."

There's an old saying for that "give a fool enough rope and he'll hang his self.

Hillary, Obama what's the difference, nominating either one of them is going to put another republican in the white house anyway.

It is clear to me that many of us are not going to have the opportunity to vote for the candidate of our choice this time either. Obama is no prize as far as I am concerned, but concur that if I am given the opportunity to vote for him that he will likely not make things much worse. Right now though, I would bet large money that our choice is McCain vs The Clinton Family. In that case, I'm voting Republican and letting them run what's left right into the ground, which will leave the outside chance we can start over.

Veteran '66-68

voxclamantis: "Has everybody heard Ralph Nader on Amy Goodman today? Checked out http://www.naderexplore08.org? What do third party enthusiasts think about this? Where is the CD story?"

He's got my vote ...again.

restive: "No…what they lead to is not supporting Hillary Clinton. Look, enough with trying to weasel us into voting for GOP lite, Billary supporters. You embarrass yourself by your cowardice. If you can show somewhere, anywhere, in their voting record that indicates that the Dynamic Duo is a good fit for progressives - not "anybody but Bush," a good fit - then go for it. Otherwise, you're just engaging in "mute politics" - you flap your mouth, I hit the mute button. Clear?"

Not supporting somebody is fine, but then who are you going to support? Not voting for some kind of opposition is the same as voting for the bad guys. The Democrats are as bad as the Republicans in practice (despite what they say). I can't vote for either of them. Who could in good conscience? That leaves third parties or doing nothing at all.

Has everybody heard Ralph Nader on Amy Goodman today? Checked out http://www.naderexplore08.org? What do third party enthusiasts think about this? Where is the CD story?

Thanks, Rob, for that great piece about Bill Moyers. I remember reading it, and thinking, as usual, Molly's brilliant.

"Who could in good conscience? That leaves third parties or doing nothing at all."

Damn words. :D Thanks for the clarification.

OK, this is just a thought out loud. Repeat: this is just a thought out loud!

I'm wondering if supporting both Obama and the Green Party is a potential solution, as a real-world way to deal with things, while continuing to build. (I also think that not voting *is* a practical solution, *if* you don't just sit around apathetically *and* contest the entire corrupt idea of democracy as a smokescreen for corporate interests *and* realize that you're in effect letting the election tip closer to the right in the short term, for what it's worth.) Here's what it could look like:

1. If you haven't voted in the primaries yet, are registered to vote Democratic and can't switch before your state's or *ahem* colony's primary, vote for whoever you think is the most progressive of who is available in the Democratic primaries. Given that both Kucinich and Edwards are out of the race, and Gravel has effectively no national campaign at this point, I think that's Obama. I am *not* saying "wow, he's so great". Please keep reading before you flame me, peoples.

2. Actively build the Green party, both locally and nationally, up until the election.

3. Encourage whoever has the Green party nomination to not divide the vote come November. Why do this? a) It shows good faith, even if the idea of "good faith" meaning "vote for who I support" is a bit suspect, and b) it doesn't allow for an actual split of the vote. (I also think that c) the vote in 2000 wasn't split, it was stolen - but there's facts, and then there's perception - and perception is important.) If for some reason, Green party politics takes off and becomes a viable presidential force, then that may be different. I don't think that's incredibly likely, but speculation is just that.

4. Above all, encourage fertile ground for real, lasting social change! All of this politicing is just that without viable movements. I personally think there is a movement in this country, but that a lot of the left is being left behind when it comes to it. It's time that the left, especially the white progressive left in the US, stop expecting "the people" to look, act, talk and think like them, and to realize that real change is going to come through real dialogue. That means not, for example, hiding out in places like the DP, or the Greens, or dare I say it, Common Dreams - and instead, spend time in conversation with people who are not part of left cultural and political circles. Make the world you want to live in, don't just wish for it, in other words.

Hope this helps.

Let's cut to the chase:

Molly Ivins pitched Bill Moyers as presidential candidate on July 24, 2006.
Her reasoning is made absolutely clear:

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060724_molly_ivins_bill_moyers/

Molly might opine that Obama is like high fluffy clouds blowing past on a summer day ........ inspiring and hopeful, but not likely to change anything.

She'd probably try mightily to enduce a Gore run, or rail at Edwards to stay in. Maybe Ms Ivins too would already feel glum that the flame of our nation's future is already so dim this early in the election process?

Molly would foresee that by the time most of 2008 has troublesomely passed and November rolls around, most Americans will bemoan the choices on their ballots.

There are tears on my keyboard again. Just like a year ago. I feel like I have lost my best friend, and today is the anniversary of her death. Our lose as a nation is just as strong as it was a year ago. Today I light a candle in rememberance of the great Molly Ivins. There is a Memorial Celebration for Molly at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. You can join in by going to the link below:

http://www.raisehellformollyivins.org/

From Molly's last column on 1/27/07:

"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. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on Jan. 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!""

One thing is clear. With Molly's last breathe, she wanted to end the war in Iraq. I believe that the candidate's stand on the Iraq invasion and occupation would be the defining criteria for who she would support for any public office. And I'm not about to second guess who that might have been.

With pots and pans in hand, I'm off to celebrate a life well lived. I am so grateful for the time we all had with Molly and regret that she is gone from us now. In her name, today I will dedicate my time in speaking truth to power in any way I can. Today I will read again, out loud, the Bill of Rights, as Molly often did. Today I will remember a great American who also made me laugh out loud.

Gawd, how I miss her................

doughyden - Thank you for your response to the "toe-tapping with UFOs" comment. That was uncalled for and nasty. Dennis Kucinich, like thousands of other people across the globe, saw something in the sky that could not be identified, hence Unidentified Flying Object.

It was absurd that this topic was approached by Tim Russert - a complete ass if there ever was one - during one of the few debates in which Kucinich was permitted to participate. And the question was phrased in an obvious way to make him look ridiculous, including references to Shirley McClaine. It also precluded any explanation as to what might be meant by UFO. As soon as Kucinich said, yes, he did see something, the discussion was closed.

I have friends who sat outside their home in rural Pennsylvania and watched unusual lights move above their property for at least half an hour. It looked like nothing they had ever seen before. When they told me about it, they never said they saw visitors from outer space; they simply said that it was very unsettling and fascinating. This occurance is not at all unusual.

Nancy Reagan consulted astrologists, Reagan himself hinted that he believed in alien visitors, as did other presidents. Where was the media storm of ridicule then?

Why is it that so many people are not only willing to believe in "invisible friends" and writings of godly visits from thousands of years ago, but are so quick to make jokes of reports of lights or oddly shaped objects? One does not have to believe in alien life forms visiting earth to recognize that these sightings may have real sources.

This epsisode was just another way of marginalizing a man of integrity, vision, and compassion.

I miss Molly Ivins, too. Her wit and insights were incredible. But to second guess her now is not a tribute. She was unique, with an original way of looking at the world of politics. I wish she were here to say it herself, but I don't especially care what someone else thinks she might have said.

Jesus Christ. People can't let go of that Kucinich UFO thing, can they? Okay, so he saw something in the sky that he couldn't identify. He never said he saw little green men. He never claimed to be the victim of anal probing. He never said he was going to spend a trillion dollars to guard against the threat of extraterrestrial invasion. Maybe he suffered from a delusion that night. But he is clearer thinking and far less delusional on ALL the issues, by far, than anybody who's run for president since FDR.

I think that Molly would have stood up and applauded DK and defended him to the last breath.

The right wing has enough fun ridiculing DK; why do the progressives have to add to it. Remember: first they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.

Wasn't the longer subtitle of the "Shrub" book something about the "short" political life of George W. Bush, written while he was still Governor of Texas. Sarcasm from the left did not prevent Mr. Bush from being elected twice and being misleader in chief for eight long years. And sarcasm from the left will do nothing in 2008 but hurt America's chance to get a left-leaning president to manage the agencies, the budget, the courts and the veto power.

I read the "Shrub" book and I can appreciate the "wit" and talented writing. But the upshot is, it didn't work to prevent a presidential nightmare. So rather than wondering what Molly would do, we had better concentrate on the positive things we can say and do to get one of our Dem candidates elected. You're not gonna like McCain or Mitt and you already know that.
You don't need some more "wit". You need a win.

First, we have Obama = JFK. Now we have someone channeling the wonderful Molly Ivins as suggesting that the great liberal Eugene McCarthy "is no Barack Obama."

My god, this is ridiculous. Will we ever have an honest discussion of Obama's record of votes in the Senate and an evaluation of the proposals he, his advisors and his campaign have put on the table?

Nah, I just lost my mind for a moment. Just sit back, relax and listen peacefully as that mellifluous voice inspires as with the Audacity of Hope....

Just yesterday, I was wondering what Molly would say about all the "stuff" going on in the world today. Yes, it's hard to believe that it's been a year. My, how I do miss her wonderful wit and perspective on things.

Stilba,

"Molly's words seem to lead to one conclusion: the futile hope of voting for a third party."

No...what they lead to is not supporting Hillary Clinton. Look, enough with trying to weasel us into voting for GOP lite, Billary supporters. You embarrass yourself by your cowardice. If you can show somewhere, anywhere, in their voting record that indicates that the Dynamic Duo is a good fit for progressives - not "anybody but Bush," a good fit - then go for it. Otherwise, you're just engaging in "mute politics" - you flap your mouth, I hit the mute button. Clear?

Resurrect the dead!

Pander, Damn it! Pander!

Yesterday, John Nichols' article was Paul Wellstone --who Obama dismissed as a "gadfly" (Sirota)
Today, it is Molly Ivins! Tomorrow it will be JFK, oh wait. never mind.

Here it is, the great dilemma: while many are great at describing our problems, at ranting about them, when pushed to offer a concrete course of action, we hear..

***** crickets *****

This is not a dig at Lenfestey or any of our other fine writers. But it does point out a very grim and unhappy truth: there is very little that we CAN do. Our choices have been narrowed and our power has been whittled away. Our political system requires an informed, engaged electorate, but We The People, distracted by American Idol and Britney, have allowed the Darkness to spread over our beloved country.

Oh sure, there are things we could do, but they come at a cost, a cost that involves convenience and comfort. We could drive less, bicycle more, use public transit, abandon mindless consumerism, buy local food, eat healthy, get healthy, work for peace and justice everyday. Try to "starve the Beast", as it were.

But no candidate is going to tell you to do these things. No national leader dare mention them for fear of being relegated to the sidelines (Dennis Kucinich, anyone?). Not. A. Single. One.

So, to quote noted philosopher Ulysses Everett McGill: "We're in a tight spot!" And....... I've just spent several paragraphs doing exactly that about which I complained: ranting without offering solutions.

What would Molly do? I have no idea, and neither does this author. What I believe, though, is that Molly would not have glossed over the question of whether Obama might be just one more "lily-livered so-called leader who is up for election." That's my opinion, but I won't presume to put it in the mouth of the great Molly Ivins.

Little Brother - We can't say that she would support Obama, it's true. But we can say that she wouldn't support a Republican, and she explicitly would not support Hillary. So we come down to Obama or nothing. Are you saying Molly would ask us not to vote?

I hope that Molly wouldn't just blindly throw her blind support to someone just because he/she is electable.

The problem is that the public doesn't really get to choose who the candidates are. She would have been outraged that candidates were excluded from the debates weeks into the primaries. She would have been outraged that none of the mainstream candidates stood up for the democratic process by insisting Kunicich, Mike Gravel, Ron Paul to be included in the debates and national discussion on the Iraq war.

We are allowing the newspapers and television stations and the corporate political machine) to make our decision as to what is relevant for us.

Neither Obama, Clinton, nor Edwards said a peep about the candidates being excluded in their push to win. So much for their democratic principles.

I believe the Democratic Party is going to let down the progressive peace movement this election AGAIN, even if they select Obama.

I am reminded of Charlie Brown and the football. He is sure that this time Lucy is not going to snatch the ball away. Vote for your democrats again and don't prepare to fall on your ass, and act real surprised.

so it goes...

I knew and admired Eugene McCarthy, but I think it's safe to say he was no Barack Obama.
______________________________________________

True enough, but this ambiguous observation may mean different things to different people.

It can't be coincidence that the author omits how Molly would have saltily sized up Obama, although she pretty much goes around the horn with the other candidates, including echoing the corporate media-pimped Edwards haircut non-story.

As I read it, the article is disingenously (i.e., sneakily) suggesting that What Molly Would Do is support Obama. And I resent it.

Me too.

A Prayer for America
by US Rep Dennis Kucinich

I offer these brief remarks today as a prayer for our country, with love of democracy, as a celebration of our country. With love for our country. With hope for our country. With a belief that the light of freedom cannot be extinguished as long as it is inside of us. With a belief that freedom rings resoundingly in a democracy each time we speak freely. With the understanding that freedom stirs the human heart and fear stills it. With the belief that a free people cannot walk in fear and faith at the same time.

With the understanding that there is a deeper truth expressed in the unity of the United States. That implicit in the union of our country is the union of all people. That all people are essentially one. That the world is interconnected not only on the material level of economics, trade, communication, and transportation, but innerconnected through human consciousness, through the human heart, through the heart of the world, through the simply expressed impulse and yearning to be and to breathe free.

I offer this prayer for America.

Let us pray that our nation will remember that the unfolding of the promise of democracy in our nation paralleled the striving for civil rights. That is why we must challenge the rationale of the Patriot Act. We must ask why should America put aside guarantees of constitutional justice?

How can we justify in effect canceling the First Amendment and the right of free speech, the right to peaceably assemble?

How can we justify in effect canceling the Fourth Amendment, probable cause, the prohibitions against unreasonable search and seizure?

How can we justify in effect canceling the Fifth Amendment, nullifying due process, and allowing for indefinite incarceration without a trial?

How can we justify in effect canceling the Sixth Amendment, the right to prompt and public trial?

How can we justify in effect canceling the Eighth Amendment which protects against cruel and unusual punishment?

We cannot justify widespread wiretaps and internet surveillance without judicial supervision, let alone with it.

We cannot justify secret searches without a warrant.

We cannot justify giving the Attorney General the ability to designate domestic terror groups.

We cannot justify giving the FBI total access to any type of data which may exist in any system anywhere such as medical records and financial records.

We cannot justify giving the CIA the ability to target people in this country for intelligence surveillance.

We cannot justify a government which takes from the people our right to privacy and then assumes for its own operations a right to total secrecy.

The Attorney General recently covered up a statue of Lady Justice showing her bosom as if to underscore there is no danger of justice exposing herself at this time, before this administration.

Let us pray that our nation's leaders will not be overcome with fear. Because today there is great fear in our great Capitol. And this must be understood before we can ask about the shortcomings of Congress in the current environment.

The great fear began when we had to evacuate the Capitol on September 11.

It continued when we had to leave the Capitol again when a bomb scare occurred as members were pressing the CIA during a secret briefing.

It continued when we abandoned Washington when anthrax, possibly from a government lab, arrived in the mail.

It continued when the Attorney General declared a nationwide terror alert and then the Administration brought the destructive Patriot Bill to the floor of the House.

It continued in the release of the bin Laden tapes at the same time the President was announcing the withdrawal from the ABM treaty.

It remains present in the cordoning off of the Capitol.

It is present in the camouflaged armed national guardsmen who greet members of Congress each day we enter the Capitol campus.

It is present in the labyrinth of concrete barriers through which we must pass each time we go to vote.

The trappings of a state of siege trap us in a state of fear, ill-equipped to deal with the Patriot Games, the Mind Games, the War Games of an unelected President and his unelected Vice President.

Let us pray that our country will stop this war. "To promote the common defense" is one of the formational principles of America.

Our Congress gave the President the ability to respond to the tragedy of September 11. We licensed a response to those who helped bring the terror of September 11th. But we the people and our elected representatives must reserve the right to measure the response, to proportion the response, to challenge the response, and to correct the response.

Because we did not authorize the invasion of Iraq.

We did not authorize the invasion of Iran.

We did not authorize the invasion of North Korea.

We did not authorize the bombing of civilians in Afghanistan.

We did not authorize permanent detainees in Guantanamo Bay.

We did not authorize the withdrawal from the Geneva Convention.

We did not authorize military tribunals suspending due process and habeas corpus.

We did not authorize assassination squads.

We did not authorize the resurrection of COINTELPRO.

We did not authorize the repeal of the Bill of Rights.

We did not authorize the revocation of the Constitution.

We did not authorize national identity cards.

We did not authorize the eye of Big Brother to peer from cameras throughout our cities.

We did not authorize an eye for an eye.

Nor did we ask that the blood of innocent people, who perished on September 11, be avenged with the blood of innocent villagers in Afghanistan.

We did not authorize the administration to wage war anytime, anywhere,anyhow it pleases.

We did not authorize war without end.

We did not authorize a permanent war economy.

Yet we are upon the threshold of a permanent war economy. The President has requested a $45.6 billion increase in military spending. All defense-related programs will cost close to $400 billion.

Consider that the Department of Defense has never passed an independent audit.

Consider that the Inspector General has notified Congress that the Pentagon cannot properly account for $1.2 trillion in transactions.

Consider that in recent years the Dept. of Defense could not match $22 billion worth of expenditures to the items it purchased, wrote off, as lost, billions of dollars worth of in-transit inventory and stored nearly $30 billion worth of spare parts it did not need.

Yet the defense budget grows with more money for weapons systems to fight a cold war which ended, weapon systems in search of new enemies to create new wars. This has nothing to do with fighting terror.

This has everything to do with fueling a military industrial machine with the treasure of our nation, risking the future of our nation, risking democracy itself with the militarization of thought which follows the militarization of the budget.

Let us pray for our children. Our children deserve a world without end. Not a war without end. Our children deserve a world free of the terror of hunger, free of the terror of poor health care, free of the terror of homelessness, free of the terror of ignorance, free of the terror of hopelessness, free of the terror of policies which are committed to a world view which is not appropriate for the survival of a free people, not appropriate for the survival of democratic values, not appropriate for the survival of our nation, and not appropriate for the survival of the world.

Let us pray that we have the courage and the will as a people and as a nation to shore ourselves up, to reclaim from the ruins of September 11th our democratic traditions.

Let us declare our love for democracy. Let us declare our intent for peace.

Let us work to make nonviolence an organizing principle in our own society.

Let us recommit ourselves to the slow and painstaking work of statecraft, which sees peace, not war as being inevitable.

Let us work for a world where someday war becomes archaic.

That is the vision which the proposal to create a Department of Peace envisions. Forty-three members of Congress are now cosponsoring the legislation.

Let us work for a world where nuclear disarmament is an imperative. That is why we must begin by insisting on the commitments of the ABM treaty. That is why we must be steadfast for nonproliferation.

Let us work for a world where America can lead the day in banning weapons of mass destruction not only from our land and sea and sky but from outer space itself. That is the vision of HR 3616: A universe free of fear. Where we can look up at God's creation in the stars and imagine infinite wisdom, infinite peace, infinite possibilities, not infinite war, because we are taught that the kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven.

Let us pray that we have the courage to replace the images of death which haunt us, the layers of images of September 11th, faded into images of patriotism, spliced into images of military mobilization, jump-cut into images of our secular celebrations of the World Series, New Year's Eve, the Superbowl, the Olympics, the strobic flashes which touch our deepest fears, let us replace those images with the work of human relations, reaching out to people, helping our own citizens here at home, lifting the plight of the poor everywhere.

That is the America which has the ability to rally the support of the world.

That is the America which stands not in pursuit of an axis of evil, but which is itself at the axis of hope and faith and peace and freedom. America, America. God shed grace on thee. Crown thy good, America.

Not with weapons of mass destruction. Not with invocations of an axis of evil. Not through breaking international treaties. Not through establishing America as king of a unipolar world. Crown thy good America. America, America. Let us pray for our country. Let us love our country. Let us defend our country not only from the threats without but from the threats within.

Crown thy good, America. Crown thy good with brotherhood, and sisterhood. And crown thy good with compassion and restraint and forbearance and a commitment to peace, to democracy, to economic justice here at home and throughout the world.

Crown thy good, America. Crown thy good America. Crown thy good.

Thank you.
Published on Tuesday, February 26, 2002 by Common Dreams.
The speech was given on February 17, 2002 in Los Angeles, California at an event sponsored by the Southern California Americans for Democratic Action.

Has it been only a year since she died? Feels like a million. O, how I am missing her--the woman who prevented me from sliding into total antiamericanism for years.

Molly's words seem to lead to one conclusion: the futile hope of voting for a third party.