Today is the 2nd anniversary of Molly Ivan's death. I always found such humor and bitter truth in what she had to say about life and politics. Here are some things she had to say while she was with us. She left us way to early. RIP, Molly, you were one classy gal!• What you need is sustained outrage...there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority.
• There are two kinds of humor. One kind that makes us chuckle about our foibles and our shared humanity -- like what Garrison Keillor does. The other kind holds people up to public contempt and ridicule -- that's what I do. Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. I only aim at the powerful. When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel -- it's vulgar.
• I believe that ignorance is the root of all evil. And that no one knows the truth.
• You can't ignore politics, no matter how much you'd like to.
• What stuns me most about contemporary politics is not even that the system has been so badly corrupted by money. It is that so few people get the connection between their lives and what the bozos do in Washington and our state capitols.
• It's hard to argue against cynics -- they always sound smarter than optimists because they have so much evidence on their side.
• Being slightly paranoid is like being slightly pregnant - it tends to get worse.
• One function of the income gap is that the people at the top of the heap have a hard time even seeing those at the bottom. They practically need a telescope. The pharaohs of ancient Egypt probably didn't waste a lot of time thinking about the people who built their pyramids, either. OK, so it's not that bad yet -- but it's getting that bad.
• I am not anti-gun. I'm pro-knife. Consider the merits of the knife. In the first place, you have to catch up with someone in order to stab him. A general substitution of knives for guns would promote physical fitness. We'd turn into a whole nation of great runners. Plus, knives don't ricochet. And people are seldom killed while cleaning their knives.
• 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
1 comment:
I miss her too. Her humility and insights made even the worst years bearable. I also wished she could have witnessed Obama taking the oath. She would have loved that.
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