24 Comments so far

1. Montysano February 2nd, 2007 3:43 pm

   The last paragraph of Molly’s last column:

   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!”

   That’s damn right. Although her words will live on, it’s still a sad, sad day. We’ll miss you, Molly.

2. ahzeiler February 2nd, 2007 5:53 pm

   Molly has been my favorite for years because she has been clear, insightful, caustic with heart, and down home.

   I was anxiously awaiting her return. There is no one else like her and I will miss her insight, her wit, and her ability to shoot from the hip with accuracy and truth.

   I can’t say it near as well as she did but I can say thank you , I’ll miss you , and may you receive your sweet reward. I’ll do my best to carry on as you urged we do.

3. Donnie Joe February 2nd, 2007 5:54 pm

   Bill Moyers, in order to properly honor the memory of Molly Ivins, needs to be running for president of these United States. Plain and simple, I’m sure there is no other turn of events that would have pleased her more. For those of you who might have missed it, Bill, here’s what she had to say about it July 25, 2006, and may the gods of copyright forgive me:

   Here’s what we do. We run Bill Moyers for president. I am serious as a stroke about this. It’s simple, cheap and effective, and it will move the entire spectrum of political discussion in this country. Moyers is the only public figure who can take the entire discussion and shove it toward moral clarity just by being there.

   The poor man who is currently our president has reached such a point of befuddlement that he thinks stem cell research is the same as taking human lives, but that 40,000 dead Iraqi civilians are progress toward democracy.

   Bill Moyers has been grappling with how to fit moral issues to political issues ever since he left Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and went to work for Lyndon Johnson in the teeth of the Vietnam War. Moyers worked for years in television, seriously addressing the most difficult issues of our day. He has studied all different kinds of religions and different approaches to spirituality. He’s no Holy Joe, but he is a serious man. He opens minds — he doesn’t scare people. He includes people in, not out. And he sees through the dark search for a temporary political advantage to the clear ground of the Founders. He listens and he respects others.

   Do I think Bill Moyers can win the presidency? No, that seems like a very long shot to me. The nomination? No, that seems like a very long shot to me.

   Then why run him? Think, imagine, if seven or eight other Democratic candidates, all beautifully coiffed and triangulated and carefully coached to say nothing that will offend anyone, stand on stage with Bill Moyers in front of cameras for a national debate Љ what would happen? Bill Moyers would win, would walk away with it, just because he doesn’t triangulate or calculate or trim or try to straddle the issues.
   Bill Moyers doesn’t have to endorse a constitutional amendment against flag burning or whatever wedge issue du jour Republicans have come up with. He is not afraid of being called “unpatriotic.” And besides, he is a wise and a kind man who knows how to talk on TV.

   It won’t take much money — file for him in a couple of early primaries and just get him into the debates. Think about the potential Democratic candidates. Every single one of them needs SPINE, needs political courage. What Moyers can do is not only show them what it looks like and indeed what it is, but also how people respond to it. I’m damned if I want to go through another presidential primary with everyone trying to figure out who has the best chance to win instead of who’s right. I want to vote for somebody who’s good and brave and who should win.

   One time in the Johnson years, LBJ called on Moyers to say the blessing at a dinner. “SPEAK UP, Bill,” Lyndon roared. “I can’t hear you.” Moyers replied, “I wasn’t speaking to you, sir.” That’s the point of a run by Moyers: He doesn’t change to whom he is speaking just because some president is yelling at him.

   To let Moyers know what you think of this idea, write him at PO Box 309, Bernardsville, NJ, 07924.

4. chod February 2nd, 2007 6:26 pm

   Molly was right and we should follow her advice. Here, here for Bill Moyers for President and put Dennis Kucinich as his running mate.

   We need leaders who can speak from experience, common sense, and courage, to power and not rely on manipulative speech writers to sway public opinion to the truth of the day.

   It’s our country and we need leaders who believe that.

   Molly showed us that going after the truth doesn’t have to be a solemn affair. It can be a seriously fun ride to get this thing straightened out.

   Let’s be brave and deliberate in Molly’s memory.

5. Robert Settgast February 2nd, 2007 8:14 pm

   Molly;
   Your thought provoking, informative, & well researched writing has provided special insight and logic to so many. Your departure is a severe loss , but your invaluable contributions to journalism and our republic can never be forgotten.

   Robert Settgast
   rhsettgast@hotmail.com

6. delia February 2nd, 2007 9:06 pm

   I’ve read alotta tributes over the past coupla days, but this one is definitely the best. Trust Bill Moyers to bring tears to the eyes of even a card-carrying agnostic like me. Yes, this old Canadian will miss her favourite American columnist. She was every GOOD thing Americans are in my estimation.

7. Saul Friedman February 2nd, 2007 9:09 pm

   Forget the words of praise. She would ask, as I ask, how can we organize folks to get out on the streets, maybe in front of the White House, to bang on pots and pans for peace. If you’ve got some ideas, let me know.

   Saul Friedman (whose used to write for the Texas Observer)
   Newsday
   saulfriedman@comcast.net

8. rtrojcak February 2nd, 2007 9:41 pm

   Bill Moyers is without any doubt, a true, and unfortunately, rare national treasure. To find a man of such integrity, possessing extraordinary gifts as a writer is astonishing. It is more than fitting that he pay tribute to another national treasure, who surpassed Mr. Moyers only in the pungency of her wit. Her death leaves an enormous gap in the political scene. But her death also makes me even more grateful for that fact that Bill Moyers is still with us, in every sense. Godspeed to them both.

9. msand February 2nd, 2007 11:48 pm

   Molly Ivins, we will miss you so much. Bill Moyers, I have been meaning to write to encourage you to run for president ever since Molly suggested it. A thousand thanks for your ongoing moral leadership.

10. noyzboy February 3rd, 2007 12:06 am

    people in the streets
    banging on their pots and pans
    stop the madness now

11. Robert F Kolbe February 3rd, 2007 4:41 am

    Thank you Molly.
    I enjoyed your laugh and your humor and am so pleased to have read your words.

    What a treasure! I will miss you.

    Now, I am going to go raise some hell.

    rfk

12. jake4ben February 3rd, 2007 8:14 am

    the thought of Bill Moyers running for president lifts my spirit like no other. molly was spot on when she wrote of his run in July last year. when i think of the lethal darkness of bush, cheney, lieberman, murdoch, disney, viacom, exxon, and phizer, I think Moyers represents the movement toward the light.

    Please, Bill, please!

13. Dan Kelly February 3rd, 2007 11:40 am

    Have pan, have pot, am banging, and no one’s listening in the Beltway.

    Would sending a few million tubes of iridescent-red lipstick with instructions to wipe it on obfuscating Congressional lips as they embellish the pig of the Administration’s policies of profiteering, murder and subversion of humanity wake anyone up in the Beltway?

    Are they hell-bent on bringing this nation to chaos at home as they have in Iraq?

    Ah, Molly, as we miss you, and as Moyers brings us whiffs of sanity, may we find the means to shift the gears before it’s too late!

    I’ll keep banging my pot and my pan, even as I loose my window to throw `em out of, to mix my metaphors.

    Molly, thanks for the inspiration, the belly laughs and the irascible example.

14. copocabana February 3rd, 2007 1:26 pm

    Maybe,  but I remember her humanity and funnies..

    “Life is way to (too?) serious to be taken seriously” she told me quite a while back, but it was actually Oscar Wilde she later said….

    Right after the first I told her bout the snow pack in the Sierra, and she wrote,

    “Sprig has just been clearing brush and 30% of our fine voters would pick him again. By the time election ‘08 rolls around, the figure for the new Kamikaze is apt to be higher.

    But I do agree about Jimmy Carter. He can say more between the lines than most manage with a slew of speechwriters.

    And Happy New Year to you too. Make a snow angel. Pat Robertson says Jesus told him a big attack is coming this year. Let us prey.”

    about Bill Moyers,

15. Gwen Hale February 3rd, 2007 2:08 pm

    I was incredibly sad to learn of dear, funny Molly’s passing. Her humor, wit, and ‘right-on-ness’ will be sorely missed. I take great comfort in Bill Moyer’s vision of what Molly is up to now.

    For the years that Bill Moyers was on NOW, my husband and I based our entire weekend around him, and we miss seeing him in our living room every week. We have boxes upon boxes of VHS tapes of those years. Bill Moyers for President? Is it a sad commentary that he is too bright, too kind, too honest, too compassionate and too real to BE our president?

    Nonetheless, I would back him all the way — in my book, he — and Molly Ivins — are American heroes.

    Our world — and God help us, our country — needs as many people like Molly Ivins, Bill Moyers, and Jimmy Carter to pull us out of the poison pit we find ourselves in. May we all act now and speak up to “be the change we wish to see in the world.”

16. Alice in Wonderland February 3rd, 2007 3:03 pm

    The thing with Molly was that everything she had to say was deadly serious but couched as it was in her wonderful voice, not scary.  Or at least, not so scary that your first inclination was to tuck your head under your wing and go to sleep.  Unlike some of our other political humorists, she also knew when to cut out the jokes and get to the point in a way that you absolutely knew what the point was, and what to do next.  The humor helped make you unafraid to do what had to be done next. God help us, I do miss her voice.  Jim Hightower comes as close as any to speaking in the same voice, but he’s not a girl, and Molly’s voice was as feminine as a petticoat. Maybe we should all work on developing the ability to speak colorfully and wittily about the serious matters we all face.  Maybe we can do that by keeping her voice in our heads.  Go, Molly.

17. peglund February 3rd, 2007 5:02 pm

    I am one of the new survivors of cancer, I only hope to make a tiny difference in this country, this world like Molly did for me.

    She got me to stand up and be counted an an American and not stop till we be heard. I pick up where she leaves off to say what I think and believe where ever possible.

    Bill Moyers is an inspiration that will live on for awhile, till some of the young ones show up in this great country.

    I love Bill Moyers vision of Molly now.

18. nomorewar February 3rd, 2007 11:27 pm

    What a wonderful world it would be if Bill Moyers could be humanity’s president and Molly our spiritual inspiration. Those of us who respect and admire Bill and Molly (and Cindy, Helen, Howard, Noam, Amy, et. al.) must do everything in our power to stop the Bush madness and help the spineless Democrats to stand for the ideals of peace and tolerance.

19. keeponkeepinon February 4th, 2007 9:21 am

    What an immense loss Molly is. In addition to keeping the pressure on our legislators, I think we need to see that her essence is captured on film. We need a documentary of her life and thoughts and humorous insights.

20. Jaded Prole February 4th, 2007 1:56 pm

    Molly Ivins’ sharp wit and truth speaking voice is already missed.

    Bill Moyers, your country needs you. Only someone with your integrity and wisdom can begin to undo the damage necessary to save this nation. Consider a run with Webb (or Conyers, Boxer or Feingold) for vice and to hell with the corrupt DLC. You would win hands down and it would be one of the most significant events in our history.

21. Dona February 5th, 2007 7:35 am

    I felt so sad to learn of Molly’s death. I loved her witty but profound insights into what is wrong with this country, this world.

    Her last column was one of her best — her words renewed my commitment to keep speaking out for peace and justice: banging pots and pans, as she said.

    I’m a huge fan of Bill Moyers and I loved it when Molly suggested that he should run for president. She was right-on with that idea! I’m afraid I must echo the words of Gwen Hale when she asked “Is it a sad commentary that he is too bright, too kind, too honest, too compassionate, and too real to BE our president?” One feels like protecting someone so noble from the madding crowd!

22. K.A.M. February 7th, 2007 10:35 pm

    I say we nominate and write in Bill Moyers on the Unity08 candidate ticket. Let’s do it for Molly.
    She would’ve got a Liberal Texas hoot outta that one.

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24. bnnycivozehi December 12th, 2007 8:58 am

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