Molly Ivins died yesterday. She referred to her love of our home state of Texas as a "harmless perversion," and I've always felt a kinship with her just for that. She was a reminder that people like Rick Perry and George W. Bush do not represent all of Texas, but as time went on Ms. Ivins become more and more the proverbial voice crying out in the desert.
This is a woman who suggested Bill Moyers be tagged to run for President, and in what I believe was her final column, she called for an end to the war and repeated one of her most common themes--that the American people are the true seat of power--and we're not exercising that power nearly enough.
Her columns projected the outrage felt by liberals and progressives in Texas and beyond--whether it be about George Bush, the plight of the poor in our militantly agressive capitalist society or the freak show that is Texas politics--and she did it without resorting to meanness. She didn't fit, nor did she ever attempt to conform to Texas big-hair beauty queen standards of beauty and was openly and flagrantly a woman with an intellectual life in a state that deplores intellectualism in general and finds it especially repugnant in women.
I will miss her voice.
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