Arkansas, the state Bill Clinton loves and that loves him back, is a place with just no pretension at all. – Molly Ivins
The greatest moral leader of my lifetime was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose private life does not bear close examination. – Molly Ivins
One of the more urp-making habits of media mavens is presuming to speak for the American people, as in ‘The American people won’t stand for this!’ – Molly Ivins
What we call politics now and what most political writers write about is the empathy and the bonding and the word choice and the horse rights, and it has nothing to do with what’s really happening to people’s lives. – Molly Ivins
Rove, of course, is an exceptionally good, exceptionally skillful campaign guy, and Bush himself is really gifted at the political end of politics. But he’s always been, as he says, misunderestimated. – Molly Ivins
Racists seem obsessed by the idea that illegal workers – the hardest-working, poorest people in America – are somehow getting away with something, sneaking goodies that should be for Americans. You can always avoid this problem by having no social services. This is the refreshing Texas model, and it works a treat. – Molly Ivins
I only aim at the powerful. When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel – it’s vulgar. – Molly Ivins
If Democrats in Washington haven’t got enough sense to own the issue of political reform, I give up on them entirely. – Molly Ivins
So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. – Molly Ivins
The Kurds will not be allowed to have an independent country because Turkey wouldn’t stand for it; they have their own Kurdish population. – Molly Ivins
Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention. – Molly Ivins
There is never anyone quite so wonderful as the people who were seniors when you were a freshman. – Molly Ivins
What I’ve been telling people is that the doctors are gaining on cancer very rapidly. It’s almost become a chronic disease, like diabetes – something you can treat. It doesn’t go away, and you’re not well in the sense of being over it, but you go on and live your life. – Molly Ivins
It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America. – Molly Ivins
I really do think we’re going through a period of concentration of ownership of media, and we’re starting to see the effects at the editorial level, and it’s all bad. This increased pressure for profits every quarter, smaller news hole, less coverage of important stuff – the extent that it’s become one giant infotainment industry. – Molly Ivins
I have long argued that no one should be allowed to write opinion without spending years as a reporter – nothing like interviewing all four eyewitnesses to an automobile accident and then trying to write an accurate account of what happened. – Molly Ivins
For years, I have been trying to persuade people that George W. Bush, although no Einstein, is not stupid. – Molly Ivins
Jimmy Carter was unquestionably the most moral president of my lifetime, but he wasn’t much of a president. – Molly Ivins
The Federal Reserve system obviously doesn’t work anymore – they keep lowering the federal discount rate, and all that happens is that the banks are making a fortune, and the old folks’ CDs are getting chewed up. – Molly Ivins
The thing about democracy, beloveds, is that it is not neat, orderly, or quiet. It requires a certain relish for confusion. – Molly Ivins
The trouble with blaming powerless people is that although it’s not nearly as scary as blaming the powerful, it does miss the point. Poor people do not shut down factories… Poor people didn’t decide to use ‘contract employees’ because they cost less and don’t get any benefits. – Molly Ivins
Keep fighting for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. – Molly Ivins
