Words from Molly

This country is being torn apart by an evil and unnecessary war, and it has to be stopped. NOW.

— words from Molly.

Thanks Helen for the link to this site, A Poetic Justice, where I found this column quoted and a tribute in verse to Molly Ivins. It’s an interesting looking blog and I look forward to exploring it.

Before Molly died, she vowed to write every column in opposition to the Iraq war. But I had read that she only managed three columns before she got too sick to carry on. So now we have to carry on in her name.

Here are some more words from Molly that Brooks Carver sent:

The recent death of Gene McCarthy reminded me of a lesson I spent a long, long time unlearning, so now I have to re-learn it. It’s about political courage and heroes, and when a country is desperate for leadership. There are times when regular politics will not do, and this is one of those times. There are times a country is so tired of bull that only the truth can provide relief.

If no one in conventional-wisdom politics has the courage to speak up and say what needs to be said, then you go out and find some obscure junior senator from Minnesota with the guts to do it. In 1968, Gene McCarthy was the little boy who said out loud, “Look, the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes.” Bobby Kennedy — rough, tough Bobby Kennedy — didn’t do it. Just this quiet man trained by Benedictines who liked to quote poetry.

It’s time for us quiet folk who quote and make poetry to speak out and speak the truth. If we do it, maybe others will have the courage to follow.

And here, from Rosalie, is just some such poetry and a slide show of the streets of Tehran. There is a photograph in the group that reminds me of a colleague I worked with for several years, as sweet a woman as I’ve known. She is an Iranian. Watch this and decide whether you want us to bomb Iran. Look especially at the women who, though forced to wear head covering, are managing to do so with style, grace, and a certain defiance:

Now I’ve been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can’t we live in bliss

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again

— the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens

Here’s something to feed your outrage (my emphasis):

HOUSTON, Feb. 1 � Oil prices have fallen, but Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell left their smaller competitors in the dust and reported record annual profits Thursday.

By making $180 million a day between them, the two largest publicly traded oil companies displayed their ability to ramp up production worldwide over the year, even in unstable places like Chad and Nigeria…

Could this be why Dubya has persisted so long in thinking we’re winning this war? His America is doing fine.

The Rude Pundit

Paul Krugman via Atrios

Possibly related posts:

Three Little Words

Ted Kennedy was not Lord Jim

William Blake’s Notebook and some other stuff

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.