Quotes from Molly Ivins

During a recent panel on the numerous failures of American journalism, I proposed that almost all stories about government should begin: "Look out! They're about to smack you around again!

I think of Texas as the laboratory for bad government.

Of course, it has never paid much.

I still believe in Hope - mostly because there's no such place as Fingers Crossed, Arkansas.

Freedom fighters don't always win, but they're always right.

Anyone who watched George W. and Karl Rove while the former was governor of Texas will recognize a familiar pattern. Like much of Bush's social policy - from faith-based social services to railing against gay marriage - women's issues are one of the bones they've decided they can throw to the Christian right.

You look at the large problems that we face - that would be overpopulation, water shortages, global warming and AIDS, I suppose - all of that needs international cooperation to be solved.

As I occasionally survey the pack of sycophantic shih tzus in the Washington press corps, wriggling on their bellies to kiss the feet of those in power, I feel plumb discouraged about the future of journalism.

Even I felt sorry for Richard Nixon when he left; there's nothing you can do about being born liberal - fish gotta swim, and hearts gotta bleed.

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.

Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful.

Satire is a weapon, and it can be quite cruel.

Some days, I'd feel better with Punxsutawney Phil in the Oval Office - at least he doesn't lie about the weather.

I do object to those who jump from political hackery to flackery and expect respect.

Am I the only person covering politics who ever noticed that Newt Gingrich is actually a nincompoop?

It really is possible to disagree with someone's policies without hating them. Grown-ups can do that.

I think one can easily make a case for taking out Saddam Hussein. In fact, one could probably be made on humanitarian grounds alone. But just as there's a downside risk to doing nothing about this man, there is a very serious downside risk to invading the country.

I have always been a left-winger and an outsider. I loved being that. I was perfectly cheerful with that role. Then suddenly, you're one of the talking heads on 'Nightline,' and you think you must have sold out.

What you need is sustained outrage...there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority.

I have known George W. Bush slightly since we were both in high school, and I studied him closely as governor. He is neither mean nor stupid. What we have here is a man shaped by three intertwining strands of Texas culture, combined with huge blinkers of class. The three Texas themes are religiosity, anti-intellectualism, and machismo.

To mistake Midland for the volk heartland is the West Texas equivalent of assuming that Greenwich, Connecticut, is Levittown.

People in Midland are real nice folks: I can't prove that with statistics, but I know West Texas, and it's just a fact.

And the funny thing is, I've always been an optimist - it's practically a congenital disorder with me.

Old-fashioned anti-immigrant prejudice always brings out some old-fashioned racists.