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A tribute by John Nichols for The Nation. And from Good Texan (an excerpt, but worth reading the whole post):
The obituaries, both the CNN version and the one Lloyd linked to in the NYT, just barely hint at what she was like. At least the Times is honest enough to repeat her words about her stint with them: “The New York Times is a great newspaper: it is also No Fun.†however, they remain fussy enough to circumlocute that her dog’s name was an “expletive” — according to Dad, the dog’s name was Shit. Which just proves the point. There’s a saying that some people wouldn’t know shit if they were standing in a big pile of it; it might be more accurate to say that most folks would pretend they didn’t know shit for the sake of politeness. Molly never did that. She always said exactly what she thought.Not that it’s a surprise or anything, but Bush’s comment about Ivins’s death was spectacularly lame. From the Times story: “On Wednesday night, President Bush issued a statement that said he ‘respected her convictions, her passionate belief in the power of words, and her ability to turn a phrase…. Mr. Bush added: ‘Her quick wit and commitment to her beliefs will be missed.’ ” I hate everything about this smirkingly anti-intellectual, evasive set of non-statements. The passive voice says everything.
Comments
I don’t know, Emily - I understand your pique, because the man is a ratbastard, but at the same time I thought it was surprisingly gracious of Bush to address Ivins’ passing at all. She made merciless fun of him and his father for decades, and made no secret of her contempt for him. So the evasiveness was inevitable, but the expression of respect for an old adversary was above and beyond his usual self-serving style.
Well put, and I see your point. It’s not as though most politicians of our time go around remembering (or acknowledging, or reading) fiesty reporters they disagree with. Given the Bush Administration’s generally degraded relationship with the press, his comment is (sigh) something to encourage.