Molly Ivins dead at 62

As a writer, Molly Ivins didn’t appear on my radar much. A true and admitted liberal, her viewpoints and mine rarely intersected on the political matters she wrote on. There was one time that I made a point to link to something she wrote and it was when she showed a sterling example of honorable behavior. She apologized for something she’d gotten wrong. At a time when Dick Durbin and Brian Williams were making the non-apology apology an art form, I had this to say about Ivins:

I recommend strongly that you read the whole thing. (Scroll down once you get there, it’s at the bottom of the column.) Note what’s missing. It’s called “qualification.” There’s no “if” in there. There’s no “Well, yes, but…” in there. She asserted something. She was wrong. She showed she understand she’s wrong. She recognizes what she should have done to avoid the problem.

Most importantly, she apologies for making the error. Blunt, succinct, to the point, nothing but net. Just an apology. This is how someone apologizes when they’re really sorry. Ms. Ivins’s original comment was incorrect, yes. But she owned up to it and demonstrated that she knows the right answer now. That is all anyone has been asking for with regard to comments like these. Molly Ivins can still think the invasion is a mistake. That’s OK. She has the honor to admit when she’s wrong and the grace to do so without slinging anything at anyone nearby.

Ivins succumbed to cancer yesterday. Politics be damned, losing someone to that disease is a pain I’m well familiar with and my condolences go to her family and friends over the loss of someone dear to them. Godspeed, Ms. Ivins.