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SUNNY Temp: 50 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Friday, October 3, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine Joy Magazine Tempo A & E RogueValleyAutoFinder RogueValleyHomeFinder Real Estate Showcase Wellness Connection Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Employment Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend September 30, 2003 Ivins She’ll cheer up the liberals Molly Ivins will warm her political skewers in Medford By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune When they coined the phrase "Don’t Mess with Texas," somebody probably had the feisty personality of Molly Ivins in mind. The liberal political pundit and columnist who hails from Houston plans to fire off a few verbal salvos from within the Medford Armory on Oct. 24. Ivins, warned that she was going to speak in mostly conservative Jackson County, said, "One of the things I try to do is cheer up liberals who are surrounded by people who don’t agree with them." Residents either love her columns or hate them, referring to the 59-year-old Texan as everything from a "Bush basher" or "Literary witch" to one of the few liberal voices in a sea of conservative columnists. Advertisement During the buildup to the Iraqi war and ever since, she steadfastly has remained a skeptic of President’s Bush assertions that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction. "She is one of the few people brave enough to stand against all that is going on against this country today," said Justine Cooper, executive director for Peace House, which is sponsoring Ivins’ speaking engagement. Ivins will discuss topics from her new book, "Bushwhacked," which describes her view on how the United States has fared since President Bush took office. Expressing sympathy for the budget problems in Oregon, Ivins said the state will suffer long-term damage to its educational systems because of cutbacks that have increased class sizes and reduced the school year. "You all wound up with one of the worst budget deficits," she said in her Texas drawl. She said the attempt by conservatives in Oregon to undermine a temporary tax increase that prevents more cuts to schools and health services is typical of an anti-tax stance in America. "The right wing puts out these incredible figures saying that the average middle American is paying the feds and the state and the local governments 50 percent of our income," she said. Americans, said Ivins, are not overtaxed. "Overwhelming numbers are willing to pay more taxes for higher teacher salaries and smaller class sizes if they knew they were going directly to fix that," she said. "Both health and education are more important than tax cuts." Anti-government sentiments in Oregon are also a problem nationally, following the lead of the Bush administration. "He doesn’t particularly think government is a good idea to begin with," she said. Ivins contends the president, blinkered to a large degree by class distinctions, is also hampered by three strains of Texas culture: religiosity, anti-intellectualism and machismo. "They are all very attractive to certain segments of the voter," she said. "In Bush’s case, the first two are genuine, I think. I am a little suspicious of the machismo. He tries a little too hard." Born in Monterey, Calif., Ivins grew up in the lone star state and has seen three of her fellow Texans inhabit the White House. "Lyndon (Johnson) looks better in retrospect," said Ivins, an antiwar activist in the 1960s. If not for Vietnam, Ivins said, she would rank Johnson as one of America’s greatest presidents. "Personally he was a wart," she added. "Talk about warts and all, he was mostly a wart." As to the present president, she said he is so involved in his own personal interests that he can’t see the damage being done by his policies. Bush is also heavily influenced by special interests, which persuaded him to pursue the war in Iraq, she said. "He didn’t know enough about the world and got talked into doing something," she said. Despite her constant drumbeat against the Bush administration, Ivins said other topics have tickled her fancy. "The California gubernatorial election is a source of grand amusement for us all who are not living there," she said. Ivins, who had breast cancer surgery, continues to keep a close eye on her health. "I feel just fine," she said. "I’m just sailing through chemo." Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] If you go What: Appearance by Molly Ivins, nationally syndicated columnist. She will speak about her new book, "Bushwhacked." When: Oct. 24. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; Ivins is scheduled to speak at 8 p.m. Where: Medford Armory. Tickets: $15 for adults, $5 for students. Call Peace House at 482-9625. Tickets go on sale Wednesday. Ivins answers two Rogue Valley readers Molly Ivins is a columnist Jackson County residents either love or hate. The Mail Tribune asked two of its readers — one who agrees with Ivins and one who generally doesn’t — to submit questions they would like the pundit to answer. Ivins, whose responses have been shortened slightly, was happy to respond to these questions during a recent telephone interview. Rick Smith of Rogue River, who has referred to Ivins as the "forked-tongue viper queen": In your columns, you express great dismay over the fact that we have found no hard evidence of WMDs (weapons of mass destruction) in Iraq since the U.S. and British forces defeated Saddam’s military approximately four months ago. Why are you so impatient? Why the premature conclusion? Why not give our military a little more time? Ivins: Every indication is that the military itself has given up. We went in there certain there were vast quantities. This is not the kind of thing you could hide in a mason jar in the basement. We haven’t found any traces not only of WMDs themselves but any facilities that might have manufactured them. Basically it’s a bust. They caught all the Iraqis they thought who had anything to do with a weapons program and they haven’t been able to get any leads. So what you’re watching is not impatience on the part of people wondering where in the hell are these horrible WMDs you were telling us about. When you find the official party line saying it doesn’t matter that we didn’t find any weapons of mass destruction, we got rid of a horrible dictator, I think you are safe in concluding that there probably aren’t any WMDs there. Now I have no way of knowing that with any more certainty than the average fellow does, and I have said that. John Holseth of Phoenix, who once said "Go Molly Go" for her questions surrounding the WMD problem: "George the Conqueror" has consistently lied about the reasons for going to war to conquer Iraq in trying to get world opinion, costing innocent lives. Should he be impeached? Ivins: Considering that we didn’t think Clinton should be impeached for lying about sex, one is tempted to make the obvious cynic’s answer: Impeaching a politician for lying is like — make up your own joke. No. I have never thought Bush does anything out of conscious malice. I really think he doesn’t see the damage of his own policies. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times