Molly Ivins Campaign

Reminiscing... about Molly in Berkeley

2008-01-31T21:28:00.001-08:00

Wrapping up... congrats all around

2008-01-31T21:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks for joining us here tonight online! Please add your comments
throughout.

The Molly Ivins Resolution

2008-01-31T21:21:00.001-08:00

Robert Manning:
Over 900 proven lies to create a war of occupation i n Iraq.
The people in power learned their lessons well with Vietnam. No draft.
Only embedded journalists.

We're asked to go out and shop.
There's no forum in which we can say 'no' effectively.

The goal of this campaign
Tell 10 more people
The "heart" of Congress is LOCAL OFFICES of our Representatives and
Senators

3rd Friday of every month
A coordinated effort nationally

Http://www.raisehellformollyivins.org/

As molly says in her speeches
Its up to us
We can change these things.

In person, phone, fax... info is on the website.

Last video now showing

2008-01-31T21:11:00.000-08:00

From a roast of Molly from Fall, 2006

Living our lives... to the fullest.

Molly's final book "Bill of Wrongs" with Lou duBose, a Texas Observer
editor. Published October, 2007 by Random House. Photo on the LiveBlog.
Tell your friends, buy it, read it.

We've plowed right through the break, another 20ish minutes left.

Last video by Paul Steckler, Emmy-winning filmmaker in Austin.

A lot of great quotes from her columns, read by Molly.

Bryan Webster, Raise Hell for Molly Ivins blogger

2008-01-31T20:40:00.000-08:00

Off to take some pix herself

Betsy moon, Molly's assistant :

2008-01-31T20:35:00.001-08:00

Molly said, while dictating her last two columns:
From now on I won't write anything
Except ending this obscene war

Audio Clips of Molly playing:
Garrison Keillor, Prairie Home Companion

"The proper condition of democracy is like a really noisy family
argument"

Then a serious excerpt from one of her speeches

Bill of Wrongs... Molly's last book

2008-01-31T20:27:00.001-08:00

Published posthumously with Lou duBose
2007, Random House

Someone here was just asking me about this, and before I can even go
online, someone brings over a copy. I love this place!

Closer shot of the band

2008-01-31T20:23:00.001-08:00

Break coming up in a few. Boy are my fingers tired! Typing on a SideKick
III.

Labyrinth watching JC Flyer

2008-01-31T20:18:00.000-08:00

Front of audience

2008-01-31T20:08:00.000-08:00

The hard rocking band echoes mightily in this cavernous space.

J.C. Flyer onstage

2008-01-31T20:06:00.000-08:00

"We're here to end the war"

Texas Observer link

2008-01-31T20:04:00.000-08:00

Http://www.texasobserver.org/

They have a DVD of the roast they put on for Molly, plus a memorial
compilation of their writings.

Now onstage: JC Flyer

Now playing: "ballad of molly ivins"

2008-01-31T20:01:00.000-08:00

Songwriting award winner
'I ask myself... what would Moly do?'

Raines

Poet/veteran Shepherd Bliss

2008-01-31T19:46:00.000-08:00

Labyrinth walkers

2008-01-31T19:27:00.000-08:00

VFP President under sculpture

2008-01-31T19:23:00.000-08:00

"The brotherhood of man"

Nadia mcCaffrey, Gold Star mom

2008-01-31T19:15:00.000-08:00

Talking about her son patrick.

Asking 'where are we going' 5 yrs into war
Survived death of her only child

Muslim perspective on Molly

2008-01-31T19:11:00.001-08:00

Iftahar kai (see proper spelling in earlier entry with his photo). Came
to US in 1969. 1982 helped start american muslim group. Interfaith.

Working for peace for last 25 yrs

USA Muslim interfaith alliance.

Speaking of peace today reminds me of molly ivins
A prophetess
...
War to her was as atrocious as anything
Especially iraq... fought not for a just cause as you say
We have a philosophy in my education 'just war'
Has to come to an end
Negotiation across the table
Without loss of life.

I look deeper in my own conscious
And see we all have made mistakes
We all have erred
Today I ask every one of you for forgiveness.

Act strongly in a very forgiving spirit.
Not in a spirit of revengefulness..

...

In workld today we are all connected
Industrially
Educationally
'It is one world'
It is the duty of people to look to each other
One piece of real estate

May god grant us compassion
To bring prace to people of israel
And its neighbors

...
Healing
...

(Prayer in arabic)
Oh god of Abraham
You are peace
And through you flows peace
Give us peace
In this life
And in the hereafter

Amen

Rabbi hillel cooper

2008-01-31T19:05:00.000-08:00

Rabbi hillel cooper. Tehila synagogue, east bay.
Member of Rabbis for human rights. Part of jewish alliance for justice
and peace.

Molly ivins was a prophetic voice speaking truth to power

....

This administration stands out
For capacity to lie and lie again

Bush lied the american ppl into this war
His cohorts are lying again.. Iran
Perhaps they are lying to themselves

Points to their worldview
See imperialism as a blessing upon the imperialized

Chaos.. Used as a reason to stay further.

How get out w/o cause further damage
Your failure of.. Vision,values.compassuion, understanding are what got
us into this
No way without further damage
The US invasion started this ball rolling

Addictive tendencies
Cold turkey is painful, necessary

I pray american,Iraqi people have the strength necessary

May that which brings peace to the cosmos
Bring peace to all of us on the planet.

Sister Pamela Claire

2008-01-31T19:00:00.000-08:00

Sister pamela claire. Episcopal. Community of st. Francis. Convener of
SF chapter of episcopal peace fellowship.

Her neighborhood: the Tenderloin, where Iraq war vets are already on the
streets.

Molly ivins is a prophet... wrote about 'Shrub'
Jesus too was a prophet.. Taught live by sword, die by sword

Love your neighbors, your enemies

Bush has used religious language to justify the war in iraq.
Righteousness. Vengance.

This is not the god that I know.

Every person is a child if god of infinite worth
We are all 'related I our common creaturliness' - st.. Francis

Griswold: 9/11 'a chance for this nation to come to a new
consciousness... but this good will was squandered.'

Iraq war... acts that shame us around the world.
We have lost the respect

Christian view
Baptismal rite: respect the dignity of every guman being

This is the foundation of our relationships... justice and respect

Desmond tutu 'anything war could do peace could do better'

God is weeping.

We are a people of hope

Holy and merciful god
Hear our prayer for our enemies
....
Keep our hearts from hatred... despair
....

Robert Manning intro

2008-01-31T18:54:00.000-08:00

"There's a large number of people out there that feel as I do... its
really time to stop this war."

Goal: energize us to do something once a month.

Next up: 3 people to talk from faith perspectives.

Charlotte McCann of the Texas Observer

2008-01-31T18:49:00.000-08:00

Kicking things off and thanking Diana Stork, the harpist.

"It should be an eveneing that really binds is and bonds us and brings
us together."

Introduces Robert Manning, 5th-gen California. Retired Fire
Captain.Worked with Helen Caldicott as an anti-nuclear activist.

Chuck Rosene of the band JC Flyer

2008-01-31T18:44:00.000-08:00

(Who I also know through his work for the regional Unitarian
Universalist church coordinating council)

First few rows

2008-01-31T18:42:00.000-08:00

Robert Manning of VFP

2008-01-31T18:40:00.000-08:00

(Wearing hat) He took the lead putting this event together

View from behind stage

2008-01-31T18:39:00.000-08:00

Very beautiful, peaceful music playing... listen in on the live webcast
(audio) stream from the home page http://www.raisehellformollyivins.org/

Labyrinth walker

2008-01-31T18:36:00.000-08:00

Opening harp music stil playing onstage in the background as folks
arrive through the storm.

Nancy Mancias of CodePink

2008-01-31T18:34:00.000-08:00

"We actually got to spend time with molly in Austin She was gracious
enough to come to our retreat. I remember her as loving, humorous, great
woman."

Early arrivals

2008-01-31T18:28:00.000-08:00

Its hard to see in the pix how BIG this place is.

Alison Manning and Alfredo Lopez

2008-01-31T18:27:00.000-08:00

Greeting folks at the door.

Robert's daughter supporting him here.

Sign at the door

2008-01-31T18:19:00.000-08:00

Raines

Joanne filipello

2008-01-31T18:15:00.000-08:00

Her inspiration from Molly: "being outrageous... I go for that."
Raines

Diana Stork practicing onstage ahead of schedule

2008-01-31T18:12:00.000-08:00

A friend heard about the event on KPFA but had the wrong night!
Hopefully the rain won't scare too many away.
Raines

Iftekhar Hai, president of United Muslims of America Interfaith Alliance

2008-01-31T18:04:00.001-08:00

Http://www.umaia.net/

His main message here tonight remembering Molly is forgiveness. "There
can be no peace without forgiveness."
Raines

Getting ready to Raise Hell

2008-01-31T18:01:00.000-08:00

Some of the crew getting ready behind the scenes.
Raines

2008-01-31T17:45:00.000-08:00

Elliot Adams, national president, and Sharon Kufeldt, national vice
president of Veterans for Peace, preparing to Raise Hell for Molly Ivins
at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco
Raines

Some examples: remembering, Raising Hell for Molly

2008-01-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

Books In Heat had a nice little year-in-review post remembering Molly:

Molly Ivins was a fountain of wit and sense. She was big-hearted, clear-eyed and courageous. She told the truth when it was popular and when it wasn't. And she was fun. If we have to have Texas, then we damn well needed to have Molly Ivins. In this already lunatic election year, we're going to miss her.

Visit the blog to read more, and see some great photos.

And there's a Daily Kos thread up and running: One Year Since Molly Ivins Died, attracting some helpful links in the comments. We're hoping that Bill in Portland Maine, dKos' staff Cheers & Jeers columnist, who has included Molly quotes in his posts, will help raise the energy level over there and invite more action as we count down to the event.

Feel free to comment here, or comment there... but do join in the conversation. Today, tomorrow, Thursday... take just a moment to share: a feeling, a link, a memory, an inspiration. Build the community. It's up to all of us.

Molly Ivins Memorial and Blogfest - Live Event Thurs. at Grace Cathedral, SF

2008-01-29T20:18:00.000-08:00

Join Us for the Molly Ivins One Year Memorial and Blogfest at Grace Cathedral

The "Raise Hell for Molly Ivins" campaign to End the War in Iraq is hosting a Memorial and Blogfest this Thursday, January 31, 2008 to honor the legacy of this courageous journalist who never wavered in "speaking truth to power" and was revered by hundreds of thousands of readers until her passing one year ago.

Be There In Person
Molly Ivins Memorial and Blogfest
January 31st, 2008

6:45 pm to 9:30 pm

Grace Cathedral
1100 California Street
San Francisco

Press Release

Coming? Got greetings to send? Add a comment.

See next post for info on how to participate from wherever you are.

Ballad of Molly Ivins - first three great songs!

2007-11-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

Well the Ballad of Molly Ivins Songwriting Contest is starting to take off with the first three (really great and wonderful) songs now entered in the contest!

This is a YouTube based contest so you can see and judge for yourself just how great and wonderful each song is.

Just go to the YouTube Channel set up for easy viewing:
http://www.youtube.com/mollyivins

All song are in competition to be officially called: "The Ballad of Molly Ivins"

One song is performed by Peter Tracy and the Left Coast Troubadours.

Another is by Walt Webb AKA Peacewebbs

And a third is performed by Sky Camfield on vocal and guitar, and Adrian Fallwell on the pots and pans.

The official judging is being done by an outstanding panel of judges.

Please tell any musical friends and any singer-songwriters you may know about this contest. And especially please tell any media or journalist to may be in touch with about this contest! It is still going on. Any and all motivated fans of Molly are encouraged to enter!

Author of “Fiasco” discusses the surge in Iraq on Talk of the Nation with soldiers and veterans

2007-08-06T19:05:00.000-07:00

Listening to the radio this Wednesday I was fascinated to hear NPR’s daily call in show, Talk of the Nation featuring the Washington Post's senior Pentagon correspondent Thomas Ricks, author of the critically acclaimed book, 'Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. The theme of the radio show was “What do solders think about the surge and how the war in Iraq is going.”

Ricks had his best selling book Fiasco published in 2006. The paperback version has just come out with a postscript added of new insights about the surge strategy and war up to April 2007. His previous books, Making the Corps and A Soldier's Duty and his career military correspondent has given him an intimate knowledge and respect for Americans who serve their country in the military and the career officers who lead them.

Fiasco is a devastating and detailed report on ignorance, mistakes and bad leadership of Bush, Rumsfeld, Bremer etc. and the senior generals that ran the war. Since it was published, Ricks' inbox began overflowing with emails from men and women in the service, practically all of it thanking him for reporting the truths of the Iraq “fiasco”. The book has received a great deal of praise and attention by the media and political reporters. In 2006 Ricks was interviewed by Charlie Rose for a full hour.

This Talk of the Nation radio show is great because it combines an interview of Ricks with his commentary on the surge strategy and the situation in Iraq today plus commentary by callers who are active duty and Iraq veterans. I encourage everyone interested in what's happening in Iraq to take 20 minutes and listen to the online NPR achive of this show.

Ricks starts out by qualifying that the US military is not a monolith. Marines and soldiers at all levels disagree with each other on the war as much as civilian Americans do. However it is obvious that the vast majority of American military service believe that Ricks got it right in Fiasco.

Ricks says, “I think what I did was give voice to what a lot of people in the military where thinking and told them first of all, you are not alone. There are a lot of other people in the military that have this view, and gave them a coherent narrative, and gave them the documentation that what you saw in your little corner of Iraq was not unique. That these problem where generalized. That you did indeed have poor generalship under General Sanchez. That Tommy Franks probably did put on the table the worst war plan in American History.”

He says, “One battalion commander wrote to me, “Thank you for saying publicly what we have been saying privately.”

Indeed Ricks says he has been told that his Fiasco book has been selected for the required reading starting this fall at the US Army War College.

Ricks is no anti-war pundit or partisan for any political point of view. He stresses, “The important thing for me is to remain open the possibility of a turn around in this war – a turn in the tide. At the same time we can’t rush to optimism and come to overly optimistic conclusions in the way the US military and the Bush administration has done repeatedly for the last five years.”

“I try to walk a tight rope between seeing accurately what’s happening without getting too entrenched. I don’t’ want to have people to say, he wrote the book “Fiasco” so he wants the war to be a fiasco. The first four years of the war have absolutely been a fiasco in my mind. Where it goes from now - it could change and I am open to that possibility. I don’t think it’s going to change. I think it’s going to be a real mess for many many years to come.”

Ricks clearly believes the military counteroffensive as he calls it is theoretically the right thing to do. While he bemoans that it took us four years to get to this strategy. But he is just as clear that it may be fatally flawed because it may be too little too late.

He says, “The purpose of this counteroffensive, called the surge, is not to just to improve security in Baghdad. Its stated purpose and strategic goal is to create political breathing space, an opening in which Iraqi political leaders could achieve reconciliation. Here we are now seven months into this new stated strategy and there is absolutely no sign of that effect occurring, of that strategic goal being realized. And our soldiers know that. So they are looking around and saying, OK, so what are we going to do now? The Iraqis are not showing up politically.“

He offers this ominous observation, “Iraqis are in a very difficult position. One of the things I believe that Americans don’t get is that Iraqis really don’t share our agenda. Iraqis have different goals than this. We are asking them to do things that they don’t want to do, can’t do or both. “

Rick concludes with this assessment, certainly open-minded, but certainly not optimistic. “General Petraeus is a unique leader; my worry is that just I wish we had done in 2004 what we finally have finally did in 2007. If anyone can do it, Petraeus can. But maybe nobody can do it. That is a very good summary of the general feeling I am hearing from Lieutenant Colonels and Colonels these days.

I believe this is a very good example of what most people know but hate to say; that we are past the tipping point. That every military and political option we have really is all too little too late.

Ricks feels we may be Iraq with troops for another twelve to fifteen years. Maybe he is right. Or maybe Congress will act to bring the troops out in twelve to fifteen months. The question is when do we realize, when do we admit, that anything America can hope to do to avoid defeat of its goals is too little too late. The Bush administration has driven American ship of state right into an iceberg with its Iraq war policy and the ship is sinking. Rearranging the deck chairs on a rapidly sinking ship is not a strategy for saving American or Iraqi lives. It is a strategy of too little too late.

The very real and often stated problem is that pulling American troops out condemns tens of thousands of Iraqis to death and raises the possibility of genocide. The American people and our soldiers can see that and know that. But unlike Bush and the dead-enders in Congress, we are willing to face terrible facts that their leadership has created. We as Americans have our own share of responsibility for re-electing Bush and company in 2004. But Americans voted very differently and very clearly in 2006. We are ready to brake out the lifeboats and see how many Americans and Iraqis can be saved.

Seven out of ten Americans want to bring our troops home from Iraq. The large majority of Iraqis want US troops out. And still the occupation grinds on.

We who call for bringing US troops home now are not isolationists. We do not have our heads in the sand. We certainly are not callus to the humanitarian crisis of death and destruction that is the reality today in Iraq and that will continue in the future. We simply believe that if you are dug into in a hole and you want to get out, you should stop digging and do something else.

Last night I had a chance to meet Tom Ricks at a bookstore signing. I got three copies of his book, One for my Dad and one for Robert Manning, a Korean War veteran and a driving force behind the Molly Ivins Campaign. Rick was very gracious and signed Robert's book, “Thank you for your service to our country”.

-Brian Webster
San Francisco

The Ballad of Molly Ivins Songwriting Contest !

2007-07-16T12:21:00.000-07:00

I have some exciting news about the Ballad of Molly Ivins songwriting contest.

We have now confirmed six fantastic judges for the contest!

Four are singer-songwriters;

Country Joe McDonald

Utah Phillips

Kinky Friedman

Ronnie Gilbert

plus David Richards, Author & Attorney

and Charlotte McCann, Publisher of The Texas Observer!

The Ballad of Molly Ivins songwriting contest is a competition designed to honor the legacy and spirit of Molly Ivins.

See: www.raisehellformollyivins.org/songwritingcontest.html

The contest has been initiated by our “Raise Hell for Molly Ivins” anti-war campaign. In the folk tradition of singer-songwriters memorializing great Americans with ballads, we are putting out a call to write the “Ballad of Molly Ivins”. The winner of this songwriting competition will win a modest prize, and make history by honoring a great American journalist and hell raiser.

The Contest is being officially announced and launched on July 19th. It will be open to amateur and professional songwriters. The contest is using the YouTube.com as a platform to showcase and judge the song entries.

People will post YouTube videos of their song entries and the public will get to see all the entries that the judges will choose from. We are asking for the song entries to be performed with at least one musical instrument and using pots and pans as background percussion.

The judges will be looking for a ballad that is fun, irreverent, uses powerful words and satire to speak truth to power with wit and style. Something Molly would have liked. Something that people can sing on picket lines and at Texas bonfires for the next hundred years.

We need activists, journalists, musicians and media worker to help us get the word out about the contest. We will have a press release ready on July 19th. Anyone who can help us reach songwriters and publications and networks that can reach songwriters is encouraged to contact: balladofmollyivins@gmail.com

The Ballad of Molly Ivins will soon be ready to join the community of songs honoring hell raisers such as the Ballad of Joe Hill and the Ballad of John & Yoko!

-Brian Webster
San Francisco

Tom Hayden on Ending the War in Iraq

2007-07-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

One of the important things about organizing a campaign to stop a war is knowing you don’t have to start from scratch. Americans have a long tradition of organizing against war and many experienced “veterans and “generals” to draw knowledge from. Tom Hayden is such a person. Tom is one of the founding members of Students for a Democratic Society and a key player in the struggle to end US intervention in the Vietnam war. He has published a very important book, “Ending the War in Iraq”. Just published in May in paperback by Akashic Books, it is very timely with analysis of the current situation in Iraq, including President Bush’s failing surge strategy and the crumbling support for it in the House and Senate.

Hayden clearly spells out how the war can be brought to an end by applying public pressure against the pillars of Bush’s foreign policy. In five chapters and 217 pages he draws together the history and lessons from Vietnam and other clashes with national insurgencies and relates it to the current situation is in Iraq. Chapter 1 is titled – From Vietnam Syndrome to Iraq Syndrome. Chapter 2 – The nature of the Iraq Insurgency. Chapter 3 The Rise of the Antiwar movement, 2001-2007. Chapter 4 – Recommendations to the Antiwar Movement. Chapter 5 is simply titled – Lessons.

I have not yet finished reading the whole book. As I read it, I hope to post several entries here on its contents. For antiwar organizers it has a tremendous amount of insightful history and practical information. I have been underlining many passages and treating my copy as a text book to study.

In chapter 4, Hayden identifies eight pillars of the Bush administrations policy that he says require people pressure for ending the war and occupation. They are: 1. Iraqi Support 2. American Public Opinion 3. American Media 4. Political Support 5. U.S. Military Capacity 6. U.S. Financial Capacity 7. Moral Reputation 8. U.s. Global Alliances

Hayden gives a detailed analysis of each of theses pillars and follows that with a section titled, A Model for Local Antiwar Organizing. That section begins, “Given a strategy of pressuring these eight pillars, what would an anti war organizing model look like? The heart of the pillars strategy must beat at local levels, among volunteer groups like those in Los Angeles neighborhoods who hold peace placards to passing to passing motorist every Friday night.” Well that’s an encouraging endorsement to our Molly Invins Campaign strategy of pots & pans protests in front of local congressional offices. It’s great to have that kind of unsolicited encouragement for the direction we are taking.

There is a boatload of great information in this book and I will try to write it about more in the future. I do encourage people to buy it. Its a great textbook study of what people can do to end the war.

-Brian Webster
San Francisco

PRINT THE NEWS AND RAISE HELL

2007-07-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

“The Raise Hell for Molly Ivins Campaign”. The campaign is focused on building a series of peaceful public protests of the Bush surge strategy and the war in Iraq. It is inspired by Molly Ivins ‘ last column calling for people to, “Raise hell... hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge!"

Our goal for this blog is to share thoughts and ideas for creative strategies to end the war in Iraq. Here you will see blog posts from the people involved with the campaign as well as other peace activists and progressive bloggers. We are excited about the opportunity to add our voices to the larger chorus of people blogging to end the war!

Our campaign is organizing people in cities and towns throughout the country to demonstrate in a monthly nationwide remembrance of the March 19^th 2003 anniversary date that started the Iraq War. We are gathering at local offices of congressional representatives and Senators on the 19^th day of every month to bang pots and pans and peacefully demand that Congress act to end Bush’s policy of war without end.

We invite all Americans, peace groups and veterans groups to join us as we mobilize the voting public to tell Congress, as Molly said, "We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders.” We ask our fellow citizens to join us as we gather in front of Congressional district offices in towns across the USA on the 19^th day of every month to bang pots and pans for peace!

We are strongly inspired by Molly Ivan’s life and work. We hope to continue her legacy by organizing to speak truth to power with wit and style. We are working on a variety of creative strategies to do this and bring attention to our campaigning.

We have created a public website to coordinate this grassroots campaign

We have Yahoo and Google Groups for people in cities and towns to organize local demonstrations

We are producing a special video with the San Francisco Mime Troupe to promote the campaign.

We are coordinating a “Ballad of Molly Ivins” songwriting contest to honor her legacy and spirit.

And now we have a blog!

Back in 1861, Wilbur Storey of the Chicago Times said, "IT IS A NEWSPAPER'S DUTY TO PRINT THE NEWS AND RAISE HELL." That’s exactly what we intend to do with the Molly Ivins Campaign blog.

-Brian Webster

San Francisco