"If we play it right, the here and now is all we need." RIP ANN RICHARDS

[shereads]

"If we play it right, the here and now is all we need." R.I.P ANN RICHARDS

Ann Richards lost her battle with esophageal cancer tonight. She didn't lose many battles.

She was a woman of wit and substance. Compassionate, earthy, elegant in a big-haired Southern-fried way, and shrewd enough to be elected Governor of Texas despite being female, a liberal, a Democrat and a recovering alcoholic. She accepted wins and losses with grace and style. She laughed a lot. She went out fighting.

I more than admired Ann Richards. I wanted to be her when I grew up. Except for the hair. Still do.

"I've always said that in politics, your enemies can't hurt you, but your friends will kill you."

"I inhaled."

"They blame the low income women for ruining the country because they are staying home with their children and not going out to work. They blame the middle income women for ruining the country because they go out to work and do not stay home to take care of their children."

On George Bush I: (from her keynote address at the '88 Democratic convention):

"He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."

On George W. Bush (quoted by Molly Ivans of Texas Monthly):

"He's a lot of hat and not much cowboy."

Peace.

 

[shereads]

Ex-Texas Gov. Ann Richards Dies

Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards dies of cancer at 73; went from homemaker to political star

AUSTIN, Texas, Sep. 14, 2006

(AP) Former Gov. Ann Richards, the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity, died Wednesday night after a battle with cancer, a family spokeswoman said. She was 73.

She died at home surrounded by her family, the spokeswoman said. Richards was found to have esophageal cancer in March and underwent chemotherapy treatments.

The silver-haired, silver-tongued Richards said she entered politics to help others _ especially women and minorities who were often ignored by Texas' male-dominated establishment.

"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government to everyone,'" Richards said shortly before leaving office in January 1995.

She was governor for one term, losing her re-election bid to Republican George W. Bush.

Her four adult children spent Wednesday with her, said family spokeswoman Cathy Bonner, a longtime family friend.

"They're a strong group of people but they're broken-hearted, of course," Bonner said.

Her family said as governor she was most proud of two actions that probably cost her re-election. She vetoed legislation that would allow people to carry concealed handguns, automatic weapons and so-called "cop-killer bullets."

She also vetoed a bill that critics said would have allowed the destruction of the Edwards Aquifer, a major underground water system that now serves 1.7 million in people in south central Texas, including the city of San Antonio.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry described Richards as "the epitome of Texas politics: a figure larger than life who had a gift for captivating the public with her great wit."

Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk said that with Richards' death, "We've lost a little bit of that mystique and that wonderfulness that so captivates the rest of this country about Texas."

She grabbed the national spotlight with her keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention when she was the Texas state treasurer. Richards won cheers from delegates when she reminded them that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, "only backwards and in high heels."

Richards sealed her partisan reputation with a blast at George H. Bush, a fellow Texan who was vice president at the time: "Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."

Four years later, she was chairwoman of the Democratic convention that nominated Bill Clinton for president.

Richards rose to the governorship with a come-from-behind victory over millionaire cowboy Clayton Williams in 1990. She cracked a half-century male grip on the governor's mansion and celebrated by holding up a T-shirt that showed the state Capitol and read: "A woman's place is in the dome."

In four years as governor, Richards championed what she called the "New Texas," appointing more women and more minorities to state posts than any of her predecessors.

She appointed the first black University of Texas regent; the first crime victim to join the state Criminal Justice Board; the first disabled person to serve on the human services board; and the first teacher to lead the State Board of Education. Under Richards, the fabled Texas Rangers pinned stars on their first black and female officers.

She polished Texas' image, courted movie producers, championed the North American Free Trade Agreement, oversaw an expansion of the state prison system, and presided over rising student achievement scores and plunging dropout rates.

She took time out to celebrate her 60th birthday by earning her motorcycle driver's license.

Throughout her years in office, her personal popularity remained high. One poll put it at more than 60 percent the year she lost to Bush.

"I may have lost the race," Richards said after the defeat. "But I don't think I lost the good feelings that people have about me in this state. That's tremendously reassuring to me."

Richards went on to give speeches, work as a commentator for CNN and serve as a senior adviser in the New York office of Public Strategies Inc., an Austin-based consulting firm.

In her last 10 years, Richards worked for many social causes and helped develop the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, scheduled to open in Austin in 2007.

"She had a political instinct," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. "I wrote her a note when I heard about her cancer and she wrote me back a wonderful letter. She was upbeat and positive and I think she was going to go out with guns blazing. She's a person that never stopped enjoying whatever there was in life that she could enjoy."

Born in Lakeview, Texas, in 1933, Richards grew up near Waco, married civil rights lawyer David Richards and spent her early adulthood volunteering in campaigns and raising four children. She often said the hardest job she ever had was as a public school teacher at Fulmore Junior High School in Austin.

Richards served on the Travis County Commissioners Court in Austin for six years before jumping to a bigger arena in 1982. Her election as state treasurer made her the first woman elected statewide in nearly 50 years.

But politics took a toll. It helped break up her marriage. And public life forced her to be remarkably candid about her 1980 treatment for alcoholism.

"I had seen the very bottom of life," she once recalled. "I was so afraid I wouldn't be funny anymore. I just knew that I would lose my zaniness and my sense of humor. But I didn't. Recovery turned out to be a wonderful thing."

The 1990 election was rough. Her Democratic primary opponent, then-Attorney General Jim Mattox, accused her of using illegal drugs. Williams, an oilman, banker and rancher, spent millions of his own money on the race she narrowly won.

After her unsuccessful re-election campaign against Bush, Richards said she never missed being in public office.

Asked once what she might have done differently had she known she was going to be a one-term governor, Richards grinned.

"Oh, I would probably have raised more hell."

Survivors include her children, Cecile Richards, Daniel Richards, Clark Richards and Ellen Richards; their spouses; and eight grandchildren.

 

[scheherazade_79]

I heard her name for the first time when I read the news this morning. What a woman. I fell in love with her within the space of a few minutes

 

[Pure]

I admire her a lot. Very gutsy. A bit right wing, perhaps, but she did much for civil rights, including women's rights.

Can anyone remind me why she lost to Bush, in running for a second term?

 

[Huckleman2000]

I admire her a lot. Very gutsy. A bit right wing, perhaps, but she did much for civil rights, including women's rights.

Can anyone remind me why she lost to Bush, in running for a second term?

Karl Rove planted rumors that she was a lesbian. I don't know if that led to her losing, but I don't imagine it helped her in Texas.

 

[Decayed Angel]

She got my vote every time she ran...

 

[Guest]

i wanted to say something pithy in regard to her life but all i can say is that she will be missed.

 

[impressive]

Truly, a great loss.

 

[Guest]

Truly, a great loss.

Indeed.

 

[lucky-E-leven]

Crap.



She had a knack for making government fun. She took the mystery out of it for the ley person and opened it up; good, bad, and ugly. I always enjoyed reading or hearing her speak. I'll miss her.

 

[cloudy]

She managed to make being governor look easy, in her gentile Southern way. She was one of the few politicians around that I actually enjoyed listening to. Let's hope she's prepared the way for more women like her.

 

[TriggerHippie]

 

[shereads]

Crap.

What you said.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

What you said.

[threadjack]

I love your sigline

[threadjack over]

 

[shereads]

[threadjack]

I love your sigline

[threadjack over]

[self-threadjack, despite the risk of going blind]

Thank you. My dog would like everyone to know that she stands behind the president's head 100%. 'It's not his fault he's has a squeaker where the brain usually goes.'

[/self-threadjack]

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Interesting, I had heard that "lesbian" rumor. And if it WAS true, so the fuck what? I probably wouldn't have voted for her, because of guns, but that wouldn't keep me from respecting or liking her as a person. I certainly wouldn't refuse to vote for someone, just because he or she was gay.

 

[Guest]

 

[shereads]

Interesting, I had heard that "lesbian" rumor. And if it WAS true, so the fuck what? I probably wouldn't have voted for her, because of guns, but that wouldn't keep me from respecting or liking her as a person. I certainly wouldn't refuse to vote for someone, just because he or she was gay.

I wish she and Molly Ivins had been lesbians together and found some way to concieve a child with their combined DNA. Molly Ivins' interview with Ann Richards made me laugh until I cried, and then cry because there was so much truth in it. Tragic, infuriating, teeth-gnashing truth, approached with humor.

Those two remind us that the game's not entirely pointless if it at least makes us laugh.

 

[shereads]

I googled a transcript of an Ann Richards interview in which she revealed her idea for a radio talk show with columnist Liz Smith ("also from Texas, a good old girl."):

"I said, "Liz, we need to go on the radio. Because first of all, neither one of us have the faces to go on television...

"We can have a call-out show instead of a call-in show. That way, we could just call the people we want to talk to, and we don't have to listen to all those nuts who would call in.

"We'd call all our friends who would talk about their hip replacements. We'd talk about whether the flavored metamucil is better than the plain."

On why she admires Laura Bush:

"She's genuine. When you hear her talk, you know she's saying what she means, not like somebody who's been scripted...Even if she was."

And on a sad note:

Man, I'd give anything in the world if I could smoke. That's the worst -- nicotine is the worst addiction that there is. And as an alcoholic, I feel justified and qualified to tell you that.

 

[duddle146]

Ride on into the Sunset Governor Richards...

Ya'll probably heard that little slogan, "Win one for the Gipper..." associated with Ronald Reagan.

Well...Come November - Let's all get out and "Win one for Annie Girl..." VOTE!

 

[Seattle Zack]

What an accomplishment, especially considering it was Texas. Called W a jerk during the gubernatorial race and everything. I loved the line during the Democratic Convention. "Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels."

Now, that's a party girl.