goodbye, Ann

I suspect what I'll remember most about Ann Richards is her oratory; one of the few things I've liked about living here is the occasional gust of creative Texas twang, and Ann was a master of it.


The classic Texas Iron photo of Ann Richards on a motorcycle.

I admire any woman who rides a Harley. Perhaps that's why I found Texas mildly acceptable when I moved here in 1993, when Ann Richards was governor. With that in mind, I was saddened when I Got The Memo soon after 10pm last night:

Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards died after a battle with cancer, a family spokeswoman said. She was 73.

Ann Richards was the last competent, decent human to be Texas Governor*. Since I was living in California at the time, I don't recall whether I knew of Ann Richards before July 1988, when she delivered her great keynote at the Democrat National Convention, but she struck me as a straight-shootin' person who would sometimes get herself into a wee bit of trouble; I can surely relate to that. Her demeanor is surely why I find Kinky Friedman's current campaign so refreshing, compared to the Career Politician (Rick Perry) who's there now.

*Texas Governors haven't always been useless twits like President Quagmire and (current) Rick "Pretty Hair" Perry, both brought to power by Karl Rove (the Turd Blossom). For an example of the slime this pond scum is able to create, look at the commentary at the bottom half of "Bush's war over gay marriage", where Dubya's election to Texas governor is documented.

Texas would do well with more Ann Richards. The best politicians are those who don't monitor their every breath for saying something that won't get them re-elected. There's a magnet on my refrigerator with a quote from Laurel Thatcher Ulrich:

Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History.

Ann Richards wasn't well behaved. I, for one, will miss her.

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Additional commentary may be found on the right-wing Dallas Blog, and elsewhere.