Happy Dad's Day

It's Father's Day, so I call up my Dad.

Who Let the Dogs In?: Incredible Political Animals I Have Known by Molly Ivins

I am going to send him a Molly Ivins book for the day, probably this one, but I'm partial to a couple. (Okay, maybe I'm going to think about sending him the book until payday, I'm a teacher and you can only wish as a teacher or dream on...take a look at my donation list, and my second donation list, and my third donation list, and the fourth, for the classroom I'm mostly completely broke) so I tell him this. He pauses. He knows that I have pretty much one gear on this reporter/writer/superhero (and I need to say my mothers family, back, were Ivins) and that is basically.... if ever I think of Twain (and I dearly love his writing) I think of her. This book Dad would like for profiles he can appreciate in the context of his life.
Whitty ones.

I love it when the right wing states the left has no humor.
Believe me Ivins can put that in some context. Disabuse you of the notion with a foil and a rubber mallet. She'd be the first to tell you that you need a h of a lot of humor to get through what's going on in this country now. But just the same, besides recommending this book and refreshing my interest in her profile portraits that seem all the more brilliant given recent events, my father made a comment that just seemed one she'd have really enjoyed. So I'll share it.

He said, "Well I'm sure you have been thinking and reading about handling these prisoners in that Gitmo mess, just where we are sending them appears to be beyond some folks."
I gave him my one/two per state theory. Kinda like the Senate. He scoffed at that. "No, I know where they need to go, or a great deal of them need to go." So I thought about that...would he stick them on an atoll, or ??? I wasn't quick. So he stated- with his humor, "Obviously it's Texas, the Lonestar. I think they need to go to stay in the Lonestar, the state of the guy that gave us all the issues."
Now that made me honestly laugh outloud.
(He continued with a bit on Arnold that really did me in. He's stunned that the Governor of a state suggests without Fed Bailout money that Federal prisoners might be "released," saying further, " I bet that'll cost you all a load more than 180 million in the first day alone, does he realize who these folks are?" Yet another thing I'd love to read her discussing is the issues we are facing in CA. See I lost my humor. I'm still trying to understand Governor threats to "close down the government." Do they have things about what you are allowed to do in office oaths on stuff like refusing to do your job? )

But returning to Dad's idea of Texas hospitality, I thought of the way they might enjoy some free range ranching, seeing how the ranch was redecorated, trying a hand at clearing the bushes.But seriously, what a mess someone else gets to clean up. It just was a very funny image that Molly Ivins could have woven into something beautiful.

Of course she'd have had an even better comeback.
We lost a lot in her passing.