Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards (D) has died.
By on Sep 14th, 2006 at 12:59 am
Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards (D) has died.
Richards, “the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity, died Wednesday night after a battle with cancer. She was 73. She died at home surrounded by her family.” In 1995, she said, “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.’”
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[raises whiskey glass]
Here’s to you Ann, you were a very classy (and sassy) dame.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:01 am“Poor George, he can’t help it – he was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”
Rest in Peace, great lady.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:06 am”Poor George,he can’t help it,he was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”
September 14th, 2006 at 1:08 amZoob:
We are on the same wavelength tonight.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:10 amGreat woman. Our country is smaller now.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:14 amAs per usual, Bingo… :)
September 14th, 2006 at 1:18 amWhat a great lady. Rest in peace. We’ll figure this mess out.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:19 amLet’s see if Bush even acknowledges her passing – I would take a one day break from loathing him if he were to say something uplifting.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:20 amRest in peace Ann, you kicked ass.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:22 amshe rocked–we need more like her…RIP Anne, and thanks for the “silver foot in his mouth” thing too. : >
September 14th, 2006 at 1:27 amZooey:
You have to know I didn’t copy you,it took me atleast 4 minutes to type out that sentence.(I think I skipped a few 8th grade typing classes) :)
September 14th, 2006 at 1:27 amyes, rest in peace. This was a great lady! God bless her spirit
September 14th, 2006 at 1:28 amPhuck, I hate cancer.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:30 ambarfly:
Skip your break from loathing,that son of Barbara doesn’t mean a thing he says.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:30 amSh*t, Bingo, it ain’t about him; Ann would smile, knowing how distasteful kind words would be for him to utter – it would be her last time to rub his face in it!
September 14th, 2006 at 1:40 amYou have to know I didn’t copy you,it took me atleast 4 minutes to type out that sentence. :)
Comment by Bingo !
I know you didn’t copy me, Bingo, I wasn’t saying that. It was more along the lines of great minds thinking alike — as per usual.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:44 amMy Condolences to the Family.
one step forward
and one step left
The time life spirit
always remain
Thy loved ones
September 14th, 2006 at 1:48 amalways with you
I know you didn’t copy me, Bingo, I wasn’t saying that. It was more along the lines of great minds thinking alike — as per usual.
Comment by Zooey
you are much closer together than you may think…earths tiny as related to space, and so tiny is that distance between you =)
September 14th, 2006 at 1:51 amZoob:
We are on the same wavelength tonight.
Comment by Bingo !
your getting there, think of a wave at the bottom of the sea..basically a non wave but still hold mass energy…..
September 14th, 2006 at 1:53 amIn my best Ann Richards voice:
What the hell are you talkin’ about, Tri-nary?
September 14th, 2006 at 1:57 amGod bless you, Ann. You ALWAYS made me proud to be a Texan. Your legacy will never die. Thank you.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:58 amWhat the hell are you talkin’ about, Tri-nary?
Comment by Zooey
wave lengths and time of course..does not a wave of energy beat your heart? and cause you thought? =)
pth nun
September 14th, 2006 at 2:36 amAnother God bless you and Rest in Peace from Texas. We love you Ann…
September 14th, 2006 at 2:37 amSad to hear about her death and she will be missed in Texas!
September 14th, 2006 at 3:03 amGreat minds think like Trinary Suka.
(by the way,somehow a + keeps getting added to my name)
September 14th, 2006 at 3:21 amLet me offer a discouraging word here. I thought she was as good a Governor as Texas ever had. And I suppose we can appreciate her wit.
But I always thought that her boastful comments about GHWB at the 1988 Convention came at the wrong time, that is a few months too early. And while I’m told that she did not take W too lightly when he ran against her, calling him “Shrub” sure made it look like she didn’t take the challenge seriously.
So let’s remember her for what she accomplished, rather than what she said.
September 14th, 2006 at 3:30 amWhat’s up with that mysterious “+” thingy?
September 14th, 2006 at 3:33 amGreat minds think like Trinary Suka.
(by the way,somehow a + keeps getting added to my name)
Comment by Bingo
thank you Bingo =)
September 14th, 2006 at 3:36 am[[I am thinking cross site scripting attacks thru cookies, but can't yet prove]]
September 14th, 2006 at 3:40 amMy sincere condolences to the family : Ann Richards was a great lady and one of the few things I have liked//like about Texas.
September 14th, 2006 at 5:28 amAnn Richards will be greatly missed here in Texas. She was a great lady and did much for Texas.
She was one of the first notches that W was able to put on his gun via Rove. I wish we had paid attention then to what they did to her during that campaign because it was a precursor to what any administration with W in it was going to be like.
September 14th, 2006 at 5:46 am“Poor George, he can’t help it – he was born with a silver foot in his mouth.â€
Just think, those words will be played over and over again (at least today) and some Americans will think she was talking about W, LOL!!!!!
September 14th, 2006 at 5:48 amShe was a gutsy, ballsy lady. Because of her, I now know that Bush’s businesses lost a sum total of $371,000,000 while he was the CEO, including Arbusto and Spectrum 7. She will be missed.
Anyway, Bob Herbert is back from vacation and has this to say on his return:
“We had elections in New York and around the country on Tuesday. But it seems to me that the biggest issue of our time is getting very short shrift from the politicians, and that’s the fact that the very character of the United States is changing, and not for the better… Who are we?†– The Stranger in the Mirror.
September 14th, 2006 at 6:38 amSad to see the passing of a great person. Condolences to the family.
September 14th, 2006 at 7:34 amMiss Ann,
I raise my glass to you dear lady. I loved you sass, class and the many ways you could stick it to the boys!!
Rest well knowing that there is another housewife making waves in the Democratic Party.
September 14th, 2006 at 8:07 amI am sad to hear of this great Lady’s passing…She gave us much with her wit and service….Sending Blessings to her and her family.
September 14th, 2006 at 8:17 amTexas gubernatorial politics sure have come a long way from this grand ole dame. She was quite a humand she’ll be missed.
September 14th, 2006 at 8:58 amAmerica’s Least Wanted
The passing of a great lady. Not too many classy ladies like this in our government today. RIP ANN!!!
September 14th, 2006 at 8:59 amThe passing of a great lady. Not too many classy ladies like this in our government today. Rip Ann!
September 14th, 2006 at 9:00 amI didn’t know how to take her when I first saw her, but she won me over with her comment about women.
September 14th, 2006 at 9:35 am“Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did – and she did it backwards and in high heels!”
A class act all the way. She should have been the first female president. And she had a great sense of humor – she once guest voiced on King of the Hill, playing herself – dating the slovenly Bill Dauterive.
September 14th, 2006 at 9:40 amRichards couldn’t kick the ass of a dead donkey. She got her ass kicked by George W. Bush, who sent her disgraceful ass out to pasture to expel her putrid methane. Richards was a gutless coward, who her useful idiots in the Austin press corps and Washington press corps considered “courageous”.
September 14th, 2006 at 9:52 amThere was an amazing piece on NPR about her this morning.
There needs to be 50 more just like her, with another couple of hundred on Capitol Hill and, of course, one in the White House.
September 14th, 2006 at 9:58 amRichards was a gutless coward, who her useful idiots in the Austin press corps and Washington press corps considered “courageousâ€.
Comment by Tom
Thanks for sharing, Tom.
September 14th, 2006 at 10:18 amYou can now return to your compulsive masterbation.
“I read the obituaries a lot because it seems to me that people who write the obituaries either want to be PR people or they’re failed PR people. And they’re trying to keep it going. ‘Hey look, I spun death!’
For instance, in the obituary no one ever dies of cancer, people always give in after a valiant battle with cancer. Or they throw in the towel after a couragious fight. Which statistically can’t be possible. There had to have been a couple cowardly ordeals in there.
‘Bob Smith died today after a craven, cowardly ordeal with cancer, during which he wished the disease on his family and friends, and atempted a pact with Satan which left his basement covered in goats blood and four boxes of (chalk?) needlessly wasted trying to summon a demon who never appeared. A few mourners who showed up at his funeral had a hard time not giggling. Good riddance.”
- Patton Oswalt
September 14th, 2006 at 10:22 amShe had cojones and class. So sad.
September 14th, 2006 at 10:41 am# 42.Zooey:
ZING.
# 26.Trinary: Thank you for the thank you.
September 14th, 2006 at 10:44 am(if we’ve been cookied,where is the cookie monster when you need him?)
that is a beautiful picture of a beautiful lady…
September 14th, 2006 at 10:45 amshe will be missed, never forgotten…
thank you, ann…
…
Ann this says it all about you:
“It is splendid to live so grandly that long after you are gone the things you did and the things you said are retold and recounted under the sun…” G. Washington.
Thanks Ann for your life lived so spendidly “under the sun” I know I am one that will be recounting and retelling about it for many years because you have inspired me!
God Speed.
September 14th, 2006 at 10:50 amThank you, Ann, for your humor and your service. You will be missed. Say hi to my parents and tell them a couple of jokes about W, they’ll love you!
September 14th, 2006 at 11:07 amLast night as I watched the news they announced the death of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards. She only had one term in office and was defeated by our current president.
September 14th, 2006 at 11:14 amShe didnt represent the stereotypical politician, she represented change. Because she gave the effort to make the faces and substance of our Texas government reflect more color and boast diverse gender, she gave a voice to those who was not being heard and those who did not matter to the dominant white male government that had always been in place in the Lone Star state. I take the time to salute her and thank her for widening the options of our future generations. I know because she was in office my son has a better chance to be a state elected official and so does my niece. I know that teachers can serve as head of Education Boards and greatly influence the quality of our education rather then elected officials that have never even sent their children to public schools. I am thankful for people such as Mrs. Richards because she accomplished which led to others accomplishments and paths being created for those with less of a voice.
When will you decide to change the world? When will your heart lead you to stand up for something you believe in?
Our children are future world leaders and decision makers for our government to come, the qualities that they acquire while in our care can not only effect those around them, but your love is powerful enough to change the world through the efforts of your youth.
Zooey, great, “snap”…
tre….a great post and tribute…Thank You for posting it…..Blessings
September 14th, 2006 at 11:26 amTom (No. 42) – Nothin’ like showin’ a little respect for the dead.
You’re a class act, pal.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:31 pmMy condolences to her family and friends. She was an amazing woman and showed us that being strong and outspoken, despite all the obstacles thrown in her path. Scaring Karl Rove and GWB is not easy to do! Thank you Ann, for everything!
“Life is a play.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:52 pmIt’s not it’s length that matters,
but it’s performance
that counts.
-Seneca
#8 Barfly
Bush: saddened by death of one-time rival Richards 1 hour, 12 minutes ago
President George W. Bush said on Thursday he was saddened by the death of one-time political rival, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, and that “Texas has lost one of its great daughters.”
Richards, a blunt, silver-haired, motorcycle rider died on Wednesday at 73 after suffering from esophageal cancer.
“Ann loved Texas, and Texans loved her. As a public servant she earned respect and admiration,” Bush said in a statement. “Ann became a national role model, and her charm, wit, and candor brought a refreshing vitality to public life.”
Richards, who was Texas governor from 1991 to 1995, described Bush as “some jerk” during the race for governor that she lost to him in 1994.
She jumped to national prominence at the 1988 Democratic National Conventional for her jibe about Bush’s father, then-Vice President George H.W. Bush — “Poor George, he can’t help it … He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”
The elder Bush issued a statement in which he made light of that comment.
“You never had to wonder where you stood with Ann, which I admired,” the former president said. “I joined millions in laughing at the ’silver foot’ comment, which doesn’t mean I wasn’t happy when she was defeated by our son a few years later.
“But that’s politics, and Ann was one of the best in that arena. Texas will miss her.”
September 14th, 2006 at 3:23 pmMy moratorium still holds – he gets a one day pass. Enjoy it Exley; tomorrow though . . .
September 14th, 2006 at 4:02 pmyou’re being generous,barfly.
September 14th, 2006 at 6:13 pmWhether you loved Governor Richards or hated her, you respected her. I think that all levels of government can use men and women like her, who say what they mean, and mean what they say.
Governor Richards’ passing leaves an enormous hole in the State of Texas, just as her wit, humor and intelligence somehow made Texas uniquely ours.
She was ours, and I for one am so much the better for it.
Rest in peace Governor Ann!!
September 14th, 2006 at 10:56 pm