(D - Texas)

Certainly, the most famous image of Ann Richards is the one taken during her keynote speech at the 1988 Democratic Convention.  That evening, Richards gained enduring fame for her quip about George Bush and his silver foot.  (Image and text at american rhetoric.)

Although not that familiar, and not at all flamboyant, I was drawn to this image on yesterday's newswire.  The gun, the dog, the hunting jacket, the expanse of land -- it's a vernacular that has become synonymous with the "Texification" of American politics.

What makes Ann Richard's death so resonant is that she symbolized a Democratic model of the Southern way.  Unfortunately for us, the Democrats possess few personalities -- and none of substantial weight or impact -- with what Ann Richards had: the charm, wit, ferocity, ruggedness and unflappability that come with the territory.

(image: Pat Sullivan/AP. September 4, 1993.  Honey Grove, Texas.  Via YahooNews)

Comments

[Quentin]

She knew long ago that Bush is an unpleasant character and warned the world beforehand. After all, she experienced firsthand the vengeful wrath of the Texas Repugnants. Democrats like her are an endangered species, maybe by now an extinct one. Too bad.

[black dog barking]

Clear skies, an open field, a working dog; looks like golf except relaxing. Looks like Gov Richards too, walking the solitary path of her choosing, at her pace. That broken shotgun may not look like much slung casually over her shoulder but it snaps together real quick.

Re: "Texification". I sure wish there was some way we could deTexify American politics and business. Texas rules may be appropriate in a place where there's room for everyone to walk his own field but most of us live in closer quarters, where we have to cooperate.

What do the following have in common besides Texas? Tom DeLay, the late Ken Lay, Enron, Halliburton, KBR, GW Bush / K Rove. They've managed to push business, politics, and government into a state where success is measured against what is, at bottom, a corrupt standard. As they succeed we all fail.

[lavalamp]

Bill Clinton pays his respects to Richards:

Click on Photo Gallery "Ann Richards remembered for more photos of Clinton and Richards' children escorting Richards' casket into the Rotunda. The photo of Clinton standing solemnly with Richards' four adult children is wonderful- the emotion in it is very real, and the way they are standing is, for lack of better words, fragile and human. As opposed to simply a photo op

http://www.statesman.com/hp/content/homepage/index.html

[Kerstin]

She was the first female politician to whom I listened. It was the charm and wit that caught my attention and the unflappability that earned my respect. I've printed her thoughts on How to Be a Good Republican and have taped them to the wall for those days when the anger gets a bit heavy. I think my favorite is: "You have to be against all government programs, but expect Social Security checks on time." Oh, she was a treasure.

[momly]

As a good bleeding heart liberal, I am hesitant to paint all Texans with a tar-filled brush based on the interolpers from Connecticut. I am also hesitant to brandish Connecticut-ians, either. Neither state is responsible for the travesty that is the Bush dynasty. One need look no further than the imperial, cold-blooded, reptilian, good-old-boy network of the family to discover what is wrong with W.

I mean, good Lord, if his family didn't have money and connections, W would be in prison somewhere by now.

Huh, I was unintentionally ironic just now...

[Mad_nVT]

Photo of Ann Richards on the hunt is ok. Nice to see that she breaks her shotgun . . . I wonder if Darth "Tex" Cheney does.

BagMan provides link to 1988 photo and speech- those are great. Photo and speech are heart-breaking and anger-making, both at the same time---- looking back 18 years at what hasn't been gained and what has been lost.

[readytoblowagasket]

"I was drawn to this image on yesterday's newswire.  The gun, the dog, the hunting jacket, the expanse of land — it's a vernacular that has become synonymous with the 'Texification' of American politics."

We must be so Texas(s)ified that we don't notice anything unusual about a photo of a woman toting a gun. At least no one has commented on that aspect yet. But I'm trying to think of any other images (that aren't from movies or fashion "shoots") of a prominent woman carrying a gun, and all I can come up with is Patty Hearst.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patty_Hearst

Interesting that this image is circulating on the wires because Richards was a gun-control advocate, warned the Texas state legislature that she would veto a concealed-carry bill and then did so, and was defeated by George W. Bush in the 1994 gubernatorial race when the NRA threw its resources into GDub's campaign, effectively getting the law passed after all.

From a WAPO article in spring 2000:

"Relations between Bush and the NRA have been warm for years. Running for governor in 1994, he promised to sign a bill that had been vetoed by the Democratic incumbent, Ann Richards, allowing Texans to carry concealed weapons. The NRA praised Bush then as a 'strong pro-gun candidate,' and after he won, its magazine hailed the event with the headline 'Election '94: Gun Owners Win Big!'

Soon, top NRA lobbyists joined Bush as he signed the 'concealed-carry' law, a top NRA priority nationwide. Last year the group applauded him for signing legislation banning Texas cities from suing gun manufacturers, and it praised his stands on such issues as gun shows and background checks of gun buyers. The NRA's Web site commends Bush lavishly and contains smiling pictures of him with links to his official biography."

From the same article, the NRA, drunk with the prospect of a Bush White House, gets a little loose-lipped:

"The National Rifle Association's second-ranking officer boasted at a closed meeting of NRA members earlier this year that if Republican nominee George W. Bush wins in November, 'we'll have . . . a president where we work out of their office.'

First Vice President Kayne Robinson, who is in line to succeed NRA President Charlton Heston, added that the NRA enjoys 'unbelievably friendly relations' with the Texas governor. Robinson, who is also chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, made the comments Feb. 17 before 300 members in Los Angeles. He also described 2000 as 'a critical election' in which Bush's success would ensure 'a Supreme Court that will back us to the hilt.'

Bush's presidential campaign denied he is that close to the NRA, citing instances in which he has disagreed with the group. 'Neither the NRA nor any special interest sets the governor's agenda,' said Bush spokesman Scott McClellan. 'Governor Bush sets his agenda based on his priorities and principles.' "
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/050400-01.htm

As popular as she was, Richards never ran for or held public office again. Our loss is immeasureable.

[James]

I loved and admired Ann Richards. May she rest in peace.

[ummabdulla]

She seemed like a real person - with a real personality and real opinions, unlike so many other politicians.

[jtfromBC]

The BAG notes: "Richards had: the charm, wit, ferocity, ruggedness and unflappability that come with the territory"

And tragically she exercised all these qualities (except charm) on the dark side as well.

"-Her famously sharp tongue was still when it came to the death penalty. When asked would she support a death penalty abolition bill if it passed the Texas legislature, her sarcastic "I would faint" response betrayed indifference. When asked directly on the campaign trail about her views, she said, "I will uphold the laws of the State of Texas." Considering the racial and class composition of the Texas killing machine -- this commitment to the law sounds more George Wallace than MLK Jr."

"-Ann Richards support for incredibly barbaric and racist Texas death penalty should lay to rest any notion that she deserves to be called a progressive. Far from being a wistful alternative to GW Bush that progressives pine for, by paving the road for the slaughter to follow, her legacy is not only the dead men she executed, but it is also the 152 men and women GW Bush, her so-called nemesis, executed."
http://www.counterpunch.org/stark09182006.html

[readytoblowagasket]

jtfromBC, WOW! What a nasty, one-sided article you quoted! Very unlike you, and very unlike Counterpunch to publish it. I can forgive you, being Canadian, but I can't forgive Counterpunch.

Of course the article you quoted was written by *two men* criticizing a woman for her performance in high political office, a woman who was only the *second* female governor (in 1990) in the entire history (Texas entered the Union in 1845) of a good ol' boy backwards Southern state.

I know that Richards gets plenty of criticism for not vocally opposing the death penalty while she was governor, and maybe she deserves it. But to paint her as a nonprogressive is completely crazy, and to even *imply* she was racist is so outrageous I have to wonder about the emotional stability of the authors of that Counterpunch piece. Richards is known for hiring more minorities into government positions than anyone in the state before or since. Her legacy continues as those she hired remain in public service.

"As governor, Richards appointed women and minorities to positions of authority in state government in numbers equal to their size in the population, something accomplished by neither her predecessors nor her successors."
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/15521342.htm

Fellow Texan Molly Ivins tells this long but *telling* story about Richards:

"At a long-ago political do at Scholz Garten in Austin, everybody who was anybody was there meetin' and greetin' at a furious pace. A group of us got the tired feet and went to lean our butts against a table at the back wall of the bar. Perched like birds in a row were Bob Bullock, then state comptroller, moi, Charles Miles, the head of Bullock's personnel department, and Ms. Ann Richards. Bullock, 20 years in Texas politics, knew every sorry, no good sumbitch in the entire state. Some old racist judge from East Texas came up to him, 'Bob, my boy, how are you?'

Bullock said, 'Judge, I'd like you to meet my friends: This is Molly Ivins with the Texas Observer.'

The judge peered up at me and said, 'How yew, little lady?'

Bullock, 'And this is Charles Miles, the head of my personnel department.' Miles, who is black, stuck out his hand, and the judge got an expression on his face as though he had just stepped into a fresh cowpie. He reached out and touched Charlie's palm with one finger, while turning eagerly to the pretty, blonde, blue-eyed Ann Richards. 'And who is this lovely lady?'

Ann beamed and replied, 'I am Mrs. Miles.' "
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=21364

Richards is also known for her reforms of the Texas prisons, parole, and criminal sentencing. From the same article:

"Ann got handed a stinking mess: Damn near every state function was under court order. The prisons were so crowded, dangerous convicts were being let loose. She had a long, grinding four years and wound up fixing all of it. She always said you could get a lot done in politics if you didn't need to take credit.

But she disappointed many of her fans because she was so busy fixing what was broken, she never got to change much."

I could offer more statistical and anecdotal citations but I won't. I will add, however that the "I would faint" quote doesn't mean Richards was "indifferent" to the death penalty, and the perceived "sarcasm" meant she knew abolishing it would never ever happen in Texas, at least in her lifetime. Check out Kerstin's link to Richards's rules for How to Be a Good Republican:

"8. You have to believe God hates homosexuality, but loves the death penalty."

Criticism is one thing, but the nastiness of the Counterpunch article is bizarre. Okay, one more quote from Human Rights Campaign:

"No one did more to lift up so many Americans through her words and her work. Governor Richards was an American treasure whose leadership, wit and compassion were equaled only by her lifetime commitment to helping women; people of color; and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people share fully in the American dream."
http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Press_Room&CONTENTID=33875&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm

Just fyi.

[readytoblowagasket]

P.S.

In Texas, the governor has no power to commute a death sentence and can only stay an execution once, by 30 days. Only some Klan-inspired Board of Pardons and Paroles has the power to spare someone's life in Texas.

http://www.ccadp.org/TX-clemency.htm

So authors Mike Stark and Jim Billington don't know what the fuck they are talking about because they didn't do any research. Yet Stark is a board member of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Apparently not a very bright one.

Counterpunch deserves to get letters.

[jt from BC]

readytoblowagasket > I can forgive you, being Canadian

thanks, but being Canadian doesn't require that special immunity is necessary or excuses inadequate research on this topic, btw thanks again for bringing this to my attention, jt

[readytoblowagasket]

jt said: "thanks, but being Canadian doesn't require that special immunity is necessary"

Alas, my *leaden* tongue parlayed generosity into an unintentional insult. I didn't mean to sound condescending, jt; I had two things in mind by saying I forgave you for being Canadian. The first is, although Ann Richards had a huge personality and did great things in Texas, she was a relatively minor figure in American politics because her influence remained regional. Unfortunately, she never worked at a broad national level, and so she would be little-known outside the U.S.

The second thing has to do with the culture of the American South, which I am not adept enough to articulate, since I myself am a Yankee. All I can say (without backing it up) is that Richards surely chose her battles, and she decided early on that the death penalty wasn't going to be a battle she could ever win.

That said, I don't doubt for a minute that Texas's prisons are the worst examples of racism in this country and its legal system completely skewed to favor whites and discriminate against blacks. For the authors of the Counterpunch piece to pin the entire mess on Ann Richards (including executions during George Bush's tenure!) was so unfair I felt compelled to counter those quotes, since I knew about her record with minorities, in general and relative to Texas. If you don't know Richards or the bizarre peculiarities of Texas, how would you ever suspect the authors of flagrant inaccuracies? Especially on a liberal blog? I wouldn't have suspected it myself, and I had to check the authors' facts before I commented. Any ire was meant entirely for Stark and Billington, who should have enough expertise about the death penalty in the U.S. to *know* the facts.

[MonsieurGonzo]

WIT RESPECTS

RE: "Certainly, the most famous image of Ann Richards is the one taken during her keynote speech at the 1988 Democratic Convention..."

...yes, but it is her words, Michael, rather than this, or any other image ~ that characterize Who Ann Richards Was ~ and will be remembered to be, by most who experienced her, n'est-ce pas?

actually, i think here about what coal_train posted (referring to another image thread on this blog) : “Satire is the best weapon against propaganda and other forms of psychological warfare. It strips away the authority and emotional violence of the images [or, any message means] used against us.”

...because she was not so much a visual satirist; rather, Richards was a classical / oral WIT.

How i long for that exact opposite of George W. Bush: an American leader with a sense of humor; imagine what a relief that will be!

(for everyone ~ i daresay the socio-political culture in D.C. would be entirely transformed: Like, right after Hitler blew his brains out, iirc the first thing everybody in The Bunker did was light a cigarette, take a shot of Schnapps, and start telling jokes again ~ albeit it was a dark humor ;-)

wit... is dis-arming. That bodes well.

McCain has a bit of wit, and becomes somewhat endearing, thus, though no warm fuzzy bunny, he. When Dole (the mean old man, not the Liddy lady) flashed us some wit after his abject defeat, we were all taken aback. Hillary, who can be self-effacing, fails to lighten our load, so-to-speak ~ nearly so well as hubby Bubba did. Kerry could not keep his wits about him when he was swifted; Gore, well... a stiff wit, what?

Will Rogers: wow! would HE roll over the relentless Rovian FearFRAMEs, and cow-poke counter-punch all those puffed-up, angry-talk pundits!!

They've got their ROVIAN; when will we get our ROGERS wit MoJo workin' again?

[momly]

MonsieurGonzo, I am glad you are back! Your posts require that I must focus my attention and I appreciate that.

And, yeah, where is our Will Rogers? Would you see him in John Stewart or Stephen Colbert?

[MonsieurGonzo]

oh, for gawd's sake ~ don't encourage that gas-bag Gonzo {grin}

RE: "her WIT will be remembered by most who experienced her"

they've got their ROVIAN; What We Need: is a Will Rogers!

And, yeah, where is our Will Rogers ?

dommage, all the great stand-up comics (in my day) were Jewish intellectual-activists...

...sadly, their best and brightest have either fled to Barcelona, or entirely lost their sense of humour, and become neo-con clowns :)

[Cactus]

A great woman, Texas variety, who (like so many in our generation) came into her own late in life. But when she did, it was with a bang! She will be missed, and she will be quoted for years. Most of us wanted her to do more, to keep at it (them?). But that's always the way with bright stars when there are so few in the universe.

What better way to remember her than by that picture of her alone in a field, with only her dog for company and the rifle to show she had a purpose to being there.