The stakes they play for in politics are paper and money. The chips they play with are your life. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
For years, I have been trying to persuade people that George W. Bush, although no Einstein, is not stupid. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Truly, if you can't cover a five-car pile-up on Route 128, you should not be covering a presidential campaign. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Jimmy Carter was unquestionably the most moral president of my lifetime, but he wasn't much of a president. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Am I the only person covering politics who ever noticed that Newt Gingrich is actually a nincompoop? — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Public campaign financing isn't perfect and can doubtlessly be improved upon as we go. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
With politicians, artful evasion is always preferable to the outright lie. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
I do object to those who jump from political hackery to flackery and expect respect. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
One of the few things I like about Bill Clinton is that he has very good manners. If his momma were still… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Americans are not getting screwed by the Republican Party. They're getting screwed by the large corporations that bought and own the Republican… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
As they say around the Texas Legislature, if you can't drink their whiskey, screw their women, take their money, and vote against… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
I want to point out, there are a lot of politicians who enjoy the political end of politics, but they're not interested… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Rove, of course, is an exceptionally good, exceptionally skillful campaign guy, and Bush himself is really gifted at the political end of… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Everyone knows [George W. Bush] has no clue, but no one there has the courage to say it. I mean, good gawd,… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
As for George Bush of Kennebunkport, Maine- personally I think he's further evidence that the Great Scriptwriter in the Sky has an… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
It's like, duh. Just when you thought there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between the two parties, the Republicans go and… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
In Congress, there are some who are unashamed to aspire to eloquence, even to scholarship, but the only state legislator I ever… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
The charm of Ronald Reagan is not just that he kept telling us screwy things, it was that he believed them all.… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
On Bill Clinton: "If left to my own devices, I'd spend all my time pointing out that he's weaker than bus-station chili.… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
The reason there is no noblesse oblige about Dubya is because he doesn't admit to himself or anyone else that he owes… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Every two years, one of the most hotly contested elections in Texas is the poll taken among members of the capitol press… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
In order to understand why George W. Bush doesn't get it, you have to take several strands of common Texas attitude, then… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
I have known George W. Bush slightly since we were both in high school, and I studied him closely as governor. He… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
If Democrats in Washington haven't got enough sense to own the issue of political reform, I give up on them entirely. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
This is the man (Ronald Reagan) who proved that ignorance is no handicap to the presidency — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Politics is not a picture on a wall or a television sitcom that you can decide you don't much care for. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Whenever you hear a politician carry on about what a mess the schools are, be aware that you are looking at the… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
The most unusual thing about Clinton as a pol is that he listens. Listens and remembers. If he does dance with them… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Anyone who has ever spent time listening to a legislature knows the astonishing speed at which all presiding officers and reading clerks… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Preemptive war is what Israel did in '67 with Arab armies on its borders. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
The idols of one's adolescence tend to endure - you never forget how you worshipped them. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
How the American right managed to convince itself that the programs to alleviate poverty are responsible for the consequences of poverty will someday be… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
To mistake Midland for the volk heartland is the West Texas equivalent of assuming that Greenwich, Connecticut, is Levittown. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Even for southerners, Arkansans are amazingly friendly and extend hospitality to all strangers with astonishing openness. You couldn't find a pretension in that state… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
It's hard to convince people that you're killing them for their own good. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
the pyramids were built for pharaohs on the happy theory that they could take their stuff with them. Versailles was built for kings on… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
Any nation that can survive what we have lately in the way of government, is on the high road to permanent glory. — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
I think provincialism is an endemic characteristic with mankind, I think everybody everywhere is provincial, but it is particularly striking with Texans, and we… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image
During a recent panel on the numerous failures of American journalism, I proposed that almost all stories about government should begin: “Look out! They're… — Molly Ivins Copy Share Image