Title: Nothin' But Good Times Ahead
Author: Molly Ivins
Year: 1994
Publisher: Vintage Books
Price: $12.00 US
Review by: Randy
Williams
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Molly Ivins is a Austin-based journalist who covers the political beat with more wisdom, bite and sass than the next dozen pol watchers put together, and "Nothin' but Good Times Ahead" is the second compilation of her syndicated newpaper columns and longer articles from "Mother Jones," "The Nation," "The Progressive," and other national magazines (the first was 1991's "Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?"). Much of the book concerns the 1992 presidential elections; re-reading it recently I was struck by how little has changed in four years. In the current race, we once again have Bill Clinton running less on ideas than on a slick attempt to be empathetic with his constituency, to "feel our pain." Ross Perot is still scurrying around like a rabid chihuahua, trying to convince anyone still paying attention that he has even a passing interest in anything beyond his own outsized ego. Bob Dole is, in many ways, a doppelganger for George Bush; he's a career politician with an unfortunate case of verbal dyslexia who can't seem to communicate any compelling reasons for his candidacy other than the fact that he's a career politician. In the course of this book, Ivins mercilessly skewers Clinton, Perot, Bush, and even Pat Buchanan ("Many did not care for his speech at the 1992 Republican Convention; it probably sounded better in the original German"). Her sharp insights and tart humor provide a bracing and relevant subtext for current campaign shenanigans.There's much more here than just a dissection of hapless presidential hopefuls. Ivins also turns her attention to the outrageously corrupt legislators of her native Texas, to pop culture figures like Madonna and Camille Paglia, and to the fraying social fabric of late twentieth-century America. Have no fear: this is not a dry, boring political tome. Ivins is laugh-out-loud funny, and you'll have a rollicking good time with this book. But it would be a mistake to dismiss the acerbic Ms. Molly as nothing more than a comic writer. Her real gift is for wrapping her wisecracks around profound insights and deeply-held convictions. Ivins is incapable of withholding her own beliefs and opinions in the name of "professional journalism," and her loyal readers love her all the more for it. Her compassion and pragmatic good sense balance her salty down-home wit, allowing her to cut through the "bull puckey" and report on the movers and shakers of big government with unparalleled clarity.
"Some days you open the newspaper and it's sort of like finding Castro in the refrigerator. What to our wondering eyes should appear last week but the intelligence that George Herbert Walker Bush of Kennebunkport, Maine, had reared back on his hind legs and announced, "Life means nothing without fidelity to principles." Have to take a deep breath after reading that one, don't you? Let's see -- abortion, no new taxes, civil rights, Vietnam, voodoo economics, the Clean Air Act, a kinder gentler nation, being the Education President, ransoming hostages, and so much more I can't even remember half of it. Wouldn't you think the Weathervane President would be better off quoting Emerson about how consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds?"
(pp. 64-5)"There is always a superficial attraction to the notion of an outsider coming in to clean up a corrupt, wasteful political system. "Let's send Ross Perot up there," cries Bubba. "He knows how to kick ass." Successful "bidnessmen" have been running for office in Texas for years on that appeal: "Vote for me; I've met a payroll; I understand the bottom line." We've been plagued in recent years by rich guys bored with making boodle who decide to take up public service instead. An entirely commendable impulse, but why don't they start by running for the school board or the county commissioner's court? Why do they always want to buy the governorship or a senatorship? Or, in the case of Perot, who's richer than God, the presidency? It's enough to make you yearn for the good old days, when rich guys just bought racehorses and yachts."
(pp. 87-8)
As we draw nearer to election day and once again have to choose a president from a field of loopy mediocrities, spending a few hours with the rambunctious Molly Ivins can help us to make a more informed decision and enjoy a lot of deep belly laughs. If you're easily offended or one of those ultra-conservative types, be forewarned that Ms. Ivins sometimes makes her points with the subtlety of a ball-peen hammer. Her style is brash and often scatalogical; she is also unapologetically liberal, feminist, pro-choice, and anti-racist. That being said, she is, above all, one of the funniest and most perceptive writers working; her books are a joy to read and nearly impossible to put down until they've been savored from cover to cover.N.B. "Nothin' But Good Times Ahead" is available on the Web in paperback from amazon.com.
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