THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 20, 1994 TAG: 9407200409
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENNIS JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
Molly Ivins, who skewers politicians for a living as a newspaper columnist, had a whole roomful of them in stitches Tuesday with her tall tales from the Texas statehouse and beyond.
But Ivins wasn't kidding when she described how bad things are for Bill Clinton in her native state. She told a group of Southern legislators meeting in Norfolk that it hasn't been like this since November 1963, when another young Democratic president was assassinated in Dallas.
The audience gasped.
``The level of animosity and hatred is so great for this president that I pray to God he does not come to Texas,'' Ivins said. ``A general atmosphere of hatred does make it easier for nuts with guns.''
This from a woman asked by the Southern Legislative Conference to represent the left - much closer to the Clinton camp than the man to her right on the stage, columnist and former Bush speech writer Tony Snow.
Ivins drew a distinction between her political satire, as a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the author of two books, and the ``meanness and malevolence'' that now is a staple of public debate - in part, she said, through media talk shows.
Snow, whose column appears in newspapers including The Virginian-Pilot and USA Today, often substitutes on the air for one of Ivins' targets - talk show host Rush Limbaugh. Snow said her fears are exaggerated.
``Congress tells lies, too,'' Snow said. He acknowledged that Clinton draws more flak than George Bush did, but then, he said, so did Ronald Reagan.
``George Bush was dull,'' he explained.
One of Ivins' Texas sparring partners, state Rep. Warren Chisum, brushed aside her concerns for Clinton's safety. ``I think if he came to Texas today he'd find no one there to greet him because they're all so disappointed in him,'' said Chisum, a Democrat and head of the legislature's conservative coalition.
Other highlights:
On Bill Clinton
Snow: ``The first mistake he made, like other Southern Democrats in the past, is to go in there and hire a bunch of Yankees, so you have Little Rock and Harvard and there's no consistency.''
Ivins: ``He reminds me of those broad-bottomed children's toys - when you tap them, they pop back up.'' She said he hasn't learned the powers of the presidency and could take lessons from Lyndon Johnson, who once threatened to close a Texas Air Force base if the mayor of the nearby city refused to integrate schools.
On Ross Perot
Snow: Describing him as the nation's ``first nuisance,'' he said, ``Perot wants to be the leader of the opposition, no matter who's in power.'' Still, Snow said, ``He's given people the sense they can take their government back.''
Ivins: ``He is a welfare billionaire,'' noting that much of his fortune from computers and other businesses comes from government contracts. He was one of many who tapped voter discontent in the 1992 elections. ``You had (Pat) Buchanan on the right, (Jerry) Brown on the left and Perot from the ozone layer.''
On religious fundamentalism
Ivins: ``Right-wing fundamentalists are the most frightened people in America - and with some reason.'' The media shows them none of the empathy or compassion it prides itself on, and they see the culture they cherish eroding.
Snow: ``I think the most frightened people are those who are frightened of the religious right. . . . They are not clinging to the past, they are clinging to things that give life meaning and shape. They are not imposing that on others, they simply want a chance to practice it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/Staff
Columnists Tony Stone[sic], left, and Molly Ivins, right, appeared
on Tuesday at the Southern Legislative Conference in Norfolk with
moderator Bettina Gregory of ABC News. The writers traded barbs on
topics including President Clinton, Ross Perot and religious
fundamentalists.
by CNB