After Mike the editor published “Musical Hot Seat” ash decided to have some fun with the situation by calculating how many letters she had sent him NOT marked “not for publication,” adding that number to the ones that were, and labeling the next one accordingly, as if there had been no skip in the sequence. Also, rather than quote from an article in her local paper, she made one of her references to an article appearing in another publication to test his power of observation.
Truthfully, ash had not intended to write another letter so soon after the momentous event. But tragically, the death of a beloved liberal icon occurred, and juxtaposed with a rather disdainful dismissal of a sentiment she personified it was too much for ash to ignore. Specifically, on the day after journalist Molly Ivins’ passing was noted in the passage: “But her heart was always in the progressive movement and the extent which the under-privileged survived, and sometimes even thrived, in spite of odds stacked against them. She confessed she was a classic "bleeding heart" liberal, admitting even to "crying a little" when former president Richard Nixon finally died”, the odious George Will wrote the following: “When the school board rejected the application of the two educators - African-American women - but praised their dedication to children, one of the women was not mollified: ‘A bleeding heart does nothing but ruin the carpet.’”
Thus, ash felt compelled not only to note the sad occasion but to contrast her compassionate spirit with a man mostly aptly categorized as her nemesis:
How coincidental that the ancient expression “bleeding heart liberal” should make a startling appearance at least twice in Thursday’s paper. If there’s any truth to the adage “only the good die young,” then the magnificent 62-year-old Molly Ivins’ voice will have been silenced in favor of 65-year-old-and-counting polemicist George Will’s continuing to plague society for many years to come.
While Ms. Ivins was the ultimate populist, Mr. Will’s pimping for corporations and private enterprise couldn’t be more evident if he announced it. It wouldn’t surprise this correspondent to learn he’s being paid under the table for the kind of favorable treatment that cripplingly discredited less worthy and protected journalists such as Armstrong Williams (another private school voucher enthusiast) and Maggie Gallagher (on the virtuous wonders of traditional marriage).
As Ms. Ivins amply demonstrated, a “bleeding heart” results in a great deal more than stained rugs when it catapults that heart’s host body into action. And as Ms. Ivins’ entire life attests, a liberal mind is anything but wasted on counteracting – through protests and words of inspiration – the contemptible conservatism Mr. Will practices.
Such a shame.