... Or your kind thoughts if you don't pray.
Buddhist mantras also welcome.
This is no longer the news it was yesterday afternoon, but in case you hadn't heard, Molly Ivins has been hospitalized in her battle with cancer and could use your prayers.
Updates on the flip...
According to local news sources, Molly was admitted to hospital due to a cancer-related illness. We owe a lot to the woman; she was a clarion of the netroots before there were netroots. She continually calls bullshit on Bush, and I honestly don't want to think about losing her voice:
We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war.
Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge.
If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on January 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!"
Take a moment out of your day and send your thoughts or prayers in her direction. She could use them.
Update:
It was noted downthread that she may have requested - although probably not in a 'Mommie Dearest' voice - "No more flowers!!" (I'm guessing she doesn't want W coming to her hospital room to "clear brush") Your heartfelt wishes are the best thing for her right now.
Update II
I am amazed at the response to this news. And I'm proud of the community.
Molly may well see this for herself. I have a feeling she reads Kos, she's certainly well aware of us. All of the notes and thoughts expressed below will help her. There have been some comments asking for addresses for cards and what not; there are also several events discussed, marches and gatherings planned.
If I can be so bold as to speak for her, I think she would prefer that you find some event near you and participate in her name. In fact, that's exactly what her latest column asks us to do: "If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on January 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, 'Stop it, now!'" So if you can, get out there in the streets and make Molly proud. I think we owe her that.
Update III
The response to this news has been amazing, the outpouring of affection simply staggering. I will attempt to send an email to Ms. Ivins with a link to this diary so she can read your kind thoughts at her leisure. Beyond that, I know a number of people are thinking about what more could be done to show support for her fight.
First, of course, is what she asked for in her latest column, taking your voice to the streets. Donations are another option. But gifts, cards and flowers to her are not needed. From the comments:
From candice
I read that she has requested no more flowers...
she has received housefuls of them. This is her third bout with a rare kind of breast cancer.
A suggestion from sccs:
Donate to the Texas Observer Magazine
The Texas Observer, her frequent home and haunt, could probably use the leg-up. I'm sure she'd get a kick out of donations in her name.
also,
loudGizmo suggested a donation to the American Cancer Society in her name.
And from the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Survivor website posted one year ago today:
Ivins has all but forbidden gifts of food and other items. She was overwhelmed with well-intended advice and goodies after she wrote of her initial diagnosis of breast cancer in 1999. The outpouring kept her from telling readers of the recurrences in 2003 and two months ago, her assistant, Betsy Moon, said.
Lately, Ivins has urged friends and fans to give instead to The Texas Observer, a liberal biweekly of politics and literature run on a shoestring for 51 years. Ivins, co-editor with Kaye Northcott from 1970 to 1976, even let the magazine put her face on a $10 gourmet chocolate bar available online and at the magazine's ramshackle Austin office.
[snip]
Ivins, never married, said she's divided charitable bequests in her will between the American Civil Liberties Union, which she credits with defending the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights, and her cherished Observer.
And there you have it from the lady herself. If you are so inclined to make a donation in her name I'm certain she will appreciate consideration of the Texas Observer or the ACLU; although if there is a local publication near you similar to the Texas Observer, I'm sure that she would also be delighted were you to contribute to them instead. Her passion for journalism is not limited to the State of Texas.
Thank you everyone who has taken the time to leave their encouragement here. Molly truly is a national treasure and we hope to keep her for a long time to come.