Molly Returns

Fresh off a month's vacation (not in Crawford), Molly Ivins -- whom I love dearly -- comes back swingin'....

President Bush says the best way to honor the dead is by getting more of them killed for the same cause, whatever it is. Democracy in Iraq, I think. Oops. Except for women. Women didn't come out too well in the new Iraqi constitution. I'm really sorry, I know only a feminist would bring up an awkward subject like this, and I understand being a feminist is just so passé, and absolutely no one cares about women's issues anymore, and if I would just bother to keep up I wouldn't embarrass myself by being so pitifully old hat, so not the bee's knees, as these young people say today. On the other hand, moving the age of consent for marriage back to 9 is sort of twenty-three skiddoo itself. Iraqi women have had full civil, legal and property rights for 25 years now. Nine years old. Not a step in the right direction. Really.

Now, moving the bridal age back to nine beats the crap out of yesterday's outraged NYTimes editorial about the 14 year-old girl who crossed state lines to shotgun marry her 22 year-old boyfriend. And, as Iraq's now the 51st state, we should be paying closer attention to what goes on there.

Even B16 thinks so.

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