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ALL THE WORLD’S A GAME….Well, it appears that John McCain has succeeded in his plan to torpedo the bailout negotiations for a while so that he can swoop in and pretend to be their savior tomorrow. On CNN, Stephen Hayes says he’ll get away with it because most people don’t pay much attention to politics. “All they’ll see is that that McCain suspended his campaign, flew to Washington, banged a few heads, and then we got an agreement. And that’s a win for him.” Sadly, he might be right.

There really seems to be no end to McCain’s preening self-regard and stunt-of-the-week campaigning strategy these days, nor any end to his lack of regard for caring about what’s actually best for the country. If this stuff were a game with no real-world consequences, I’d admire his gamesmanship. Since it’s not, I’m just disgusted.

But if it’s bread and circuses we’re going to get, I might as well get the real thing: USC vs. Oregon State in Corvallis tonight. So that’s where I’ll be for the rest of the evening: watching a game that’s supposed to be a game. I’ll be back in a few hours.

UPDATE: Well, that was a bummer. Sort of like the rest of the week.

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DECEMBER IS MAKE OR BREAK

A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

With only days left until December 31, we've raised about half of our $400,000 goal—but we need a huge surge in reader support to close the remaining gap. Whether you've given before or this is your first time, your contribution right now matters.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do. That’s why we need you right now. Please chip in to help close the gap.

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