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Can we please please please not talk about Joe Wilson anymore?  Haven’t we glorified enough assholes already this summer?  Via email, Bruce Bartlett says probably not:

No doubt, right wing publishers like Regnery and Crown will be beating down Wilson’s door today to sign a book deal that will put him at the top of the New York Times bestseller list along with drivel from the likes of Michelle Malkin, who has probably already started writing her biography of Wilson, titled, “The Man Who Spoke the Truth.”  By the end of the day a Wilson for President web site will be fully functioning if it isn’t already.  Watch for the announcement on Glenn Beck’s show this afternoon.

OK, but we don’t have to talk about it.  Instead, let’s talk about this:

The U.S. Census Bureau said the number of uninsured Americans increased in 2008 to 46.3 million, compared to 45.7 million in 2007.

The poverty rate also increased to 13.2%, and the median family income declined to $50,303.  These are all worth far more discussion than the mentally unbalanced antics of yet another GOP congressman.

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We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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