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I’ve written before about David Brooks’s strange schizophrenia. He knows that the lunatic fringe has taken over the Republican Party. I know he knows this because he’s said so in blunt terms. He did it two months ago, and my response at the time was admittedly churlish: “I’ll believe that Brooks has seen the light when he actually keeps this up for a few consecutive weeks.”

He couldn’t do it, really, but his inner demons didn’t give way completely until yesterday, when he penned an anguished cri de coeur slamming President Obama for finally realizing the same thing that he himself realized in July: there’s really no compromising with the modern tea party version of the GOP. You need to fight them, and you need to fight them in public. But now that it’s actually happened, Brooks is an unhappy camper.

Anyway. Read the Brooks column here. Then read Jon Cohn’s response. I wish I had written it.

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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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