February 2, 2017

Some Random Morning Trump Stuff

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Well, it’s morning for me, anyway. First up, under headlines you never thought you’d see:

That’s from the LA Times last night. Here’s another headline from Reuters:

Conveniently, this means that the current “Countering Violent Extremism” program will no longer target white supremacist groups. It’s good to see that Trump is demonstrating some loyalty to the groups that supported him so faithfully throughout the election. They’ve been harassed too much by the federal jackboots already, amirite?

Next up, we’re learning more details about President Trump’s Great Southern Wall:

In one of the Star Trek movies, Scotty uses an Apple Macintosh to whip up the formula for transparent aluminum. Maybe that’s what this is! A wall you can see through! Sadly, though, the truth turns out to be less futuristic: the “transparent wall” will be a non-wall. That is to say, it will be “sensors and other technology,” just like it is now. This, of course, is what wall enthusiasts have been bitching about forever. When Trump said he’d build a wall, they wanted a wall, dammit, not a bunch of namby-pamby sensors.

Finally, here is today’s Gallup poll on what Americans think of Trump’s recent executive orders:

It’s heartening to see that a majority of Americans disapprove of his Muslim ban (by 13 points) and the suspension of the Syrian refugee program (by 22 points). Maybe there’s hope for us after all.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

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