Khashoggi Coverup Story Still in Progress

Still all smiles!State Department via ZUMA

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This is remarkable:

The Trump administration and the Saudi royal family are searching for a mutually agreeable explanation for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi — one that will avoid implicating Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is among the president’s closest foreign allies, according to analysts and officials in multiple countries.

That’s from the Washington Post and it’s presented as straight news. The leadership of Saudi Arabia has been appalling for a long time, so it’s not especially surprising that they’d order the murder of a political activist they found annoying. But even the most cynical critic of American foreign policy has to be gobsmacked that our president is all-but-publicly casting about for some kind of semi-acceptable coverup. I guess there’s no need to keep it discreet since he knows that no matter how preposterous the story is, Fox News and congressional Republicans will just shrug and then get back to the important business of confirming corporate-friendly judges.

I try not to let my depression and discouragement become too obvious. A lot of it is due not to current events, but to the temporary fatigue and tiredness I get from the chemo drugs I take. I know that. But damn. Between Kavanaugh and Khashoggi and the degeneracy of the Republican Party and just the unbelievable fact that Donald Trump is president of the United States,¹ I barely feel like getting out of bed anymore.

¹I mean, WTF? Donald Trump? Seriously?

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GREAT JOURNALISM, SLOW FUNDRAISING

Our team has been on fire lately—publishing sweeping, one-of-a-kind investigations, ambitious, groundbreaking projects, and even releasing “the holy shit documentary of the year.” And that’s on top of protecting free and fair elections and standing up to bullies and BS when others in the media don’t.

Yet, we just came up pretty short on our first big fundraising campaign since Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting joined forces.

So, two things:

1) If you value the journalism we do but haven’t pitched in over the last few months, please consider doing so now—we urgently need a lot of help to make up for lost ground.

2) If you’re not ready to donate but you’re interested enough in our work to be reading this, please consider signing up for our free Mother Jones Daily newsletter to get to know us and our reporting better. Maybe once you do, you’ll see it’s something worth supporting.

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