May 4, 2007

Person of the Day: God of War McCain

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In last night’s “debate” both McCain and Giuliani beat the drums for attacking Iran. Is this the GOP’s answer to the devastating failure in Iraq? After 4 years of soul-sucking stupidity is more war the best idea they’ve got? Or is it that it’s only this kind of rhetoric that will keep the base awake? (PS: Someone tell Rudy that with the hostage crisis in 1980 Iran was playing Reagan rather than the other way around.)

McCain:

Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. We all know that. Iran continues their efforts to build nuclear weapons. Iran is now exporting lethal IEDs and jihadists and suicide bombers into Iraq killing American soldiers. The Iranians encouraged Hezbollah to attack Israel from Lebanon recently. Iran poses one of the greatest threats to the world—the security of the world and in the Middle East.

Giuliani:

The use of military force against Iran would be very dangerous. It would be very provocative. The only thing worse would be Iran being a nuclear power. It’s the worst nightmare of the Cold War, isn’t it, the nuclear weapons in hands of an irrational person, an irrational force. Ahmadinejad is clearly irrational. He has to understand it’s not an option. He cannot have nuclear weapons. And he has to look at an American president, and he has to see Ronald Reagan. Remember, they looked in Ronald Reagan’s eyes, and in two minutes they released the hostages.

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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.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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