On Bullshit Dectectors

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


When it comes to politics, it really helps to have a bullshit dectector. I won’t pretend that the government never does crazy, stupid things. But when a big, politically controversial bill like health care reform is being written, you should generally assume that the people who are writing it want it to pass. Thus it is unlikely that they will include provisions in the bill that are likely to be universally unpopular and drag the whole bill down with them.

If someone tells you that the bill is going to require that seniors get Soylent Green-style “end-of-life counseling” that will advise them to die, you should immediately recognize that they are bullshitting you. This is doubly true if the person saying this is a notorious liar. Likewise, if someone tells you that health care reform would mean “a doctor would lose his license for providing health care to someone over age 59,” you should probably recognize that person is also an insane liar.

Turn on your bullshit detectors, folks. This is not that hard.

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.

payment methods

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.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate