Wee the People: A Filibuster Pee Break Flowchart

Planning to speak for 12 hours without heeding nature’s call? Here’s a flowchart to help you slow your flow.


It’s on everyone’s minds every time a legislator heroically stands up to speak for hours on end for one reason or another: Just where do they go when they have to, you know, go? It turns out each politician has his or her own strategy. Some, like segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond, spent days prepping to hold the floor, even taking steam baths to dehydrate themselves. Others have tried to maintain a modicum of discretion, surrounding themselves with sheets and answering nature’s call right there in the chamber. But take a minute and put yourself in Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis’ shoes—how would you fare if you had to hold the floor and hold it in?

 

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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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