The 10 Saddest Government Shutdown Goodbye Notes

“Only websites necessary to protects lives and property will be maintained.”


You probably haven’t heard, but the US government has shut down as of midnight on Tuesday, and it won’t reopen until President Barack Obama and Congress quit bickering over Obamacare. Online, some government agencies appear to be in denial about the shutdown—the US Mint is still tweeting about coin laser imprints, and GOP.gov is running normally. But most of them are shuttering their Twitter feeds and websites, and leaving sad goodbye notes. Without further ado, here are 10 of the most tragic:

1. The National Zoo promises that someone’s still feeding the animals. But, sorry folks. No pandacam!

2. USA.gov wins the politeness and optimism award.

3. The US Geological Survey doesn’t beat around the bush.

4. The Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade informs us that, until his interns come back, small businesses are screwed.

5. US Fish and Wildlife Service leaves duck-stamp enthusiasts hanging.

6. The NSA isn’t updating its site, but it’s probably still spying on you!

7. The National Archives and Records Administration is basically in chaos.

 

8. The Government Accountability Office takes the opportunity to remind Americans that it won’t be doing any government oversight while the government is shut down.

9. The White House thumbs its nose at Republicans.

And one bonus non-governmental Tweet: (we initially labeled this as an official NASA account, but a NASA spokesperson clarified that it is not.)

10. The NASA’s Voyager 2 goes nihilistic.

 

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.

payment methods

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.

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