September 25, 2006

McCain, Naturally, Jumps Into the Chavez-Is-the-Devil Fray

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Despite what one may think of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, the rush by Democrats to say as many over-the-top, fundamentally unAmerican things about him as possible set a hysterical precedent. There is no way that Republicans can top the ridiculous rhetoric of Rangel and Pelosi, but if there is an alternate avenue, we know Sen. John McCain will find it.

And find it he has, by insisting that John Bolton’s nomination as U.N. ambassador be confirmed as quickly as possible. Said McCain on Facet the Nation:

I would say that this is an argument to get John Bolton confirmed as our U.N. ambassador. He’s smart, he’s tough, he will respond to these guys. And he could talk back to these two-bit dictators who have the airfare to New York.

If Chavez is a nutcake, as some believe he is, what does that make John Bolton? I suppose that a U.N.-basher, alleged sex abuser and eternally loose cannon is fine and dandy as long as he is American.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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