November 17, 2006

Toward the End of the Week, Everyone Needs A Good Laugh

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A center whose focus is freedom is planned for Israel, and will be named for George W. Bush, in gratitude “for his support for the country and its security.” Daniel Ayalan, outgoing Israeli ambassador to the U.S., has gotten the go-ahead from Bush to proceed. Ayalan says he does not anticipate any problem in raising funds to build the Bush Center.

And speaking of security, I don’t even like to think about the kind of security that will be needed to protect a complex in Israel named after Bush.

When Bush explained to Ayalon the tradition of outgoing presidents building libraries as part of their legacies, he told him that the Bush library in Texas would be an institute to advance freedom. Ayalon is said to have replied to the creator of “free speech zones” that perhaps the Israeli center could be a branch of the Texas library.

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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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