January 21, 2013

WATCH: Beyoncé Sings The National Anthem at President Obama’s Second Inauguration

In which Barack Obama opens for Beyoncé Knowles:

Joe Biden enjoyed her performance:

joe biden beyonce knowles

Screenshot

Recently, the White House removed a petition from their “We the People” website that called for Beyoncé to be barred from performing at Monday’s inauguration ceremony due to her business relationship with Pepsi:

Along with having raised millions of dollars for the president’s reelection campaign and having performed at other Obama-related events, Beyoncé also sang Etta James‘ “At Last” during Michelle and Barack Obama’s first slow dance as First Couple:

On a related note, here’s Beyoncé playing Etta James in the 2008 film Cadillac Records:

beyonce jay-z barack obama

Scout Tufankjian/Obama for America

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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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