July 26, 2016

Democrats Are Running an ISIS-Free Convention

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Jim Geraghty reviews the Democratic convention:

In the past eleven days, we’ve seen five terrorist attacks in Europe: a truck attack in Nice, a suicide bomber in Ansbach, an attack with an axe on a train in Wuerzburg, a machete attack in Reutlingen, and a priest’s throat slit in Rouen, France.

Not one speaker addressed ISIS or Islamist terrorism last night. Democrats formulate their governing plans in a happier, peaceful, imaginary world.

It is a little odd. Obviously Democrats aren’t going to go down the apocalyptic path that Republicans did, but destroying ISIS really would make the world a better place. You’d think someone might mention this. And yet, when Scott Pelley asked Hillary Clinton on Sunday what she most wanted to accomplish as president, she said this:

Well, I care most about getting the economy working for everybody…. rebuilding the ladders of opportunity….education….health care….race and discrimination….immigration reform….gun safety.

During this whole laundry list, I was talking to the TV: “Say ISIS. Say ISIS. Say ISIS.” But she never did. And to my surprise, nobody commented on this the next day, not even conservatives (at least, none of the ones I read). Eventually, though, it’s going to become a little too obvious if no speaker ever says anything about it. Maybe Bill Clinton will mention it tonight. Or one of the military folks on Wednesday or Thursday. Somebody should.

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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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