I spent last Sunday up in LA, and among other things I went out to Rodeo Drive to take pictures of the beautiful people as the sun was going down. Here was my strategy: I sat down in a chair and snapped a picture of everyone crossing Brighton Way. Pretty simple. Now, some people will tell you that small towns are the real America, but I figure that Beverly Hills is the real real America. What’s more American, after all, than vast, ostentatious wealth in the middle of one of the nation’s great cities?

So here you go: pictures of real Americans, interspersed with images of Americana from lunchtimes past, all set to Kelly Clarkson singing “America” at President Obama’s second inaugural. Happy 4th!

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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