Press Corp to Bush: “Will You Listen to the Voters or Listen to the Vice President?”

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Dick Gregory’s question was among the highlights of the press conference Bush just held, in which he said he’d accepted, at long last, Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation (Bill Kristol was right!) and went on to acknowledge that the “cumulative effect of the elections is a thumpin’.”

Other notable moments:

On Rumsfeld: “You can’t replace somebody until you know you have somebody to replace him.”

“This isn’t my first rodeo. Not the first time I’ve been in a campaign where people have expressed themselves.”

Bush asks Dick Gregory: “You think I’m nuts? You think my sensibility has left me as a result of the campaign?”

Bush slams some aide for making the call to Speaker Elect Nancy Pelosi too early.

Called current border policy: “catch and release”

Asked about extending basic voting privileges to the residents of Washington D.C. (i.e. Home Rule) as he would the people of Iraq, Bush dodged the question, claiming he was working “to get the Indian deal done, and the Vietnam done.”

Bush on Rove and their “reading contest” (?!?!): “I was obviously working harder on the campaign than he was.”

Finally: “Until yesterday, I thought we were going to win. Shows what I know.”

Somebody make a t-shirt.

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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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