This Week in Stripper News

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/toestubber/3620875259/sizes/z/in/photostream/">the_toe_stubber</a>/Flickr

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August is generally a slow news time in Washington. But things seem to be picking up steam everywhere else—this week, for example, has brought us an abundance of stripper-related political news:

  • In Texas, a Ron Paul supporter placed a full-page ad in a local paper seeking women who have had sex with Gov. Rick Perry to spill the deets. The ad specifically calls for women who identify as a stripper, escort, or “young hottie.”
  • In Missouri, Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who’s expected to run for governor next year, sought to dismiss rumors about a relationship with a “Penthouse Pet” by arguing that he only watched her dance. Apparently, objectifying a woman is worlds better than actually carrying on a relationship with her.
  • And last, but not least, the college student who drew attention last year when he was detained for stripping to his skivvies at a TSA checkpoint in the Richmond, Va. aiport to reveal the 4th Amendment written on his chest is suing the feds for mistreatment. Aaron Tobey’s lawyers allege that the “overbearing, heavy-handed and unfounded actions of security personnel violated free-speech and other constitutional rights.” The judge in the case said he will decide within the next two weeks whether to let the case go forward.

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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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