A National Disgrace

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The country seems to be coming apart at the seams over Katrina and the total disaster that has fallen upon Mississippi and Louisiana.

Just to give you an idea, here is a small sampling:

  • People in the Superdome have been without food and water for days. The toilets are overflowing and people are desperately waiting for medical supplies and transportation. Many people have died waiting in the Superdome – including several babies – as the number of trapped has ballooned to over 30,000.
  • A chemical depot exploded this morning in New Orleans along the Mississippi River, sending black plumes of smoke hovering over the city.
  • Under the Same Sun points out that President Bush’s main concern seems to be “insurance fraud.”
  • Flagrancy to Reason mentions that there are still hospitals that have not been evacuated – once again, the main concern seems to be rescuing flat screen TV sets rather than the sick, the elderly, and the homeless.
  • Majikthise notes that the Department of Homeland Security first rejected aid workers from Canada bringing fresh water and medical supplies. Happily, the DHS finally caved in but now that the rescuers have reached the scene things are too out of control for them to do any good.
  • And as I noted last night, Michelle Malkin – apologist for torture and police brutality – actually said she was “heartbroken” when cops in New Orleans failed to arrest looters who were stealing food. It is important to keep in mind: she said she was heartbroken not because they were stealing food, but because the cops didn’t arrest them.
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    AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

    We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

    The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

    Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

    If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

    Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

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