October 28, 2008

Language Watch

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LANGUAGE WATCH….Yesterday a regular reader emailed me about that famous quote from a McCain advisor calling Sarah Palin a “diva”:

It’s sad how the Republicans struggle with sexism and it shows (brutally) in the slamming she is starting to take. Sadly, though, if the internal warfare goes unchecked, Palin will be a stereotype — the single-mindedly, narcissistic, aggressive woman who is striving for self-aggrandizement at all costs, who lacks any intellectual depth and is ultimately shallow — a true Diva. And while part of me would be very happy if Palin’s capitol exposure is forever limited to tours, another part of me sees the risks of more roadblocks for women.

I’ve been watching the growing grumblings and have been wondering how long it would be before we saw the reference to Diva, a great put-down of powerful women. Why can’t she just be another self-interested but charismatic politician who is woefully out of her element and not appropriate for this position. And leave it at that. No, I bet you’ll see more sexist-based disparagement from the right before this is done.

As a father of two strong-willed girls, the whole spectacle is frustrating.

Today, Mike Allen reports the latest:

In convo with Playbook, a top McCain adviser one-ups the priceless “diva” description, calling her “a whack job.”

“Whack job” isn’t sexist, is it? How about that instead?

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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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