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I might be the last person to notice this, but I still sort of wonder what it says about us. I was over at Dave Weigel’s place a few minutes ago, and he linked to a Twitter post by Jim Geraghty, who I don’t happen to follow. When I clicked the link, it included the following message:

This Tweet is from someone you’re not following. The media they’re mentioning could be anything, even something you might find offensive.

It could be anything! We can’t have that, can we? Best to hide it from sensitive eyes.

This is, obviously, no big deal, and you can change your default setting pretty easily to see everything automatically. Still, it seems a little dismaying that we’re so delicate these days that even when we actively click on a link, we apparently need to be protected from the mere possibility of getting a fleeting glimpse of something we might find offensive. Buck up, America!

And while we’re on the subject of why not a single Republican has announced a presidential candidacy yet — yep, that’s the subject — isn’t the answer obvious? It’s because they all know Barack Obama is as good as a shoo-in in 2012. Unless something cataclysmic happens, the only reason for any Republican to run is either as a vanity candidate or to get practice for 2016.

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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