Tonight’s Debate Wrapup (Sort Of)

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I’m sorry, but I just don’t have it in me to try and say something intelligent about tonight’s debate. Generally speaking, it wasn’t quite the train wreck that some of the others have been, but that’s faint praise. And it’s appalling that for the second time in a row, a foreign policy debate had no questions — not one — about Europe. The entire continent is on the verge of imploding, and possibly taking us down with them, and Wolf Blitzer doesn’t care. And at the end, when the candidates got a freebie question to talk about any issue they felt wasn’t getting enough attention, no mention of Europe again. It’s just baffling.

Anyway, here’s my Twitter stream for the night. That’s the best I’ve got for you.

5:08pm Good to see Romney singing along. Looks authentic!

5:25pm I think Santorum just lost the Muslim vote.

5:28pm Newt Gingrich is….AWESOM-O!! ow.ly/7CnWd

5:32pm “Huntsman’s problem….is that he doesn’t seem to hate Democrats.” ow.ly/7Co0n

5:34pm Hey, Perry mentioned India! Progress!

5:56pm And literally. RT @RichLowry: did newt just use candidly and frankly w/n abt 5 words?

6:04pm How much oil does Gingrich think we have in America?

6:04pm Oh, and Lean Six Sigma!

6:10pm Perry seems unaware that budget trigger was originally a Republican proposal.

6:13pm How long are we going to have to wait this time before Europe gets mentioned?

6:41pm This debate is only two hours, right?

6:42pm Why are candidates promoting drones on border instead of blimps? America needs a stronger blimp fleet.

6:43pm Jeez, such a whiner. RT @MaxBoot: No mention yet of Arab Spring, with demonstrations in Egypt, open revolt in Syria, etc.

6:45pm Already spent an hour talking about Iran, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan. But we’re going to “widen” the conversation by going to the Middle East?

6:46pm Surprise final questioner will be George W. Bush! #secretsourcestoldme

6:50pm RT @RichLowry: a no fly zone is not a sanction its an act of war

7:05pm Virtues again from Perry. Is this some kind of dog whistle I don’t understand?

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From the desk of Mother Jones CEO, Monika Bauerlein...

Newsrooms can be funded in many ways. One of the most controversial (and volatile) ways is by a for-profit corporation or a billionaire owner. We see it across the headlines on a weekly basis: the claw backs in public media, the gutting of The Washington Post, the bending over backwards to appeal to Trump and his allies.

But not here.

When Mother Jones first started publishing 50 years ago, our founders made a critical decision: to be a reader-supported nonprofit. They knew that no corporate owner would be interested in a muckraking newsroom; they also knew that no muckraking newsroom would be interested in following the agenda of a corporate owner.

And so, we’ve been reader-funded for half a century. We rely on contributions from our readers—readers like you—whether it’s $50, or $15 a month, or whatever fits your budget. People give what they can, and every donation makes a difference for our newsroom, which has grown tremendously—in size and reach and renown—since its inception in 1976.

You may be wondering: What does it take to publish an investigation? And what does my donation actually fund? The answers are one and the same: It takes people, resources, and time. And that’s what your donation funds directly.

Every donation Mother Jones receives from readers fortifies our newsroom, whether we’re covering underreported scandals out of Washington, DC, or the most important news of the day. And right now, each donation will be doubled because of our $50,000 match. So when you make a donation—$5, $50, any amount—it’ll go twice as far.

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