Maybe You Should Call Someone

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This press release from Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is made of win:

Congressman Barney Frank today responded to a misinformed partisan attack by the Massachusetts Republican Party, in which the GOP criticized Frank for missing a procedural vote to deny funding for ACORN.

Frank has missed the vote because he was attending the Medal of Honor ceremony for Sergeant First Class Jared Monti of Raynam, which was held yesterday afternoon at the White House.  Monti received the honor posthumously for his heroic actions in battle in Afghanistan.

This morning, the Wall Street Journal printed an editorial harshly criticizing Frank for missing the vote.  The Massachusetts Republican Party echoed the Journal’s attack in a release sent to the press this afternoon. 

Neither the Wall Street Journal nor the Massachusetts GOP called Frank’s office for explanation, nor did they note that Frank was at the ceremony despite the fact that it had been widely reported in the press.

Frank expressed deep disappointment that some would use his absence for partisan political purposes.  “I find it deeply disturbing that the people who loudly criticized me in print did not even call my office to ask me about the situation.  I would like to offer them the courtesy which they refused to offer me – I will ask their opinion.  What do they think I should have done – attend the Medal of Honor ceremony, or a vote?”

It’s time for a blogger ethics panel.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

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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