September/October 2010 Issue

Libertarian or Rapper? Take the Quiz.

Can you tell the gun-and-gold-loving, tax-hating libertarians from the gun-and-gold-loving, tax-hating rappers?

Rand: 33millionpeople.com; Rakim: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Which libertarian presidential candidate licked whipped cream off the chests of two buxom women at a public event? How similar are sayings by Ayn Rand and the Wu-Tang Clan? Below, test your political acumen with MoJo‘s 10 questions.

 

 

 

 

Rapper or Libertarian?

Licked whipped cream off the chests of two buxom women at a Leukemia Society luncheon.

 

2008 Libertarian Party presidential candidate and former GOP rep Bob Barr. (Libertarian)

1 of 10

Quote: “I learned to earn because I’m righteous.”

 

Eric B. & Rakim, “Paid in Full.” (Rapper)

2 of 10

Quote: “So you think that money is the root of all evil? Have you ever asked what is the root of money?”

 

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged. (Libertarian)

3 of 10

Indicted in 2009 for failure to pay taxes for three years, accused of treating his nonprofit “like a personal ATM.”

 

Bill Sizemore, Oregon anti-tax activist and former gubernatorial candidate. (Libertarian)

4 of 10

At press time, the IRS was dogging him for owing $6.6 million in back taxes.

 

Death Row Records cofounder Suge Knight. (Rapper)

5 of 10

Favored article of bling: gold dollar-sign pin.

 

Ayn Rand (Libertarian)

6 of 10

Quote: “Cash rules everything around me.”

 

Answer: Wu-Tang Clan, “C.R.E.A.M.” (Rapper)

7 of 10

Quote: “America needs fewer laws, not more prisons.”

 

Answer: James Bovard, Lost Rights. (Libertarian)

8 of 10

Shocked fans with his 2008 release, “Legalize All Drugs.”

 

Answer: John Stossel. (Libertarian)

9 of 10

Quote: “I’m all for America, fuck the government.”

 

Answer: Eminem, “Rap Game”. (Rapper)

10 of 10

 

 

WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We can’t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

Because the in-depth journalism on underreported beats and unique perspectives on the daily news you turn to Mother Jones for is only possible because readers fund us. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism we exist 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 need readers to show up for us big time—again.

Getting just 10 percent of the people who care enough about our work to be reading this blurb to part with a few bucks would be utterly transformative for us, and that's very much what we need to keep charging hard in this financially uncertain, high-stakes year.

If you can right now, please support the journalism you get from Mother Jones with a donation at whatever amount works for you. And please do it now, before you move on to whatever you're about to do next and think maybe you'll get to it later, because every gift matters and we really need to see a strong response if we're going to raise the $253,000 we need in less than three weeks.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We can’t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

Because the in-depth journalism on underreported beats and unique perspectives on the daily news you turn to Mother Jones for is only possible because readers fund us. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism we exist 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 need readers to show up for us big time—again.

Getting just 10 percent of the people who care enough about our work to be reading this blurb to part with a few bucks would be utterly transformative for us, and that's very much what we need to keep charging hard in this financially uncertain, high-stakes year.

If you can right now, please support the journalism you get from Mother Jones with a donation at whatever amount works for you. And please do it now, before you move on to whatever you're about to do next and think maybe you'll get to it later, because every gift matters and we really need to see a strong response if we're going to raise the $253,000 we need in less than three weeks.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate