MoJo Reader,
There are two huge things happening tomorrow that we should all be ready for, because they have incredibly consequential stakes for our democracy—and they get right at why it's so critical to finish our short fundraising push with a surge of donations starting today.
The first, of course, is the arraignment of Donald Trump. And we can't think of anyone better to help make sense of what's on the line and what's likely to come from the pro-Trump camp than David Corn, in "Trump's Indictment is Yet Another Stress Test for America." Here's what to know going in:
"In the aftermath of the indictment, Democrats, liberals, independents, and others who believe in the rule of law are in an asymmetrical battle with the Trump right. Trump and his minions will hurl heated rhetoric and inflame the conflict. Trump has always welcomed chaos, believing he can harness it for his advantage. Before the indictment, he stated his arrest could prompt violence—coming close to encouraging January 6-like action. He assailed Bragg, a Black man, as an "animal," and, employing an antisemitic trope, he depicted Bragg as the puppet of Jewish billionaire George Soros (a line of attack loudly echoed by Trump's defenders.) Consequently, it falls to non-Trump America to counsel calm and respect for the rule of law and to remind all that anyone accused, even Trump, is due the presumption of innocence.
That may not be easy to do in the face of the Trumpian onslaught. Trump's lackeys are committed to weaponizing this indictment to provoke more tribalism and spark a cataclysmic political clash…He wants the system to pay a price for daring to hold him accountable."
While we watch history play out tomorrow and in the coming weeks, remember that: The best thing we can do is stay level-headed and not engage in the rage fest that Trump and his cronies want to happen. Stay loyal to the facts—and keep following Mother Jones for the big picture analysis of it all.
The other big thing tomorrow is Wisconsin's Supreme Court election. And here too, no one better to break down why it matters so much than voting rights correspondent Ari Berman, in "This Race Could Decide the Fate of Democracy in Wisconsin—and the 2024 Election."
"The election, which has been called the most important of 2023, has huge stakes for the state—and for national politics as well. If Protasiewicz wins, that will give progressives their first majority on the court since 2008 and their best—and perhaps only—chance to roll back the GOP's decade-plus efforts to undermine democracy in the state, like the heavily gerrymandered maps that have locked in enormous Republican majorities in the legislature and a series of laws that have made it harder to vote. The court could also strike down hugely unpopular policies that the GOP-controlled legislature refuses to change, like a criminal abortion ban from 1849 that immediately took effect after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade…On the other hand, if Kelly wins, it will cement the GOP's anti-democratic takeover of the Badger State and make it virtually impossible to reverse."
We're so proud of Ari and the rest of the MoJo newsroom for investing time and effort into the story of voting rights and democracy, and the role Wisconsin in particular has played, for years now—long before other media paid attention. That's what our job is, after all: to shine a light on the stories that others are missing, deliver the facts, and highlight the forces behind the headlines.
And as you ready yourself for the news to move fast and furious tomorrow, I hope we can count on you to support our team's work. Like we write in "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we don't want to add to the all the noise out there right now, so just the brass-tacks about that today.
There are just about ten days left in our critical push to raise $300,000 in online donations and as of this evening, we still need about $180,000 to come in. We really need the pace to pick if we're going to have any chance of finishing our fiscal year square in the coming months. And we have zero room for error, having already cut all the expenses that we could from our budget to account for the significant headwind journalism faces.
The only way we're going to get there if we can 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 (or stopped doing so) because you figured others always will. It's a tall order—and more than we hoped we'd need to bank on right now—but we can 100 percent get there if more readers than normal decide to pitch in today.
The bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. And advertising or profit-driven owners will never make time-intensive, in-depth reporting viable. The only investors who won't let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.
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 right now. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.
Thanks for reading, and we'll be sure to help you process the news in the coming days and weeks.
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