Today, the Washington Post ran a long, luxurious backrub of a story about a hard-right conservative Romney supporter. The woman in question, upon confronting the evidence offered by the election that gay people are people, rape is rape and Fox News doesn’t tell the truth, feels that the country is lost.
I agree with the sentiment, but for different reasons. The woman in the Post story believes the country lost everything last Tuesday. I believe we didn’t win very much. We both think America has lost its way. The America she voted for is gone, filed in the dustbin of history and demographics and the inevitable tide of expanding rights. The America I voted for is gone, too, cast aside in a 21st century bent on expanding the rights of corporations while making sure the president can legally have a kill list without anyone arresting him for murder.
She mourns an America that will never return. The America I mourn is not lost forever, not yet, and I mean to do something about that. I intend to spend the next four years jumping up and down on every elected official within reach to see that the horrid contra-constitutional excesses of the last 12 years are put right. In the article I wrote after the election, I concluded by saying, “All we won on Tuesday night was the outside chance of not losing. What is made of that very slim margin is entirely up to you.”
Truthout has not bought into the fantasy that everything is okay now; far from it. We need your help to continue this struggle. Please make a tax-deductible contribution now.
Click here to donate.
(Truthout is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. EIN: 20-0031641)
You can also donate by check, made payable to:
Truthout, P.O. Box 276414, Sacramento, CA 95827
(Please include your email address on your check.)
Yours,
William Rivers Pitt, Columnist and Editor
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy