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We—you—made it. MoJo Reader, There's always a calm-before-the-storm feeling in newsrooms i
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Weâyouâmade it. [Mother Jones]( MoJo Reader, There's always a calm-before-the-storm feeling in newsrooms in the final days of a campaign, but never has the calm felt as restless as it does this yearâand never has it felt so much as if the entire country, not just those of us who follow the news for a living, is on pins and needles. As my colleague Clara Jeffery, Mother Jones' editor-in-chief, tweeted last week, it feels as if "the entire country is awaiting a biopsy result." Yes, we are, but let's follow that metaphor a little further: It's not that we're trying to figure out if our democracy is ailing. The antidemocratic impulses that Donald Trump represents did not suddenly infect our body politic; they have been festeringâand sometimes eruptingâfor a long time. As New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie puts it, "Trump is transgressive, yes. But his transgressions are less a novel assault on American institutions than they are a stark recapitulation of past failure and catastrophe." What we're waiting to find out now is whether America has the capacity and the will to turn against that past failure, or whether we'll steer into it. And the answer to that won't be known tomorrow night. It will be revealed in the weeks and months to come, when Trump is bound to unleash chaos and disinformation on the largest scale he can muster. Nerve-wracking doesn't begin to describe it. But let's pause there and slow down. We can't afford for our nerves to be wracked. We're going to need our wits about us, tomorrow and Wednesday and every single day that follows. For we are not spectators in this drama of democracyâ we are the principals. You, reading this, and hundreds of millions of Americansâa majority, in fact, who consistently choose a more expansive democracy over a slide into authoritarianism, and a more clear-eyed view of reality over propaganda and disinformation. It doesn't feel that way sometimes, I know, but the numbers don't lie. I don't need to tell you, right now, who does lie. MoJo's David Corn does an extraordinary job at telling you that in his latest column, on how [the disinformation in the 2020 campaign]( no longer came from Russiaâit came from inside the house. (And just as in 2016, [it got a huge assist]( from tech companies like Facebook.) But I can also tell you, right now, that the truth is powerfulâand some of the best evidence is how hard Trump and his acolytes are trying to attack it. They know that facts are like Dorothy's water to their Wicked Witch. That's why, in these past few days, they have redoubled their attacks on journalists: Trump has tweeted at least twice a day, on average, about "fake news" just this past week. All over the world, when authoritarians try to consolidate their power, journalists are among their top targets. But it hasn't worked for Trump yetâand it's not going to. And here's just one of many reasons: you, the community that keeps Mother Jones' journalists on the beat. This weekend, Mother Jones wrapped up our abbreviated fall fundraising campaign. We made it short this time, just three weeks, because we wanted to throw every ounce of energy at the investigative reporting you expect from us. It was a risky move, and we figured we could well fall short of our goal, the $350,000 we urgently needed to keep our newsroom humming. But amazingly, weâyouâmade it. We hit our goal, and that means we can push hard in the weeks and months to come. Amid all the election chaos, our newsroom has already been making plans for covering what lies ahead, and identified the key prioritiesâfrom covering extremism both online and in the streets to digging into voter suppression shenanigans, to elevating the work people and communities are doing to rebuild and reenergize democracy. It's daunting work, but knowing how many people have our back fills us with resolve. As we move into this next stage of the battle for democracy, let's not forget that the truth is powerful. We'll prove it together. Thanks for reading, and for everything you do to make Mother Jones what it is. I'm sure I'll have more to say in the days ahead. [Monika] Monika Bauerlein, CEO Mother Jones [Donate]( [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com](
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