Dear Nation Friend:
I’ll admit it: a year ago at this time, we expected more.
Barack Obama’s election marked a remarkable moment in our country’s history — a milestone in America’s scarred racial landscape, a victory for the forces of decency, diversity and tolerance, and an end to eight years of destructive, swaggering unilateralism.
A year later, it’s clear we’re a ways from reshaping the prevailing order of our politics and economy. That will take more than one election. And in this winter of discontent, I could dwell on the disappointments. I am sure you have your list. At the top of mine is Obama’s decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan, squandering funds needed to rebuild and renew our country.
But we have work to do — hard work — to lay the groundwork for new thinking and true alternatives, and we need your help and support to do it.
Independent journalism has never been so important. As newsrooms are shuttered and infotainment spreads, The Nation’s commitment to watchdog, tell-it-like-it-is journalism is unwavering, and is made possible only with the extra support of our readership. We are investing in some of the finest investigative reporting in this country:
Jeremy Scahill’s “The US’s Secret War in Pakistan” reveals how Blackwater is working in Pakistan for the US military’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).
Aram Roston’s “How the US Funds the Taliban” uncovers the routine bribing of the Taliban in the Afghan countryside by contractors seeking safe passage to deliver logistical supplies to our troops, amounting to billions of US dollars landing in the coffers of the Taliban.
These investigations are expensive.
They demand knowledgeable and demanding editors, travel budgets, outlays for research and rigorous lawyering. That’s why your contributions are so important:
TEN GIFTS OF $250 will pay for Scahill’s plane ticket to Islamabad to report on the US’s covert war in Pakistan.
FIVE GIFTS OF $100 will pay for Roston’s research on lobbyists working on contracts in the growing war zone of Kabul.
ONE GIFT OF $50 will cover the monthly costs of Internet access for a young investigative reporter like Sebastian Jones, who wrote our stunning investigation into former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt’s role in DC’s revolving door system of corruption.
While I suspect you may have read Scahill or Roston or Jones — and other Nation investigations — on Common Dreams, Alternet or Buzzflash, please remember that these “aggregator” websites use our work without contributing a penny to support and produce the journalism we invest in.
That’s why I am turning to you to tap your determined idealism and your pocketbook!
Many years ago, our contributing editor Gore Vidal said The Nation acts as “a journalistic alert-system, warning of dangers too often invisible to even the most alert coastal dweller.” These are times to keep the watch fires burning.
Warm regards and thanks,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor & Publisher, The Nation
Trudy Anschuetz of Monclair, NJ is our Associate of the Month. She hosts a Nation Associates discussion group in her area. Here she is answering our questions…
If Trudy could be editor-for-a-day, the story she would assign…
“That’s a tough question because there are so many great stories to explore. I have for years been interested in learning what would happen if one day all federal government lobbying were outlawed. It has been my position for years that lobbying is the crux of the downfall of democracy on all levels. A good investigative reporter might have a field day studying the results of such a law.”
Trudy’s nomination for The Nation’s “Person of the Year”…
“That would be Rachel Maddow of MSNBC. She is thorough in her research and presents very complicated material so that everyone can understand what the real story is. She is persistent in follow-up and responds very directly to her critics. If more people watched her news program with regularity, we would have a far wiser and more confident populace.”
Why Trudy sticks up for independent journalism:
“Only independent journalism can report on information that is contrary to what our government thinks we should know. Now that there is such incredible consolidation of all media under very few corporate heads we are fed “the corporate line”. Eventually we would all forget how to think clearly and develop our own conclusions. We would “ buy in” and lose all critical thought. Dangerous, very dangerous!!”
What’s it like hosting a Nation Associates discussion group?
“It’s a lot of fun! I have been hosting my group since October 2003. We are a core of about 14 members from all walks of life, ranging in age from 39 to 94, men/women and all levels of education. Some of us have been conservative at one time and others come from liberal backgrounds. Our group in quite informal and we can easily absorb new members who feel welcome instantly. Sometimes we have refreshments but most times we just share a bottle of wine. The last eight years under George Bush have been difficult and many times our meetings were used just to vent anger and disgust. We have, on occasion, written letters to the editor of our local papers and we each routinely communicate with our Senators and Congresspeople. We start on time and generally finish in one and one half hours. Any person can introduce a topic according to their interest and we generally cover many things in one evening. This month we will have a reporter and photographer at our meeting in the hope that a nice article in the local paper will whip up a little more interest in what we do. Hosting the group gives me the opportunity to meet new people all the time and compare my thinking about our world today with other “great” minds. I would miss doing it so I guess it will go on as long as there are participants.
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