So far, so great. Thanks so much for all the contributions, especially from those of you who’ve already given these past two years. You’ve come through again. We still have a way to go, though. The reason is simple enough. The very success of the site – doubling in traffic roughly every twelve months – has also meant ever-expanding expenses, bandwidth and workload. We’re now catering to the same number of readers as established political magazines, but we have essentially an editorial staff of one. It was once relatively easy to deal with the work part-time. No longer. From filtering through over 700 emails a day to scanning the Internet for stories and ideas to writing tens of thousands of words a month, this blog is a full-time job. I love it; I’ve learned an enormous amount from it; but it has meant giving up other assignments, postponing a book contract, and working on weekends and in the early hours of the morning. I’ve rarely missed a day in the past twelve months, apart from the yearly August breather. And I am not beholden to any big media entity. But that’s why I need your support – to keep this site independent, aggressive, timely and indebted to no-one but you. In an election year, that’s even more important than usual. So please help out – and prove that this kind of independent, reader-supported blog can work financially. If you read the blog regularly, we’re asking for the same amount as a good cup of coffee a month. If you think this site is worth that, and you want to keep it afloat, please help. All the details are here. Without you, this new experiment in online journalism is impossible to finance. With you, it can go from strength to strength. So please don’t delay. Click here.
PAY TO PLAY: One of the best decisions yet from the Bush administration – cutting Russia, France and Germany out of Iraqi reconstruction projects. The rationale is obvious. Our allies have to understand that membership has its privileges – and that betrayal has its consequences. Why should U.S. tax-payers help line the coffers of companies from countries that did all they could to keep Saddam in power? Let Britain, Japan, Italy and Australia benefit from their solidarity.
The Dish 