Dear MoJo Reader:

Do you mind if I share something with you? I’m angry and wiped out. But I’m still in the fight.

It’s been a tough stretch for many of us and for our loved ones, friends, colleagues, and neighbors. Especially as we watch what’s happening in cities across the country, with the brutal ongoing assault being mounted by Donald Trump’s secret police. The deaths—let’s call them murders—of Alex Pretti and Renée Good in Minneapolis were enraging, but the resistance mounted by the people of the Twin Cities has been inspiring.

The stakes are damn clear.

For more than a year, Trump, his Republican lackeys, and the MAGA have been waging a war on the rule of law, democracy, and decency. We’re far beyond the usual Republican effort to lower taxes for the wealthy and cut regulations for their cronies and corporate funders. It’s a crusade to fundamentally reshape the nation and turn the United States into a dystopian mix of oligarchy, autocracy, and kleptocracy—even a police state.

With this battle at hand, I’ve been fighting back the best way I can: by pursuing kickass journalism. And I’m writing to ask for your help. As some of you might know, twice a week (most weeks), I write the Our Land newsletter. It contains news, reports, and analysis you won’t find anywhere else, much of which is often linked to my journalistic scoops—as well as cultural coverage of books, films, television shows, music, podcasts, and more.

My message here is simple: To keep Our Land going, I need your support. That’s why I’m pestering you now to sign up here for a FREE trial subscription. (And I do mean free. This no gimmick. You don’t need to punch in a credit card number. Signing up puts you under no obligation down the road.)

I know you get a lot of irritating solicitations asking for support, but please do me a favor and give this one a read. After all, I don’t bother you too often.

While many news outlets keep covering Trump in a conventional manner, I’ve consistently insisted that what he and his MAGA comrades are doing requires unconventional coverage and an unconventional response from the Democrats. Trump and the GOP are running extensive disinformation operations to win support for their vicious attacks on Democratic cities and states, migrants, federal workers, public health experts, universities, the press, political foes and critics, and even NATO and for their attempt to impose a libertarian order on America that will allow billionaires, oligarchs, and Big Tech robber barons to run wild (and screw the rest of us). This transcends the usual lies and spins of politicians. Yet most media reporting totally misses the big picture, even as journalists try valiantly to keep up with the firehose of falsehoods and chaos from Trump that never turns off.

I’m trying to fill a big hole. That’s why every issue of Our Land brings you unique and crucial reporting about what’s in the news and, more important, what’s missing. It includes behind-the-scenes stories about politics and about the media—sometimes with a dash of history so you get the full view of what’s going on. Plus, the premium version of Our Land contains a boatload of additional features: the Dumbass Comment of the Week contest; the interactive Mailbag (you ask questions, I answer); reviews of books, movies, television shows, and music and other cultural contemplations; and MoxieCam™ (because some days we all need to hear what a dog has to say).

You can sign up for a FREE trial subscription right now. (You knew I had to say that.)

In recent issues of Our Land, I have detailed the new Trump doctrine (“violence is us”); covered the spread of the police-state mentality in this administration; reported on the “erasure of January 6”; explained how RFK Jr. escaped a personal scandal; examined the growing list of impeachable offenses; explored the right’s long history of association with Nazis; written about how the media downplayed a death threat from Trump; dived into the Jeffrey Epstein scandal; recounted a telling meeting I had with Stephen Miller; dissected the appointment of Bari Weiss to run CBS News; and pondered the subversive anti-Trump message of Wicked.

Our in-house marketing experts tell me that in a note like this I must repeat the pitch over and over, no matter how annoying  or counterproductive that seems. So here I go again: If this sounds like the sort of journalism you want to see right now, please support Our Land by signing up.  

In one edition of Our Land, I did a deep dive into what I called Big Tech’s “war on journalism.” At the Washington Post, billionaire owner Jeff Bezos is steering this important source of news in a MAGA direction, as he bends the knee to Trump. Mark Zuckerberg has rejiggered Facebook’s algorithm to suppress the sharing of political news and significant exposés. (I’ve seen the impact on posts about my own work.) And, of course, there’s Elon Musk, who has turned X (formerly known as Twitter) into a cesspool of conspiracy theory, overt racism, alt-right extremism, and lies that boost Dear Leader and demonize liberals, Democrats, and the media. This is what I wrote:  

The rise of the internet did a lot to screw up the news business, while also providing tremendous opportunities for journalists (like me) to reach wider audiences. At the same time, it allowed for fact-free alternative realities to easily take hold for millions of people. Overall, it has been a tough stretch for the industry and journalism (and reality-based politics). The Big Tech titans have made it worse. (And who knows what AI will do for—or to—serious journalism?) As Bezos, Musk, and Zuckerberg suck up to an autocrat to preserve and expand their own profits, they are imperiling journalism and helping democracy die, not in darkness, but in the clear light of day and within the glow of their oligarchic power.

There’s an obvious bottom-line here: Without readers like you supporting Our Land, the newsletter will cease to exist. That’s not hype. We need subscribers to keep this newsletter alive. I’m hoping you will see the value in what I report and write and decide this is the sort of journalism you want to keep alive in these dangerous times.

At this perilous moment, I want to fire back with all I have. Our Land allows me to do this—and to, dare I say, have a bit of fun by interacting with readers and sharing my thoughts on a host of subjects that extend beyond politics. Also, about once a month I hold a Zoom get-together for premium subscribers to the newsletter. We gather online to vent, kvetch, trade ideas about what the hell is going on, and experience a much-needed dose of camaraderie. We laugh, we (might) cry, we carry on. 

You know me. When it comes to reporting the truths other reporters don’t see or don’t pursue, I don’t hold back. Because I’m free of the influence of corporate media, billionaire owners, and advertisers, I can play it both straight and hard. Too many outlets and too many voices in the media have accommodated Trump or covered him as a normal politician. That will only help him consolidate power and continue his reign of discord and demagoguery. I’m not here to be a partisan player. But I am here to serve the truth, without fear and with fervor. 

If you would like to be part of that—yes, you know what’s coming again—please join me by signing up for a FREE (did I mention “free”?) trial subscription to Our Land. I’m hoping that once you see what I’m doing, you’ll decide to support the newsletter by sending in a few of your hard-earned bucks each month to receive that premium edition. Once more, it’s because people like you decide to do so that Our Land continues to publish.

There is indeed a war for America underway now. And there are plenty of ways you can be part of the fight to preserve our liberties and protect our values. One way is to support independent journalists, and there are others beside me out there. But I’m hoping that you’ll find Our Land enlightening, fresh and essential, and that you’ll stick with me, as we all do what we can to safeguard our families, our communities, and…our land.

Thanks for hearing me out. I send you my best wishes in this difficult period. Hang in there. As bad as things might get, I believe we will prevail. Especially if we work together.

Onward,

P.S. You don’t have to take it from me. Others have said my newsletter is a valuable addition to their media diet. Here are a few endorsements (and no one was paid for them!):