Read Why Your Fellow Commenters Donated to Reason's Webathon

On the last but greatest day of our annual fundraising drive, hear about why readers of all political persuasions are helping us make more and better libertarian journalism and commentary in 2017.

Ralph Burch

When it comes to the 2016 version of Reason's annual Webathon—in which we ask loyal readers of this website to donate whatever tax-deductible funds they can to the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that publishes our award-winning journalism—I have some good news, some more good news, some bad news, and some…weird news.

The first good news is that today is the final day of the Webathon, so no more loud rattling of the tin cup, and it's back to the business of providing the best libertarian journalism and commentary we know how to make. The second good news is that as of yesterday afternoon around 1 p.m. ET we were almost exactly on our record-smashing pace of one year ago, with 850 donors contributing $121,000, compared to 832/$128,000 at that point in 2015 (on the way to a ridiculous 1,682/$246,000).

The bad news is embedded in those last numbers—we need to haul ass on this last day to get anywhere near our goal of a cool quarter-mil. Which brings me to the weird news, though we'd already foreshadowed it yesterday: We will stop at no level of self-debasement today to convince you to chip in, including, beginning at noon ET today and extending until Nick Gillespie has completed his full transition to late-'80s Jerry Lewis, a Facebook Live Telethon whose degradations we can only currently guess at. Ask us anything, hurl insults, make unseemly requests, just make sure to bring along your wallet.

DONATE TO REASON, RIGHT NOW, OR ELSE!

Let's review our arguments to date:

1) Because we've reached a record number of people with our work, including doubling our audience for Reason TV videos in just one year.

2) Because we are "detrimental to the safe, secure, and orderly operation of" prisons.

3) For correcting the journalistic record on guns.

4) For subjecting the top presidential candidates to intense, ideas-based scrutiny.

5) Woodchippers.

6) Podcasts (and podcasts, and podcasts).

7) This video:

8) Debunking mainstream media falsehoods.

9) Free-speechin'.

10) For helping Venezuelan Bitcoiners and teen sexting-hysteria victims.

11) Because we covered the living hell out of the Libertarian Party presidential campaign at your request.

12) For defending freedom, on Sundays, on MSNBC.

13) Inviting you people to give your worst to Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Jacob Sullum, and Brian Doherty.

14) Men's large space-cat T-shirts.

15) We talk about surveillance even when nobody else does.

16) For redesigning the magazine so purty-like that the federal government's former undersecretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response Michael Brown tweeted this:

It's like a HGTV makeover! #fabulous https://t.co/hiz4P4bo6l

— Michael Brown (@MichaelBrownUSA) December 5, 2016

These 16 arguments are necessary but not sufficient. You need some testimonials from your fellow readers who broke on through to the other side and donated, using the opportunity to provide feedback. Here is a selection from their comments:

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StumpCutters.com

Reason.com revolutionized working in a cubicle for me—sure it's still soul crippling but Reason is like gentle balm on my bleeding pride. Love the content and the community.

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Woodchippers and free markets!

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Do something about the squirrels!

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I am so proud of being "'[d]etrimental to the Safe, Secure, and Orderly Operation' of Prisons" and helping to "promote drug paraphernalia" that I just can't stand it.

*

This magazine has been a beacon of hope that reason and reasonableness will prevail, and from that beacon freer minds and markets will emerge. Keep up the good work!

*

Keep fighting the good fight! Lurkers may be, well, lurkers, but we're out here, quietly judging, and we admire what you do.

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Reason is great! I look forward to another year!

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keep up the fight for free minds and free markets

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Matt Welch

Kmele for president 2020!

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For Reason doing its part to get Trump into the White House!

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The abysmal nature of this past election cycle drove this lifelong liberal Democrat (daughter of a staunch FDR Demo) into the arms of the Libertarian Party. Determined not hold my nose and vote, yet again (see Dukakis, Gore, Kerry), I turned to Gary Johnson. Following his daily email updates led me to Reason.com.

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I am a Republican but like to read your articles.

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In the age of Trump Reason is needed more than ever. Latest issues by KMW have been really interesting!

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thedeconstruction.org

Please, for the love of Odin, just hold POTUS accountable & stay unbiased. Thank you for what you all do.

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I love reading your generally level-headed, rational analysis and the uncommon perspectives you bring to a variety of issues. I figured throwing a Benjamin your way for all of that free insight was the least I could do. Thanks and keep up the good work.

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Huge fan of all things Reason and even when I do (rarely) disagree with writers, I know they are being honest. SINCERELY thank you for not using clickbait headlines and Facebook posts. You are one of the last holdouts. #Kmele2020

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Thank you for your excellent work. Only agree with you sometimes, but journalism is necessary to the functioning of a well-ordered mind and I'm pleased to support your excellent work.

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Thanks for providing one of the most entertaining news sites on the Web. I also appreciate the unfettered nature of the comment boards.

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Please avoid the 4-letter words on Reason.com. It makes it difficult for me to recommend to friends.

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Kill the Squirrels!

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Kmele Foster 2020! I don't know if you guys fund The Fifth Column podcast but you should, it's great! Thank you Reason!

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I am already a subscriber. And you are still asking for money. But here I am giving it because you guys are the only ones who give a flying you-know-what about freedom and liberty and blah blah blah. Keep up the good work. But I am not made of green, so stop all this crying.

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Sorry, there must be a speck of dust in my eye…

Seriously, I've been working in this field for 30 years now (gulps heavily, refills glass), and I can testify that at least 99 percent of my colleagues out there just cannot know the pleasure of working for an audience this smart, funny, independent, and true. You know our faults and limitations and biases, and you also appreciate that we advertise them, and work our asses off (with your prodding) to transcend them. It's an honesty of exchange almost unheard of in modern media.

And so I can honestly say to you: Bro, we're short. As I prepare to hit "publish," with the sands running out of the hourglass, the Webathon stands at nearly $150,000 from 1,010 donors. Let's start out this morning by quickly zooming through 2014's count of 1,178 total donors, and then recalibrate in a couple of hours as we gird our loins for the Telethon. Come on, dudes and dudettes, let's make the magic happen! And prepare to hit us with anything at all, beginning at noon ET on Facebook Live.

DONATE TO REASON, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

Comments

[SIV]

NO BUCK$ 4 CUCKS !

[SugarFree]

Your donation can host retarded shills like this for just pennies a day.

[John Titor]

His money is splattered with chicken blood anyway.

[SugarFree]

Do chickens have hymens?

[UnCivilServant]

You have to ask?

Chickens don't have genetalia. their "copulation" is mere contact between cloacae.

[Lord Humungus]

go on...

[UnCivilServant]

I only remember that much because I found it funny that one of the myriad names for a rooster is used to refer to a body part he does not have.

[SugarFree]

I was just wondering where all the blood was coming from, you don't have to be a dick about it.

[UnCivilServant]

Well you see, when you try to re-enact something from the internet using a real animal, there's bound to be some injuries...

[(((Renegade)))]

Please avoid the 4-letter words on Reason.com. It makes it difficult for me to recommend to friends.

Fuck you, get new friends.

[UnCivilServant]

All of my friends are more profanity prone than I am.

I honestly don't get the type of person to whom a word can have that severe a reaction in of itself. (As in more than none and not directly targetting some aspect of their own being by an expert)

[Robert]

16) For redesigning the magazine so purty-like

Dammit, the last time you did that, you made it much less legible, as if you wanted to exclude the bifocals crowd from your readership! Form follows fx, dammit!!

[Sir Hunter Killer Greymouth I]

"you wanted to exclude the bifocals crowd from your readership! "

They do. Just look at the content, it proves it.

That said, I can't blame them, their main readers, crotchety old white engineers, isn't a growth market.

[John Titor]

A great presidential candidate, and Gary Johnson. I KEED, I KEED.

Search your feelings, you know it to be true.

It gets better...if you butter

Is KMW watching too many Marlon Brando movies?

[Fist of Etiquette]

If Reason reaches its target I pledge that I will never ever again post an AM or PM Links firstie. For a whole month.

[UnCivilServant]

You only say that because you know the odds are you won't have to do anything.

[Rhywun]

I can only guess that Carey or Gillette will swoop in at the last minute with a fat check. I seem to recall it looking hopeless on the last day every year.

[truthy]

But you're the only one that cares about that.

[Fist of Etiquette]

So when I renege, no one will notice.

[truthy]

And if you don't.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Everyone notices. I'm kind of a big deal.

[Groovus Maximus]

Denial, The Angry Prostate, is the big deal here, Fist of Delusion. You're just his conveyance.

[WTF]

How about replace Dalmia, Chapman, and Richman with some libertarian writers?

[Lord Humungus]

Crazy talk!

[MarkLastname]

Or just replace them with an edit button.

[Azathoth!!]

I was waiting for number 17--'Because we didn't succumb to TDS'. But we're not going to get that one, are we?

The 5-Step Process for Playing Defense Against Trump's Bad Ideas

Why Trump's War on the Media Matters

Donald Trump Is a Greater Threat to Free Speech Than the Campus Left

Trump's Problem with Free Speech

nope....................

[SugarFree]

There used to be a time when we had to wonder if someone was actually retarded. Now we just have to wait for them to accuse someone of "TDS" and we have proof.

[Bill Dalasio]

Meh, sometimes people, including some of the writers here, do go overboard on the Trump hate. Saying the fact that he's mean to a largely hostile press is a threat to the republic kind of wades into that territory. As does suggesting that he's worse than the people actually imposing speech codes and destroying people's lives because they don't like something they may have suggested because he wants to push an idiotic expansion of libel laws.

I've no doubt there's going to be plenty to have a big problem with the Trump administration over. He's already trying to pick winners and losers and threatening punitive tariffs. But reflexively concluding Trump = bad only serves to make the actual legitimate criticisms look like mindless sniping.

[R C Dean]

Pretty much. Most of the TDS accusations were basically quality control, as in "Trump is such an easy target, there's no need to twist what he says or apply your obvious double standard. Don't do that."

My disappoint in Reason's election coverage was that they joined the DemOp echo chamber media, frantically joining the Hot Take o' the Day, which I could get anywhere, rather than distinguishing themselves with actual, you know, research and reporting, which was desperately hard to come by.

[Zeb]

I think you are right in your criticism of the election coverage.

But, in KMW's intro to the January issue, she talks about H&R being Reason's take on the 24 hour new cycle, and the magazine is for the research and reporting. Which I think describes it pretty well, and isn't a completely terrible thing. Some people seem to expect the blog to have the same kind of content as the magazine, which doesn't make much sense.
They could have done better during the election campaign, but you can't expect lots of deep reporting in most blog posts. That's not what they are for.

[DesigNate]

I have felt they deserve a lot of the same criticism, but that actually makes a lot of sense Zeb.

Oh shit, I just agreed with another libertarian! Doesn't that summon Cthulhu or something?

[MarkLastname]

Quick, call him a fag or something, before it's too late!

[Groovus Maximus]

Counselor, please check your inbox.

[Eman]

Indeed. Its kinda baffling how many people can admit it was a mistake to jump to conclusions about Trump WHILE DOING EXACTLY THE SAME THING. I imagine he'll be somewhere in the area of average as a president. And I thought the idea was that the worst person in the country could be president and wouldn't have the power to do any damage.

[Rhywun]

Meh. Now that he's prez-elect he's fair game for all of those.

[Zeb]

Yeah, they over did it for the election, but now he should be the main focus in national political coverage.

I do sort of wish that they would stop referring to Trump's election as if it were some huge disaster. I mean, it is a disaster, but so would Hillary, or any other plausible candidate, being elected. I just think it's the funniest thing that has ever happened.

[Zeb]

99 percent of my colleagues out there just cannot know the pleasure of working for an audience this smart, funny, independent, and true.

Yeah, we fucking rule.

OK, I'll donate now.

[mipapecexi]

just before I saw the receipt that said $7527 , I accept that my mom in-law woz like actualey making money in there spare time from there pretty old laptop. . there aunt had bean doing this for less than twentey months and at present cleared the depts on there appartment and bourt a great new Citro?n 2CV . look here....... Clik This Link inYour Browser

===========================> http://www.homejobs7.com

[You ARE a Prog (MJG)]

I guess I shoulda said some nice things in my note... but I do love appreciate y'all! Good luck.

[Krabappel]

ALRIGHT ALREADY I guess I won't wait until the last possible second. I've donated every year since 2012 and itemized deductions so some percentage of my donation is a federal subsidy - congratulations you welfare queens!

[hamilton]

THAT ISN'T LOBSTER GIRL YOU COCKTAIL-SIPPING LIBERAL MEXICANS.

[Matt Welch]

You think we're the only ones singing for our supper around here?

[DesigNate]

Yes. And I expect you, Nick, and KMW to enter a no holds barred cage match to prove your worthiness.

[dchang0]

The lame "but all your friends are doing it" headline doesn't work on libertarians.

[BigT]

OK, already. I made a small but significant donation.

Now, please change that damned orange highlight for something else. It completely sucks when I read this site on my iPhone.

And please, keep to Trump's actions, not his tweets.

Would you like to have a President who tells you what is on his mind all the time? Or would you like one of those sneaky bastards like Obama, Hillary, and Nixon?

Trump's tweets are a godsend - they tell you a lot about his frame of mind. Just don't think they reflect policy suggestions. The crafting of policy will be delegated, like he has always done.

[Josh J]

Is this why we haven't heard much from Gary Johnson recently?
https://goo.gl/MSpQOa