The National Review Spring Webathon approaches its end. Our goal is to raise $264,000.
As of 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14, we have raised $218,000.
I shouldn’t say “we have raised.” The fact is, some thousands of you have donated. You have made the selfless effort to see that this cause that is National Review — and let’s face it, NR is indeed a cause — persists, with strength, vigor, and resolve, in order to fight the Left, in order to preserve freedoms, in order to protect unalienable rights that seem increasingly alien to multiculturalists, Social Justice Warriors, and liberal misfits.
Like moneybags George Soros. Who is, oddly, our Webathon’s inspiration.
A few months back, the Washington Times reported that, from 2010 to 2014, Soros gave $264 million to groups that participated in the nasty 2017 Women’s March on Washington and the associated “Day without a Woman” stunt earlier this decade. Imagine how much more he gave to other leftist groups . . . and for a longer period.
Makes you wonder — can’t the millions of fans who come to NRO every month help us raise one thousandth of this one slice of Soros depravity?
I say, yes. So, we’re counting on that help, and for three specific reasons. The $264,000 we hope to raise will help NR with the following:
1. Funding our sorely needed website rebuild (the price tag for that is over $500,000);
2. Helping defray the legal costs in the long-running Mann v. National Review suit, which is the most important free-speech case now (slowly!) winding through America’s court system; and
3. Supporting the hiring (more sore needing) of a new editor. Hey, we publish a lot of free copy every day, consumed by millions monthly.
But — it’s not free, is it? Nope. The fact is (and you know it), that all this primo conservative commentary, analysis, and reporting costs a heck of a lot. Which is why we seek your help.
Why you? Well, we have no sugar daddies. Never did, come to think of it. And someone misplaced the bag of pixie dust, and the winning Powerball ticket. So we have to turn to someone.
And why not you, since I am confident that down deep you really want to help NR? My rationale: You indeed think the world to be a better place for NRO’s existing and publishing the terrific line-up of conservative writers who grace the home page and the Corner daily.
We hope to raise another $46,000 through this weekend. While we thank (very much!) all who gave to date, I ask all who have yet to help to now . . . help. And I direct this request especially at those who are always, always, always on NRO. You have to believe (and you do) that this thing of Bill Buckley’s is really a cause, a vital one at that, an imperative one at that, which surely costs a ton to keep going, day in and out (and, surely, it does!) — and that it deserves your financial support.
Let me put it this way, even to the tightwads among our readership: Can you really not spare a sawbuck for goodness?
Of course you can. Please do that (more if you can) on NRO, right here. If you prefer to help by check, then please make yours payable to “National Review” and mail it to National Review, ATTN: Webathon, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016. And if you prefer PayPal, you can donate here.
Whether we are atop the battlements or in the foxhole in this fight against the left — and this is indeed a fight, a fight for our freedoms, for our unalienable rights (which are now so wrong to the misfits who enjoy the largesse of Soros and follow the teachings of Alinsky) — we hope, when we look to our right, to find ourselves positioned alongside you.
And here’s a thought, and maybe a pretty fitting one for the next few days ahead: Was NR important to your late dad? A lot of people tell us that. If so, consider making a contribution (again, right here) in his memory.
— Jack Fowler is the vice president of National Review.