What a great week for the DU fund drive... The site keeps crashing and the Democrats caved!

[Skinner]

There's a headline that hopefully will get everyone's attention. I'm only half joking.

First of all, I want to thank all of our monthly subscribers and everyone who has already donated this fund drive. Thanks to all of you, we're halfway to our goal.

This fund drive is going a little slower than usual (not alarmingly so, but slower nonetheless). This seems to be a typical pattern during the second quarter -- I suspect it is either because lots of people donate during the popular first-quarter "valentine hearts" fund drive, or else because everyone is out enjoying the spring rather than hanging out on DU. Or else it might have something to do with the fact that I am apparently -- to borrow a phrase from a particularly colorful private message I received this week (I swear to you this is absolutely true) -- "a cowardly party-line goose-stepping little shit." Another satisfied customer!

But seriously.

I understand that people are disappointed in the Democratic leadership in Congress right now, and I suspect that donating to anything with the word "Democratic" in the name is not at the top of your list.

Furthermore, stability and performance on this website have both been downright annoying as of late. Thanks to a number of configuration changes and upgrades, the site is a lot faster and more stable than it was a few weeks back when we were limping along on "Level 1" even in the middle of the night, but it is still not working as well as you all deserve. We have a plan in place to identify once-and-for-all the remaining problems, and get them all sorted out in a timely manner.

But despite these temporary frustrations, I hope you will take a moment to reflect on how much Democratic Underground means to you, and how important it is to nurture and support independent media in a time when the mainstream media have completely abandoned their responsibilities to anyone other than their corporate paymasters.

There really is no other community on the Internet quite like Democratic Underground. Yes, it's crazy sometimes (okay - most of the time) but where else can you find such an active and diverse group of smart, funny, and above all passionate progressives?

Please take a moment to donate right now. It only takes a second. Just click this link to get started:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/donate.html

Thank you so much for your support.

David Allen
Democratic Underground Administrator