NR’s Fall 2019 Webathon enters its final days, short some $47,749 of our aspiring and stretching $325,000 goal, which – given our true needs, could have been $500,000 (and then some). Will you help us close in on our target? These folks have, and along with their generosity have tossed some hosannahs our way:

Michael from San Antonio hits us with a $100 and, unlike Alfie, doesn’t wonder what’s it all about. He knows: “Where else can I go to be amused, enlightened, and enraged, in 20 minutes, often by the exact same writer? Like faith, conservatism must be constantly scrutinized, polished, tested, and improved to survive. NRO does the job; thanks.” Amen brother, and we thank you.

Julie from Huron, S.D., sends a sweet $200 and takes us down memory lane: “I was privileged to hear WFB Jr. speak on two occasions. Both events cemented my commitment to a conservative view of this life. National Review carries on the good fight. You simply must win this elemental battle for speech.” We will with you alongside us Julie. Many thanks.

carries on the good fight. You simply must win this elemental battle for speech.” We will with you alongside us Julie. Many thanks. Allen from North Carver, Mass., cracks open the piggy bank to send us $125, and a short novella: “All right . . . enough, already! No mas! I surrender! Buckley ‘guilted’ me for years . . . and Jack Fowler, and someone whose name I can’t recall . . . but you guys (especially KJL) have taken it to a new level. Like it says on my tattered NRO t-shirt: ‘resistance is futile’! Homeschooling six kids on a single income I finally had to drop my NR print subscription ― gornischt helfen ― you guys corralled me as an online subscriber! There isn’t a dime to spare with one kid in college, and another starting every 2-3 years for the foreseeable future . . . they eat like longshoremen, wreck cars with abandon (and apologetic grins), and waste heat and electricity as though someone else was paying for it ― ecce futura nostro! Of course I’m doing it as much for myself as for them ― I do believe that WFB may have saved my soul by introducing me to the Latin Mass, and NR(O) saves my sanity daily ― but the younger generation is starting to “get it” and I owe it to them ― and to you guys ― to do what I can to make sure there is still an NR(O) there when they ― like me ― start to ask those questions that our benighted culture cannot answer in any sane or useful fashion. Forward!” This post may lead to an EWTN reality show Allen, so it is money well spent. Thanks.

Kirby from Seattle, yeah, that Kirby, sends a C note and talks about NR’s lifelong influence: “The contribution NR has made in my life is incalculable. Hard to believe that I’ve been reading NR since high school, 51 years ago. Time passes, people change, nations fall and rise, but there stands NR as the standard for the truths and principles of conservatism and the Founding. Writers and thinkers and columnists come and go but the truth never dies and NR persists as a vehicle for it. God bless you all, and the United States of America. Pro Deo et Patria.” And pro Kirbster!

God bless them. Now: See those stamps above? Over the decades our postage has regularly boasted, essentially as a nation, about free speech, a free press, religious freedom, liberty, their champions, and the First Amendment. But all that is under attack right now, courtesy of the lawsuit National Review v. Mann. Get the 411 on the case here, and know that we are still counting on the Supreme Court, which has yet to rule on our cert petition, to take up this terribly important case. If SCOTUS doesn’t, we head towards a trial in the liberal District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and if you think that our speech rights – they’re yours too – won’t be severely tested and maybe even harmed in that venue, well, the time has come for you to face some troubling realities.


Back to those stamps, which boast: “FREEDOM TO SPEAK OUT. A ROOT OF DEMOCRACY.” Yeah, and it just may get uprooted. Notice the cancel stripes on the image – I find them symbolic of what a losing National Review v. Mann outcome might mean for a cherished principle.


So NR fights this fight. For us, for you, for America. That is part of the reason we seek your support. We want you alongside us, and we don’t believe that is too big an ask, nor do we shortchange the expectation that engaged conservatives will take notice and action on behalf of an unalienable right. Especially if you’ve yet to ever respond to one of our biannual webathon appeals, please do so now, before we pull up the drawbridge on Sunday, November 10th. Donate here. If your preference is to send a check, make one payable to “National Review” and mail it to National Review, ATTN: 2019 Fall Webathon, 19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701, New York, NY 10036. Many thanks.