For a long time now, I've told people that blogging kills. Because it does, although not as often as it did before Obamacare. (Steve Gilliard, Jim Capozzola, Melanie Mattson.) (And twelve years ago, I tried to get various progressive orgs to kick in for blogger health emergencies, but no dice.)

Any one of us here at C&L could make a lot more money going corporate, but this blog is a labor of love. (And masochism, apparently.) Those of us at Crooks deeply love our democratic republic, we get furious when politicians try to undermine it, and we do our best to sound the alarm when they're up to no good -- hence, the name of the blog.

Perhaps coincidentally, most of us also have serious health issues, and there's no way you'll convince me that the constant stress of covering this stuff, especially since Trump bulldozed his way into our lives, has nothing to do with it. Just sayin'!

But it's all worth it if you take our hard work seriously. And one of the ways you show us you take it seriously is to make a contribution, especially with the monthly donations. Because $5 a month from 100 people really helps.

If you're in a position to do so, we'd be thrilled. And if you simply can't afford it, we understand. But most people can probably afford $5. So how about it, gang?