Daily Paul Grassroots Appeal for Help

Thank you to everyone for your patience with the site, and for the exceptional Daily Paul volunteer Mod Squad who have been providing me with moral support as I struggle to get the site back up to speed and running again.

As some of you are aware, the site has been having difficulties over the past few days. I don't think there is anything sinister going on - this is a large, complex, database driven site. Sometimes things break. I am not a programmer - I know just enough to be dangerous, so when things like this happen, I rely on outside, contract-based tech support for their expertise and assistance to get things going again. Please know that I'm doing my best to return the site to functionality as soon as possible, but it is neither easy for me, nor free.

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Since we're stuck up the creek without a paddle at the moment, please allow me to share something of my experience about running the DP over the past 2-1/2 years.

It is difficult for me to imagine the world without the Daily Paul, as it is such a big part of my life. Many times I've wished that I could visit the DP the way all of you do: Just check in care free, see what interesting things are going on, post a few comments, engage in some debate, then leave until the next time.

For me, it is work: Is the site running smoothly? Is it being attacked? Has a spammer defaced the site? What kind of a flame war is under way? Does someone need to be banned? Am I being personally attacked? (On Christmas Day 2007, I tuned in to find an active forum topic titled, "Michael Nystrom is a member of the NWO!")

And then there is the email -- at least 15 per day that require some type of action or response on my part: "I can't log in...", "Can you delete this comment..." "Someone posted my phone number...", "Please check this post / comment. ... it is racist / sexist / otherwise evil", "Can you look at my video/blog/article and PLEASE please post it to the front page... THIS IS IMPORTANT!" etc.

And then there is the invisible, behind the scenes network. There are the phone calls and daily conversations with other members of the community about what is going on within the movement, developments underway, events and candidates to promote, and endless analysis as to whether the candidates and events are true grassroots events or co-opted, corporate, neocon plants...

It takes its toll, as you can imagine. These pressures remain, 24/7/365. You turn on the Daily Paul and it is like water from the faucet - always there, always on. For me, it is a full time job, and the time commitment puts an increasing strain on my personal and family life.

I can only imagine what it is like for Dr. Paul.

I am of course grateful to the advertisers on the site, but advertising brings in less than you would think. This site gets no outside funding support from corporations, foundations, angels or even the C4L. As a true grassroots creation, we're basically on our own here. Please consider that I'm a regular citizen just like you - a dude with a blog and a certain awareness and a particular set of skills that allowed me to get this website up and running in January 2007, before Dr. Paul even declared his candidacy.

And what is the Daily Paul?

People complain about the Daily Paul, of course. They say they "wouldn't invite their friends here," and that kind of misunderstanding - I must admit - hurts. Too much weird stuff, they say. Too many conspiracy theories, etc. But this is my response, as to why I run the site the way I do and why I think it is valuable:

The Daily Paul is a true grassroots community that engages in an ongoing, unmediated, running conversation about the things that are important to us. By unmediated, I mean that there is no corporate or ideological mediation between you and the 30,000 other daily visitors to the site. If you want to ask a question, get or share an opinion, or read the thoughts of the community of others like you, you have access to that at the Daily Paul.

How many others like you do you know in your own neighborhood, among your own friends? If you're like me, it is not many. On the Daily Paul, you are free to educate, speculate, and constructively criticize the world you live in, from (yes) chem trails to 911, to the Federal Reserve, the one party system, the corporate controlled media, and even the C4L.

What I try to do with this site is put Ron Paul's principles of freedom liberty, and kindness, understanding and compassion into action. You may not agree with everything everyone says on this site. You may not be into "conspiracy theories," but you don't have to be.

The point is that if we live in a free society, we can peacefully coexist with one another as we do here (for the most part) on the Daily Paul. Ron Paul, as he modestly states himself, is simply the messenger. But Ron Paul has both an explicit and an implicit message. The explicit message is the one that we're all familiar with: Liberty, economic and political freedom, and sound money. His implicit message is just as important, and is visible in the way he carries himself: Humble. Moral. Kind. Caring. Compassionate. Exercising forbearance, even with political enemies.

We can all learn something from the example that Dr. Paul sets. The kind of community I try to foster at the Daily Paul is based on his example. We can co-exist with our differences as long as we maintain a basic, human respect for one another.

At this point, I need to ask for your help. It is something I feel very uncomfortable doing, but it is necessary in order to keep this site going. The economy has hit me as hard as anyone. Previously I was able to subsidise the site as what I considered a public service. Because of the financial situation, I'm no longer in a position to do this.

If you value the site, what I ask is .50 cents per day - less than the cost of the daily newspaper or a cup of coffee - to keep the Daily Paul going. This works out to about $15 per month. Another main theme of the Daily Paul - working on the open source concept - is that many of us doing a little can add up to a lot.

If you are hesitant, the question to ask yourself is: How else will you be able to maintain access to this tremendous community? When TSHTF, who's opinion will you want most? Which site will you turn to?

Please help keep this very unique site going with a $15 monthly donation (50 cents per day)!

$15

If you can afford to contribute more, or less ($5 or $10 options also available) please see the donation page (www.dailypaul.com/donate).

Thank you all for your continued support.

Michael Nystrom
Editor