WATCH: The 12 Days of WikiLeaks (Cartoon)

On the first day of Christmas, WikiLeaks gave to me…

Illustrations: Zina Saunders

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Mother Jones illustrator Zina Saunders creates editorial animations riffing on the political news and current events of the week. In this week’s animation, she illustrates 12 of WikiLeaks’ most extravagant gifts to reporters, from Julian Assange rap videos to documents about Iranian ninja assassins. (See below for lyrics linked to WikiLeaks-related stories.) And since you ask: Yes, that is Saunders singing.—The Editors

On the first day of Xmas, WikiLeaks gave to me:
A [redacted] in a [redacted] tree.

On the second day of Xmas, WikiLeaks gave to me:
Two maids a-suing
and
A [redacted] in a [redacted] tree.

On the third day of Xmas, WikiLeaks gave to me:
Three Gitmo manuals
Two maids a-suing
and a [redacted] in a [redacted] tree.

On the fourth day of Xmas, WikiLeaks gave to me:
Four “secret” cables
Three Gitmo manuals
Two maids a-suing
and a [redacted] in a [redacted] tree.

On the fifth day of Xmas, WikiLeaks gave to me:
FIVE PALIN EMAILS

On the sixth day of Xmas, WikiLeaks gave to me:
Six sheikhs a-fuming

On the seventh day of Xmas, WikiLeaks gave to me:
Seven spooks a-sighing

On the eighth day of Xmas, WikiLeaks gave to me:
Eight Iranian ninjas

On the ninth day of Xmas, WikiLeaks gave to me:
Nine drunken Kazakhs

On the tenth day of Xmas, WikiLeaks gave to me:
Ten climate changers

On the eleventh day of Xmas, WikiLeaks gave to me:
Eleven Assanges rapping

(and the finale)

On the twelfth day of Xmas, WikiLeaks gave to me:
Twelve treason charges
Eleven Assanges rapping
Ten climate changers
Nine drunken Kazakhs
Eight Iranian ninjas
Seven spooks a-sighing
Six sheikhs a-fuming
FIVE PALIN EMAILSSS
Four “secret” cables
Three Gitmo manuals
Two maids a-suing
and
A [redacted] in a [redacted] tree.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We can’t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

Because the in-depth journalism on underreported beats and unique perspectives on the daily news you turn to Mother Jones for is only possible because readers fund us. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism we exist to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we need readers to show up for us big time—again.

Getting just 10 percent of the people who care enough about our work to be reading this blurb to part with a few bucks would be utterly transformative for us, and that's very much what we need to keep charging hard in this financially uncertain, high-stakes year.

If you can right now, please support the journalism you get from Mother Jones with a donation at whatever amount works for you. And please do it now, before you move on to whatever you're about to do next and think maybe you'll get to it later, because every gift matters and we really need to see a strong response if we're going to raise the $253,000 we need in less than three weeks.

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