The neo-con beetles

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Ah, the age-old conundrum of what to call newly-discovered species. Two U.S. scientists, self-identified political conservatives, faced no such pained deliberations over their newly-discovered beetles. The BBC reports that the three new mold-eating beetles discovered will be called Agathidium bushi, Agathidium cheneyi and Agathidium rumsfeldi. “One of the entomologists said he admired all three men for ‘having the courage of their convictions’ and standing up for freedom and democracy.” There is no finer tribute.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate