A writer for The Guardian recently read the entire 900+/- pages of Project 2025, rather than relying on what she called “snippets.” What she found was even more appalling than the various excerpts most of us have seen.
Basically, the Project lays out a road to theocracy.
The document repeatedly characterizes America as a country poisoned by “wokeness.” And it proposes, as an antidote to “wokeness,” remaking the government in accord with a fundamentalist version of Christianity.
Across multiple agencies, it would make access to abortion infinitely more difficult. It would change the name of the federal health and human services department to the “Department of Life”. It would criminalize pornography. There would be mass deportations and curtailments of legal immigration programs, including Daca. It would dismantle the Department of Education.
Throughout the manifesto, authors also recommend ways to increase funding for religious organizations by giving them more access to government programs – largely through increased use of school vouchers that could go to religious schools or by modifying programs like Small Business Administration loans to make religious groups eligible for funding.
In some parts, the project takes a more explicit Christian worldview. In the chapter about the Department of Labor, the manifesto suggests a communal day of rest for society because “God ordained the Sabbath as a day of rest”. One way to enforce this idea would be for Congress to require paid time-and-a-half for anyone who works on Sundays, which the project calls the default day of Sabbath “except for employers with a sincere religious observance of a Sabbath at a different time”.
In nearly all chapters, there is a mention of driving out any forces that seek to increase diversity in the federal government. And whenever LGBTQ+ rights are mentioned, it is to say there should be fewer of them.
Heritage might just as well have named Project 2025 “Project Christian Nationalism.” The document doesn’t stop with the enumeration of goals, either–it outlines the practical steps that would enable a Trump Administration to reach those goals.
Achieving the goal of “Christianizing” America would be the task of loyalists who would replace civil servants–as has been reported, Project 2025 advocates reclassifying thousands of federal jobs as “political” rather than non-partisan, in order to replace the civil servants who are currently doing those jobs with Trump loyalists.
The effort would also require taking control of the census.
The census helps decide how federal resources should be allocated to communities, but, for our purposes here, it’s most relevant that census data is used to decide how to divvy up seats in the US House and make electoral maps during decennial redistricting done by states. The census can alter the balance of power in statehouses and in Congress.
Given its influence, the project suggests an incoming conservative president needs to install more political appointees to the census bureau and ensure ideologically aligned career employees are “immediately put in place to execute a conservative agenda”. The next census isn’t until 2030, but plans for it are already under way.
That conservative agenda includes adding a citizenship question, something Trump tried to do for the 2020 census but was blocked by the US supreme court. The project says “any successful conservative Administration must include a citizenship question in the census.”
The project also suggests reviewing and possibly curtailing plans to broaden the race and ethnicity categories because “there are concerns among conservatives that the data under Biden Administration proposals could be skewed to bolster progressive political agendas.”
There is much more, of course, but the quoted material is enough to raise the hair on the back of my neck, and probably the necks of most rational Americans.
Those of us tempted to dismiss Project 2025 as a theocratic fever dream unlikely to be realized even in a Trump administration need to understand that the people committed to imposing their beliefs on the rest of us are nothing if not patient. They worked for fifty years to overturn Roe v. Wade. If Trump wins, their wait will be shorter–as the article notes, to the (very limited) extent that Trump has enumerated any policies (or would recognize one if he encountered it), they’ve aligned with those in Project 2025. Even if he loses narrowly, they will be encouraged to dig in.
Even a massive loss–a Blue Wave–will only slow them down. They will bide their time and continue trying to “return” the country to a place that existed only in their twisted imaginations. Americans who want to protect our constitutional system will need to stay perpetually alert.
As the saying goes, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
My memories of growing up in the 1950s reflect the extreme conservatism and Christian Nationalism outlined in Project 2025. By all means, stay in the closet if you are gay; you will be ostracised and otherwise not tolerated. You don’t attend church? What is the matter with you? One must follow the rules, even if they don’t make much sense, and actually promote more illicit behavior than would be true if rules were relaxed, i.e., more tolerant of normal human behavior. And I’m sure it was worse in earlier times, when the man of the house ruled with an even stronger hand and women knew their place was in the home. Equality was enjoyed among white men, certainly not everyone, not by a long shot. I’m afraid we’ve come way too far from those suffocating days of yore to ever go back. As Kamala repeats: we’re not going back. Amen to that.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. Despite Trump’s ridiculous denials about his knowledge of and involvement with Project 2025, that doesn’t actually matter. Trump doesn’t like work, and the mundane tasks of governing–the managerial tasks that populate government and make it function–are especially anathema to him. He wants only to be on camera and appear important as the PR head of the government. He’ll happily let others do the work of filling positions with project 2025 loons who will attempt to implement it. The loons will simply tell (i.e. lie to) him about how consequential and important the work is and how history will remember him well, and he’ll just eat that up. Just like with Roe v. Wade. The danger is very real.
It is a manifesto waiting in the wings for the next would-be dictator, not just for t*ump.
Who chose the term “woke” to describe the American public becoming “aware” of truths hidden behind the dog whistles and snake-oil salesmen speeches seeking donations and votes?
Semantics have played a major role in the elections as never before; “pro-life” and “unfund police” are two of the primary standards being misused and abused in recent election years. Along with the 1st and 2nd Amendments as protection from legal action being taken against the neo-GOP; which is known as the Republican party with no basis in fact to support it. Trump has managed to slander and lie using what is termed “word salad” and goes beyond anything resembling semantics to explain his huge following of the general public. His “huge faucet” use to release melting snow caps from Canada to resolve the Los Angeles drought situation speech yesterday needs to be repeated hourly to the public to show his deep decline into oblivion describing the future he has planned for us. We will never understand why so many Americans have fallen victim to this mentally unbalanced, twice impeached, with double-digit convictions in federal courts and source of Project 2025 to be our president after his first failed attempt at genocide by Pandemic.
I research on line often to remain “aware”; to do this I must be awake, “woke” is a misnomer I am opting out of.
Donald Trump has said that Project 2025 is not a statement of his policy position.
The question should be, what is?
Project ’25 is based on Christian Nationalism’s beliefs and is an example of where those beliefs logically lead regarding legislative and executive action.
Is Trump a professed Christian Nationalist?
Yes or no, Donald. You cannot have it both ways. The truth, please, not just campaign rhetoric.
The problem with a natural liar is that there is no way to know if any utterance is the truth or a lie, a promise, or just one of many unspecified possibilities.
HCR’s post today is especially pertinent to what Dr. K has laid out in this morning’s blog.
We’re living in fraught and scary times, folks, but we’re not beaten. GOTV BLUE!!
Every theocracy in history has ended in chaos. The ideologues who wrote this monstrosity have wanted this sort of thing for centuries. It’s nothing new, really. And, if enacted, it will prove once again that religion came to the rescue of sanity. Look at what Islamic fundamentalism is doing to certain parts of the world. Some form of that will happen here.
Women should be especially afraid of P -2025. Your lives will be at risk – daily. What will our version of head coverings be under these idiot-level dictates?
Oh, and these “people” have been funded by creatures like Charles Koch. Just saying …
Those theocrats have already accomplished forcing taxpayers in several states to financially support private religious schools via vouchers. I’ve no doubt school vouchers was part of their initial plan decades ago. The Koch brothers and their billionaire cohorts stated years ago the way to take over the country is to start by filling state offices with their loyal candidates – all the way down to the counties and precincts. They’ve certainly accomplished this in rural Indiana.
While the parts of their plan mentioned in today’s blog post are frightening, they don’t surprise me at all.
My question is:
As long as Newsmax and Fox spew lies 24/7 how can those of us that are sane find a way to convince the small-minded tRump loyalists to believe that Project 2025 will happen if they elect him?
Pete; Trump’s minions have carefully maintained his utterances, lies, distortions and those “word salads” since 2015 and listed them into a cognitive format and titled it “Project 2025”. The fact that Trump is denying all connection to the content is simply that he cannot remember what lie and/or irrational comment he has made for 15 minutes if someone were to ask him to repeat himself.
“As the saying goes, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” We who have remained “aware” of his utterances these past 9 years are well “aware” of his planned policy for us, even if he has forgotten.
Taking the “long view”, this would be more likely achieved by working from the bottom-up. Start with local elections, then county, then state, then national. Attention and effort now locally to stop it from getting a foothold and growing.
One more thing. The trump loyalists don’t have a clue that Vance will be running the country if trump is elected. Vance is a Project 2025 supporter and he is far more scary than even trump. I fully believe the leadership in Project 2025′ supporting orgs chose Vance as trump’s VP. Trump will do whatever they want him to because they’ve most likely been paying his legal bills and he is in debt to them. There is no such thing as a free lunch even for people like trump
Bill – that has already happened in states like Indiana. See my 8:31 comment.
There were lots of great comments this morning. For those of you catching on to the term woke, I still resent Webster’s for redefining it to mean African American slang. I have over a dozen books in my bookcase that reference being woke as the cure for being asleep or an automaton just motoring through life, unaware of their higher purpose. It’s a spiritual term and why Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree to meditate on the suffering in the world.
As for Nancy’s question about convincing MAGATs that Trump does support Project 2025, good luck with that idea. I’ve been doing it on social media for a while and usually get blocked. The Indiana Policy Review blocked me years ago on Twitter for pointing out their hypocrisy and lies. That was during Pence’s governorship. IPR employed Pence, and for those who mentioned the Christian Nationalist movement, they control nearly all Red States now thanks to Koch and other billionaire funders.
The cult members have denied anything negative about Trump. Every negative consequence of Trump’s doing has been twisted into victimhood. Trump is being victimized because he is “taking on the government’s elite” or “Deep State,” and they are striking back at him. All the legal woes are the Democrat’s fault. Assassination attempts are conspiracies with the Deep State to kill Trump because they don’t want him to be president.
Be prepared; the most dangerous part of these MAGATs’ plan begins as we all begin to vote in the states. I anticipate lots of tricks and games being played with how the state’s electors are chosen and winner-take-all proposals like the one in Nebraska. Stop the Steal is a “projection” of exactly what these people intend to do in October through January. They will go to any lengths to ensure Trump is the president in January.
The Supreme Six antics are now coming into focus.
“Project 2025” is too benign a title. “The Theocratic Manifesto” might be an unwelcomed reference instead.
For a deep look at the psychology of extremist right wing governance I recommend the made for TV film “Conspiracy”. Made in 2001 and staring Kenneth Branagh, the film accurately depicts the 1942 Nazi Wannasee Conference and how the German bureaucracy at that time came to agree to kill all the Jews in Europe.
If it is true that history repeats itself, we are in for a world of hurt.
Christian faith = compassion.
I shall say no more.
The secret to the power of kings was an ignorant, superstitious peasant class. The greatest tool to keep them ignorant was the Church.
@Bill Bailey: “Taking the “long view”, this would be more likely achieved by working from the bottom-up. Start with local elections, then county, then state, then national . . . . ”
This is precisely the approach being taken by Andrew Yang’s Forward Party. They think it’s too soon to try fielding a spoiler third-party presidential candidate, but they are slowly building up the lower tiers in several states, drawing from disaffected members of both our duopoly major parties. They favor rank-order voting and of course work against gerrymandering.
Theresa Bowers — one of my top five favorite movies. Shakes me to my core as it should everyone.
One thing is clear even after we block Trump from the White House. Christian Nationals are still going to be attempting to advance their twisted agenda. Voters are going to have to remain vigilant. We cannot be lazy about voting. We need to closely vet those who wish to run for a position in our government. We must teach our kids about how we safe guard our country with our votes They need to understand why it is best to keep America a free country. Civics classes need to be put back in the schools. A class on our founding fathers and how the United States was born would do nicely too. Saying the Pledge of Allegiance every morning is school. Our children should be taught about our flag. What it stands for. Why they should be proud to be Americans. Voters should all be up for the work we must do to keep our country a democracy. Even with the problems America has there are a lot people wanting to live here. We must be doing something right. I would say America is definitely worth saving.
Yes Pat. I hope every person on this blog watches this movie. If you ever asked, “How did it happen?” The movie Conspiracy answers that question.
And the antonym of “woke” is “asleep.” Exactly what the Christian (?) Nationalists want us all to be while they perpetrate their damnable manifesto on our democracy.
Living in a red state that due to gerrymandering and voter suppression methods has resulted in pseudo representation of the majority has caused much unnecessary, confusing oppression. Authoritarianism doesn’t want you to think that you have consensus in your ideas or wants. Indiana is just steps away from Magas ideal and ushering in a fundamental, authoritarian religious state under their (Magas) thumbs.
Sacerdotal politicians selling out our freedoms will not end well. Vote Blue and hold on; we have to earn our freedoms back.
Census: In 2019 or early 2020 I read that the Trump administration was trying to mess with the census. So I decided to do what I could to make the census work. I took a short term position with the U. S. Census Bureau. I was the direct supervisor for about 24 field census workers in Alaska.
(BTW, the census question about the household containing a flush toilet is a hugely important public health question is large parts of Alaska.)
That’s right: I was a Fed. Unusual position for an old hippie like me.
As a requirement for employment, I took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. Which is cool, because the census is actually in the Constitution — unlike, say, the U.S. Air Force.
The census was delayed by the COVID epidemic. That was a tough work-around: how to do door-to-door surveys during an epidemic. We got through it.
Then one day, during the height of our door-to-door operations, I looked at my computer and found that about 18 of my employees had been deactivated by somebody in the Los Angeles office. I’m supposed to be their direct supervisor. Nobody had even bothered to tell me.
This was the Trump administration trying to scuttle the census, even while the case was before SCOTUS.
The Trump administration lost at SCOTUS. (Are you tired of all the winning yet?)
Next, my supervisor (himself two levels below the staffer in Los Angeles who fired my crew) said, “OK, hire them back.”
I replied, “I didn’t fire them.”
What an incredible and totally unnecessary mess. Which pretty much sums up the Trump administration.
If he gets back in office, it will be ten times worse.