“Project 2025 will not be ‘stopped,’” Kevin Roberts, the President of the Heritage Foundation said. Of the Democrats fighting Project 2025, he said they are “more than welcome to try. We will not give up and we will win.” The context was the launch of a task force by House Democrats, designed to push back against the Republican agenda.
I have been reading sections of Project 2025. It is a slog. I am overwhelmed by the amount of propaganda, vitriol and lies. The double speak when planning diabolical actions and making them seem banal is pure evil. Nonetheless it is worth going through. I am marking sections and using them as quotes in various comments forums.
My deepest thanks to Ms. Vance for taking this on.
The Center for American Progress (CAP) is running a series on 'Project 25' which CAP describes as a 'Series on exposing the far-right assault on America'.
I just signed up for CAP's email updates.
6/26 Wednesday Morning: SCOTUS Opinions drop in about 40 minutes. I'm on SCOTUSblog LIVE now. Just got 5 minute Buzzer. WOW only 1 Box of Opinions!
Opinion #!: Murfy vs. Misourro 6-3 by Justice Barrett. Alito, Thomas & Gorsuch Dissent.
5 Social Media Users (anti-social media users) and 2 States have no standing to seek relief from the government. My opinion: No decision is a good decision.
Opinion #2 & last Opinion Today! SNYDER vs U.S. 6-3 vote written by Justice Kavanaugh. Three dissents Justice JACKSON by joined by Justices Kagan & Sotomayor.
The case is about Federal Bribery law "gifts" & "gratuities" to local officials. Local steered a $1 Million contract & received "gift" of $13,000 which was purposely under the Tax Reporting limit as "income". A Jury actually weighed the evidence against the local & convicted SNYDER. Justice Thomas did not like that outcome.
IMPORTANT BREAKING -- SCOTUS' ERROR but, Bloomberg Law captured the decision.
Bloomberg Law has it under Senior Editor. KIMBERLY STRAWBRIDGE ROBINSON
with their Headline: "Supreme Court Poisedto ALLOW Emergency Abortions""
The Court's Publishing Unit mistakenly posted the U.S. vs. IDAHO near final decision. This the case where an Idaho pregnant woman miscarried & nearly died while suffering as Idaho doctor's refused to provide Emergency Medical care.
You may recall the fetus was stillborn. The female patient can no longer have a child.
But, SCOTUS is going to punt. The Court will rule (future tense) that CERT was "improvidently granted". The official decision may come Thursday or Friday.
You may recall that my state, California, has a program to offer medically safe assistance and/or support to IDAHO women & their families. California also has an express Right of Privacy in the CA State Constitution, Article 1, Section 7. There may be other lawful options but, I am not aware of the options in the State of Washington or Oregon.
Thank you for recommending the CAP series/resource, Bryan. Would you know if they’re considered to be non-partisan by Fox media (I refuse to call it ‘news’) adherents? I’m asking because my FIL, a ‘traditional’ Republican, was appalled to hear me describe Project 2025’s unitary executive theory and the plan to dismantle much of our civil service in favor of political appointments. He wants a ‘Reader’s Digest’ version and I’m struggling to find a resource that he won’t feel is biased. Thank you!
P.s. just putting this out there - someone needs to come up with a catchy phrase to raise awareness of the intent behind P2025!
As a Trial Attorney, I sometimes had at least 6 "audiences" in the Courtroom at one time, judge of course, 12 jurors, adversaries, colleagues & waiting client(s). I never stopped working on coomunication. On P25, I will be checking out CAP & Professor Vance's chops.
My brother & I have referred to the former president as "Wreck" since 2017. & other folks instantly understand. I may try "Project Wreck".
How about "The Prequel to George Orwell's 1984"? That's what I used when I posted excerpts from Joyce's newsletter today urging people to read the parts of P2025 that interest them and discuss with conservative and liberals alike.
My experience too. I have been trying to get through it since March, and it is making my brain blow apart in so many ways. I do not understand how this can be possible under the US Constitution. but I believe that they will find a way if we do not do everything we can to stop it.
Exactly. Also, this Project to hijack the American Enlightenment Experiment and replace democratic rule of law political and social structures with a centralised Christofascist autocracy has been slowly enacted state by state since the Reagan administration.
Reading, absorbing and comprehending their most recent Christofascist manifesto, Project 25, is only the first step in a long war of attrition to gain back already lost civil rights and the legislative bodies MAGA ‘own’.
Reader, you are right that we need to stop it. The Trumpers and Trumpettes have no clue what their toddler-man plans to do except they think it will be to do harm to the people they don't like. They don't realize that they will also be the targets because so many of the proposals will do harm to everyone who is not rich, white, pseudo-christian, and male. That's the vast majority of the American people. We keep forgetting rich white pseudo-christian men are a small minority even though they don't want us to think of them that way. We had better be thinking of them that way.
We WILL do everything to stop it. This will be our energizer bunny. This will break through the wall of disenagement. We will turn their own sword back on them.
I am so encouraged by the dialogue Joyce's post has generated. I can feel the energy. It's palpable. Yes!!!!!
I have read bits and pieces of Project 2025. It is a political horror "novel." The deportation of immigrants would devastate NC's economy. Agriculture, meat processing, construction, landscaping employ thousands of people just in eastern NC, where I live. Yes, such a mass deportation would be a disaster of many magnitudes. Project 2025 is not conservative; it is radical. As long as the far right controls the Republican faction, they will continue to try to push this crap. They are trying to steal the country from everyone else. Fascism nearly destroyed the world in the 1930's and 1940's.
Texas would collapse, literally. In every state, agriculture and the service sector would implode. There are millions of people, taxpayers, who would no longer be contributing to the system that supports everything from insurance to banking to consumer spending. This would create a third world economy and we would be vulnerable to military takeover by our enemies.
They plan on throwing the Constitution out. From what I can understand the plan is to dismantle Democracy and the Federal Government and install an Authoritarian President. I am excited for Ms. Vance's educating us on this document.
I too wonder how legal all of these solutions are that are proposed in the document? Is there any way to squeeze sedition out of the Project 2025 conclusions?
I spent the last 2 hours reading much of Section 2 and I am not sure how I will be able to sleep tonight! It’s so full of vitriol and pure evil, I need to vomit. It’s going to take all of us fighting for humanity! And I fear it will be a battle we will need to stay engaged in for the remainder of our lives.
I am excited that she is taking this on too. I mentioned it to my Democrats Abroad Germany group and we will be talking about doing a book club with the text too.
Me too. Slog barely scratches the surface. I spent a couple of hours going through 10 pages on immigration. There were so many undefined terms I actually had my browser's AI searcher open next to it. One point was claiming the HORROR of "administrative closure" of immigration cases, as if that meant the cases were being ignored and folks just being released without any control. In fact, "closure" just means a pause in active proceedings to let the claimant gather more info for a facially plausible asylum claim. It can be just a postponement of such a case due to the inadequate funding of the courts. Or it can represent a status that does NOT lead to a possibility of a green card. I have a friend who overstayed a visa but after much deliberation was allowed to stay till his American born kids reached 18. His case is "closed" but not dismissed. When they do get to 18, he will have to leave.
So it is in fact a "policy stance" based on misinformation at best; a known lie more probable.
Not just this election. We need to fight like our lives depend on it in EVERY election. They aren’t giving up, so we can’t ever assume we defeated them.
I tried engaging in some civil discourse with my friend who I grew up with. I’m talking about a 60 year friendship. While I believe that she is a republican, she and her husband are not MAGA. “I’m not going to talk about politics or religion.”
These are exactly the people who need to read Project 2025, but they won’t.
You might suggest that it would be to her benefit to read Project 2025 as an informed voter.
Hitler surprised a lot of people. But it was too late.
Russia was a democracy when Putin took over. He surprised a lot of people too. He has arranged it so the money goes to the oligarchs including himself. It’s like the mafia. Trump admires him and he also wants to cater to the very wealthy.
Maybe show her Joyce’s newsletter. Why wouldn’t she want to know what he intends to do?
Marlo, that may be a way to get some people to see what is going on. Pick out a few sections that really spell out the horrors Trump and Kump are planning and if possible underline those parts before you send it on to folks. Ask what they think. Ask how they think they will get through that particular action, like getting rid of immigrants who do so much of the work around this nation. Ask if they will be willing to go pick tomatoes or other crops or to clean hotel rooms or some of the other jobs that will need to be filled if the immigrants are gone. Maybe Baby Donnie and his friends will pick up people off the street and force them into slave labor camps to make them/us do the work. Who would stop them? Our Supreme Court conservatives don't care about our rights and regularly demonstrate that and with Baby Donnie on the throne, with his dementia and inability to complete thoughts, his crazy handlers like the Steves and a few others will make up things to give Baby ?Donnie to sign as "executive orders" and who can challenge them if Trump/the Steves own the military, law enforcement, and anyone who would stand for the rule of law?
I’ve sent her copies of Joyce’s newsletters, and also posts from Robert Reich, Dan Rather, and Thom Hartmann. She ghosted me for a few weeks. I called her, and she replied, again: “I do not discuss politics and religion.”
I do that with the media and my nail guy who is Vietnamese. I was trying to educate him (he is for Trump because he said he used to have more customers & gas was cheaper).
My sister married a man from Mexico. I have a niece and nephew who voted for trump, even after all his rhetoric about the Mexicans being rapists and criminals. My sister died 30 years ago, I have absolutely nothing to do with either of her adult children, and she would NOT be happy with them. Trump has divided my family, and it breaks my heart.
I have decided I am more at peace not having friends who would support Trump. There are, however Republicans who will not vote for Trump, but if they don’t vote for Biden, it could hurt Biden and help Trump,
You are absolutely correct, Marlo. However, I am 69 years old, I’ve already lost friends and family because of their ignorant beliefs. I’d like to believe that my friend will vote for Biden. We were both sent home from school in third grade the day that JFK was killed. We lived next door to each other. Our moms were both crying while watching Walter Cronkite on the news. I know for a fact that her family were democrats.
I am so sad for you Songgirl Kim. I am 68 and my best friend since I was 13 is the same, only she supports Trump. We have fallen out, and hardly talk at all.
Also my sister says “I won’t talk about politics, or I don’t want to hear about it”.
It is so very devastating. This is the girl who I rode bikes with, we played jump rope, we laughed, we watched the Monkees, we swam together, we stood up in each other’s weddings, our parents were best friends. We laughed at silly jokes. It is not easy losing a friend like that.
If you were to give her the url for the Project 2025 site and ask her to read any section (or suggest a section), not so you could talk about it, but so she could see for herself what is planned, would she refuse? I’m sorry about your friendship, it’s heartbreaking to lose such important ties, especially as we get older. That’s a lot of history
We need 'influencers' of all kinds, people of faith, celebrities whom your friends might listen to, and more to reach them and all the others who are too busy, or struggling, or hopeless.
Ok. I was thinking about others who are just getting by, and don't have the bandwidth to think about politics and our future. They are in survival mode.
Bruce is a great idea, I saw his concert in April ❣️
That’s just how I feel. When I discuss Project 2025, often the response I get is, “ Oh, that will never happen. Congress won’t allow it!” It makes me sick!!
"Not to put too fine of a point on it, but coming this late in the administration, the order could only be read as an effort to make sure Trump, in his next term (which thankfully didn’t materialize), could swiftly dispose of career employees he believed weren’t loyal to him."
We dodged a bullet. Unfortunately, we must do it again.
I fear "they" are hard at work, preparing to replace Trump, who is faltering badly. They will probably help pick a VP on standby to replace the orange menace immediately or after the election.
I am glad it’s not just me. I’ve been arguing that the Crypt Keepers know that the clumsy bombast and questionable intellect of Trump is more of a liability than not.
@Concerned Citizen My first website was 1ConcernedCitizen.com. My current one is listed in my profile. There are solutions being persued and gaining momentum.
Our biggest fear, among many serious ones, is how Trump and his minions could irreparably corrupt and diminish the DOJ and the FBI. If our most senior level experts are suddenly made eligible for firing or actually fired, our law enforcement will be taken over by the junior varsity. Their loyalty, by job description, will be to Trump, not the Constitution. If we think it can't happen to us in the US because we have persevered for 250 years, you're naive. One thing to remember - the Trump family is in its DNA, most comfortable in a kleptocracy. Think "Godfather"
Congress, you say? More accurate to ask "Which members of Congress?" and work to replace those who are trying to dismantle democracy. The grassroots orgs I am involved with are working hard to elect people who will work to preserve democracy and the rights of We the People. We are focusing on supporting those Congress people who are already doing that, and working hard on races where we have a chance to replace those who are only after their own interests. Please join us.
True. I am referring to mainly the House but most Republican Senators as well (honestly, which Senators break rank in there at all these days--not even Romney dares break from the pack). In short, Republicans that continue to walk in lockstep.
I don't see any Republican 'moderates' protesting these extreme bills that Mike Johnson keeps bringing forward.
So the best way to do that is to work on getting voters out in close districts so we can support Dems and replace Republicans who are vulnerable. Let's focus our energies on that rather than wasting breath pointing out the obvious.
I work a bit in every election in my purple state, have done door to door canvassing for years. Got started when my husband suggested driving down to North Carolina to do door to door with our child, to show how Democracy works--that was for Obama, first time we had ever seen ground game organizing (it was very well done and exciting to see so many young people driving the local canvassing outfits). Here, we finally tipped our state legislature after decades of Republican dominance and now we have a wonderful Democratic candidate running for governor, someone I canvassed for in one of the deepest reddest city neighborhoods 6 years ago when she ran for the Congressional seat. I noted back then that her lame and mediocre male opponent was not well appreciated. It amused me as guy after guy opened their door, listened patiently and politely to my pitch, then told me resignedly that their wives/daughters/mothers were all voting for the female Democratic candidate, cancelling out their vote. But every single man was still voting for the guy who they all admitted (without me asking) was a pretty dim bulb. Our candidate had just wiped the floor with him in a debate. Her organization was populated with lots of young smart kids. She won in a squeaker, and that was the very first time I had hope Democrats would finally turn this state. If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere; we just have to run good candidates. And Democrats need to expect to fail a lot, and be ready to try again and again.
Do I call you "Systematic" or Curiosity? Right now I think "Systematic" but what a delightful combination of words for your screen name! This is a wonderful story- thanks so much for sharing it. You tell it well, and it's a perfect story for where we are right now, Yes, we need to be willing to risk failure, and get up and keep going. Your story is a perfect example of why- and that we CAN succeed. This is a jump up and down and wiggle around kind of story. I love it.
Well….. not all of Congress. Mostly the seditious Freedom Caucus. Just look at the membership. Then look at who squawks the loudest and with the least truth. You’ll soon find Comer, Jordan, MTG, and it doesn’t get better.
That's what made the nazis rise to power so smooth. Local law enforcement became the group that rounded up all the undesirables. They were never prosecuted after WW2 and just returned to their old jobs after being complicit in the murder of millions of people.
Chilling. This has the stench of the Stasi which was designed to maintain ultimate authority over the people, over the state, over everyday
life. Via the Stasi society works with recordings, files, lists, and people informants. Espionage on one another. Eventually people have no trust in anyone. You report on your neighbors, your family, your most beloved. No one can speak without fear. This is where Trump wants to go.
Yes indeed and Putin was a KGB agent working inside the Stasi to keep his eyes on those not so loyal. After the Wall came down, it was strange how many ranking Stasi fell to death off their apartment balconies. Read Putin's People (2020) by Catherine Belton, it's that and so much more. Assiduously researched and written, it is fascinating and makes one's skin crawl with fear of the possible. Trump is just a hibernating puppet that Putin is working to reactivate.
I have seen that film. It is a very good film, but I saw it when it was history for another country. Now I'm not so sure I would like to see it in light of the USA. I pray the voters rebuke Trump in November.
No, I have not seen it. Like Ebert mentions, I seem to be among those who never have heard of it. Looks really good. I've been an Ebert fan for decades so I respect the discernment in his ratings. The **** rating was not handed out too often. Thanks for the tip, I will track it down and watch it.
This has been in the works for a long time. It is mind boggling and scary. Trump wants “his” executive branch to rule everything. Civil servants would have to take an oath of loyalty. Project 2025 wants to eliminate DOJ, FBI, FCC , FTC,DEA,EPA as independent agencies and have them all under presidential control. Trump’s crazy talk about immigration will become the law of the land. This isn’t a passing news story. We need to believe what is being said. The more informed we are the better.
Another is the Department of Education. As a retired teacher who taught almost four decades and who has read parts of this, every educator should be scared out of his/her mind. Everyone should make this piece of c___ a summer read, even if you do a little each day.
Actually, I think the people at Heritage Foundation have now conceived the time is right for their kakistocratic and christofascist constituents and backers to have their wishes chrystallized in publication, taking advantage of the Maga cult. But, first things first. We defeat the Maga cult. And then we squash the people behind Project 2025.
Actually, this may be our salvation. To break through the public malaise about self-governance. About appreciating what Democracy means. This comment thread has rejuvenated my own enthusiasm. And now back to my "Why I Vote" letters for Vote Forward. If anybody else, here, reads Daily Kos, I feel "Yosefied" to the 9th. Up and at 'em, dear people. We. Can. Do. This.
I bet Trump never reads it. It'll be way too much for him to read or absorb. So the logical follow-on question is which of his advisors like Stephen Miller and Michael Flynn and Steve Bannon will be his whisperer? Who will be the ones telling what it says and what he ought to do? My bet is that with whisperers like these three plus Gym Jordan and Leonard Leo, we should all be scared, very scared.
Thankfully, Joyce is responding to Project 2025 in much the same way as Churchill reacted to Mein Kampf: "...there was no book which deserved more careful study from the rulers, political and military, of the Allied Powers. All was there—the programme of German resurrection, the technique of party propaganda; the plan for combating Marxism; the concept of a National-Socialist State; the rightful position of Germany at the summit of the world. Here was the new Koran of faith and war: turgid, verbose, shapeless, but pregnant with its message." (From The Gathering Storm by Churchill)
I read through the Table of Contents and started reading the section on the Civil Service (I'm a retired Fed) and the same analogy immediately popped into my mind. Thank you for finding the Churchill quote. If the same twisted doublespeak that I read in just the beginning of that one section pervades the entire document, then the analogy is even more appropriate.
Like you, my wife is a retired Fed (Congress, Pelosi's staff). Unlike you, I got out early. However, I started at the Civil Service Commission HQs in 1970 and once knew many of its rules and regs, the history of them too. Even drafted a couple. My wife started at GSA HQs and saw how it ran.
I don't think I have the heart to read 25 or even that chapter. Maybe I'll still talk on this.
Indeed we are. Just read the first paragraph in the "Analysis and Comments" section of Chapter 3 and you'll see what I mean (Starts at the bottom of P. 70 and goes over to 71). "Twisted doublespeak" is my being kind.
Worthwhile to watch the movie ‘A Day Without Mexicans.’ People apparently have no idea how important immigrants are to our economy and our lives. Not just food and construction, but also medical care in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, as well as child care. Not to mention how important diversity is in our society. People need to really consider how they will be affected personally. How their family and friends will be affected. If you can’t convince people how morally wrong all this is, appeal to their personal needs/wants and how these changes will change their lives.
All of the skilled nursing facilities, post-surgery rehab facilities and home healthcare agencies in my state are staffed primarily by immigrants, most but not all documented.
A glance at the table of contents made me quickly realize that the architects of this written insurrection want to completely take over the government. I’m going to do my part to veto it by voting for Joe Biden and Democrats up and down the ballot. I invite you to join me.
I’m glad you are delving into Project 2025. The bottom line - the implementation of Project 2025 will remake our entire government and country into a Christofascist theocracy. Anyone who fights back will end up in a ‘retraining’ camp or disappear.
It was available online farther back than last autumn. I printed it at home several years ago - it wasn’t readily available but could be found with a bit of digging and it was already labeled Project 2025. The background for it began before trump was put in the White House by Russia with McConnell’s help.
Oops - I hit save/send before finishing. Here’s the rest of what I intended to write:
Several groups of far right evangelicals and conservatives wrote a paper (about 45 pages long) on how to “fix” America. I printed that out each year for 3 years, starting around 2014-2015. Each new edition was a few chapters longer. I’ve no doubt Project 2025 came from these beginnings.
I paid attention to this out of personal interest because I was raised in a highly misogynistic, hate and fear based evilangelical cult. Plus, I served in the US Army and while I took my responsibility to defend our rights - even free speech for those I was raised by - quite seriously I could not abide the idea that one group would force my country to live by their disgusting, warped, hateful beliefs. Sadly, I’ve had to watch America get closer and closer to it happening.
Hopefully your work here - and whatever the rest of us can do as well - will help spread awareness of what is in store for all of us if trump is put back in the White House.
With apologies if this has already been dealt with (late joiner): As a practical matter, given the length of the document and the lateness of the hour re: the election, it might make sense for Joyce to crowdsource this analysis concurrently with leading us through the document. Why? So that individual readers with expertise in a particular area can provide a summary of what the Project Death to America 2025 report says about certain topics quickly and accurately.
For example, I am an atmospheric sciences professor and I've already read pp. 674-677 about the gutting of NOAA, including the very important National Weather Service and the NOAA weather satellites. I could give everyone a 1-2 paragraph summary of what's in those pages in no time... and that would be 0.32% of the document down, 99.68% to go.
This is how college students deal with review sheets for tests these days; it's less effective for cramming for an exam, though, than for creating a kind of Cliff Notes reference summary/critique of this mammoth document, not unlike trying to break down hundreds of pages in a college textbook. Just a thought.
I think this is a great idea. Bringing our subject matter experts in to address discrete portions of this piece of shit document. After all, Hitler’s Mein Kampf was originally 782 pages and almost nobody bothered to read that either. I’m all in favor of an abridged version.
Priority 1: Get out the vote for Biden this fall AND support candidates for Congress that will work for democracy. Winning the election and making sure that the Congress is a functioning one. That will give us the time to analyze and combat Project 2025. Right now centering Project 2025 at the grassroots level would simply divert our energies and attention away from what is most important.
It also would not be surprising to me if groups that do investigative deep-dives (The Brennan Center comes to mind) were already doing the kind of thing you're suggesting.
True. Progressives book-study themselves to death. I just thought that Joyce was headed in this direction, but more slowly. The idea was to do a quick condensation and move on.
The biggest thing that is of serious concern with the election is the thought, and a very strong one at that, that trump Maga team, along with their "lawyers" and those we now will "bend" on the S.C. are already laying the groundwork for him to win the election.
I have been reading sections of Project 2025. It is a slog. I am overwhelmed by the amount of propaganda, vitriol and lies. The double speak when planning diabolical actions and making them seem banal is pure evil. Nonetheless it is worth going through. I am marking sections and using them as quotes in various comments forums.
My deepest thanks to Ms. Vance for taking this on.
The Center for American Progress (CAP) is running a series on 'Project 25' which CAP describes as a 'Series on exposing the far-right assault on America'.
I just signed up for CAP's email updates.
6/26 Wednesday Morning: SCOTUS Opinions drop in about 40 minutes. I'm on SCOTUSblog LIVE now. Just got 5 minute Buzzer. WOW only 1 Box of Opinions!
Opinion #!: Murfy vs. Misourro 6-3 by Justice Barrett. Alito, Thomas & Gorsuch Dissent.
5 Social Media Users (anti-social media users) and 2 States have no standing to seek relief from the government. My opinion: No decision is a good decision.
Opinion #2 & last Opinion Today! SNYDER vs U.S. 6-3 vote written by Justice Kavanaugh. Three dissents Justice JACKSON by joined by Justices Kagan & Sotomayor.
The case is about Federal Bribery law "gifts" & "gratuities" to local officials. Local steered a $1 Million contract & received "gift" of $13,000 which was purposely under the Tax Reporting limit as "income". A Jury actually weighed the evidence against the local & convicted SNYDER. Justice Thomas did not like that outcome.
IMPORTANT BREAKING -- SCOTUS' ERROR but, Bloomberg Law captured the decision.
Bloomberg Law has it under Senior Editor. KIMBERLY STRAWBRIDGE ROBINSON
with their Headline: "Supreme Court Poisedto ALLOW Emergency Abortions""
The Court's Publishing Unit mistakenly posted the U.S. vs. IDAHO near final decision. This the case where an Idaho pregnant woman miscarried & nearly died while suffering as Idaho doctor's refused to provide Emergency Medical care.
You may recall the fetus was stillborn. The female patient can no longer have a child.
But, SCOTUS is going to punt. The Court will rule (future tense) that CERT was "improvidently granted". The official decision may come Thursday or Friday.
You may recall that my state, California, has a program to offer medically safe assistance and/or support to IDAHO women & their families. California also has an express Right of Privacy in the CA State Constitution, Article 1, Section 7. There may be other lawful options but, I am not aware of the options in the State of Washington or Oregon.
Thanks so much for your tip about Center for American Progress.
Thank you for recommending the CAP series/resource, Bryan. Would you know if they’re considered to be non-partisan by Fox media (I refuse to call it ‘news’) adherents? I’m asking because my FIL, a ‘traditional’ Republican, was appalled to hear me describe Project 2025’s unitary executive theory and the plan to dismantle much of our civil service in favor of political appointments. He wants a ‘Reader’s Digest’ version and I’m struggling to find a resource that he won’t feel is biased. Thank you!
P.s. just putting this out there - someone needs to come up with a catchy phrase to raise awareness of the intent behind P2025!
Project 25 will bury us alive. ALL of U.S.
Bury Project 25 Stay Alive
Truer words never spoken.
I have been searching for a summary (or Reader's Digest version) as well!
As a Trial Attorney, I sometimes had at least 6 "audiences" in the Courtroom at one time, judge of course, 12 jurors, adversaries, colleagues & waiting client(s). I never stopped working on coomunication. On P25, I will be checking out CAP & Professor Vance's chops.
My brother & I have referred to the former president as "Wreck" since 2017. & other folks instantly understand. I may try "Project Wreck".
How about "The Prequel to George Orwell's 1984"? That's what I used when I posted excerpts from Joyce's newsletter today urging people to read the parts of P2025 that interest them and discuss with conservative and liberals alike.
I just did too. This is invaluable. Thanks
Thank you! I just signed up.
I've always heard of CAP but thought it was some right-wing nut bags.
GLAD for the clarification. Signed up for notifications.
My experience too. I have been trying to get through it since March, and it is making my brain blow apart in so many ways. I do not understand how this can be possible under the US Constitution. but I believe that they will find a way if we do not do everything we can to stop it.
As an example, when the first Hitler took over Germany, they passed laws that made everything else Nazis did, legal.
So it starts with the courts.
The plan will be to win the war before the fighting starts.
Exactly. Also, this Project to hijack the American Enlightenment Experiment and replace democratic rule of law political and social structures with a centralised Christofascist autocracy has been slowly enacted state by state since the Reagan administration.
Reading, absorbing and comprehending their most recent Christofascist manifesto, Project 25, is only the first step in a long war of attrition to gain back already lost civil rights and the legislative bodies MAGA ‘own’.
Reader, you are right that we need to stop it. The Trumpers and Trumpettes have no clue what their toddler-man plans to do except they think it will be to do harm to the people they don't like. They don't realize that they will also be the targets because so many of the proposals will do harm to everyone who is not rich, white, pseudo-christian, and male. That's the vast majority of the American people. We keep forgetting rich white pseudo-christian men are a small minority even though they don't want us to think of them that way. We had better be thinking of them that way.
Exactamente!
We WILL do everything to stop it. This will be our energizer bunny. This will break through the wall of disenagement. We will turn their own sword back on them.
I am so encouraged by the dialogue Joyce's post has generated. I can feel the energy. It's palpable. Yes!!!!!
I have read bits and pieces of Project 2025. It is a political horror "novel." The deportation of immigrants would devastate NC's economy. Agriculture, meat processing, construction, landscaping employ thousands of people just in eastern NC, where I live. Yes, such a mass deportation would be a disaster of many magnitudes. Project 2025 is not conservative; it is radical. As long as the far right controls the Republican faction, they will continue to try to push this crap. They are trying to steal the country from everyone else. Fascism nearly destroyed the world in the 1930's and 1940's.
Texas would collapse, literally. In every state, agriculture and the service sector would implode. There are millions of people, taxpayers, who would no longer be contributing to the system that supports everything from insurance to banking to consumer spending. This would create a third world economy and we would be vulnerable to military takeover by our enemies.
They plan on throwing the Constitution out. From what I can understand the plan is to dismantle Democracy and the Federal Government and install an Authoritarian President. I am excited for Ms. Vance's educating us on this document.
I too wonder how legal all of these solutions are that are proposed in the document? Is there any way to squeeze sedition out of the Project 2025 conclusions?
I noticed during the Trump reign that all it takes is to just do it. Congress is feckless and doesn't act on anything.
We no longer have a Supreme Court that treasures our Constitution. The majority have gone over to the right wing, greedy, out-for-oneself behavior.
Our only recourse is re-electing Joe Biden, and he having the backbone to declare martial law when the hammer comes down.
No worry, the Supremes will take care of the "legislation"...
Yay for you, Barbara. We can do this. Together.
Yes we can. We defeated their trojan horse No Labels Party. Now we will expose this.
I spent the last 2 hours reading much of Section 2 and I am not sure how I will be able to sleep tonight! It’s so full of vitriol and pure evil, I need to vomit. It’s going to take all of us fighting for humanity! And I fear it will be a battle we will need to stay engaged in for the remainder of our lives.
I am excited that she is taking this on too. I mentioned it to my Democrats Abroad Germany group and we will be talking about doing a book club with the text too.
Here is a condensed recap with links to explore:
https://billalstrom.substack.com/p/the-coup-is-underway-a-summation
Me too. Slog barely scratches the surface. I spent a couple of hours going through 10 pages on immigration. There were so many undefined terms I actually had my browser's AI searcher open next to it. One point was claiming the HORROR of "administrative closure" of immigration cases, as if that meant the cases were being ignored and folks just being released without any control. In fact, "closure" just means a pause in active proceedings to let the claimant gather more info for a facially plausible asylum claim. It can be just a postponement of such a case due to the inadequate funding of the courts. Or it can represent a status that does NOT lead to a possibility of a green card. I have a friend who overstayed a visa but after much deliberation was allowed to stay till his American born kids reached 18. His case is "closed" but not dismissed. When they do get to 18, he will have to leave.
So it is in fact a "policy stance" based on misinformation at best; a known lie more probable.
That a lot of people haven’t heard of Project 2025 scares the **** out of me. I don’t know a lot but I know enough…
I recently looked up Project 2025 on-line
I was horrified!!!
I read about on several different sources
Scares the **** out of me too
Should scare everyone!
Chills run down my spine when I just hear one part of it.
I agree! I feel the same
I have a plan and solution. All democrats become republicans and take over the Republican Party.
I understand, but then what happens to the Democratic Party when the republicans rush back in?
I don't want you to be scared. I want you to get mad.
I’m extremely angry! 😡
And Democrats better get out and vote
Stop this purity nonsense
The rest of know what must be done and why!
Vote straight Democratic ticket
Your very life really does depend on this very election
Not just Donald Trump
Local, state, House and Senate!
Not just this election. We need to fight like our lives depend on it in EVERY election. They aren’t giving up, so we can’t ever assume we defeated them.
Yes! It’s all Leonard Leo and he definitely won’t stop
I tried engaging in some civil discourse with my friend who I grew up with. I’m talking about a 60 year friendship. While I believe that she is a republican, she and her husband are not MAGA. “I’m not going to talk about politics or religion.”
These are exactly the people who need to read Project 2025, but they won’t.
You might suggest that it would be to her benefit to read Project 2025 as an informed voter.
Hitler surprised a lot of people. But it was too late.
Russia was a democracy when Putin took over. He surprised a lot of people too. He has arranged it so the money goes to the oligarchs including himself. It’s like the mafia. Trump admires him and he also wants to cater to the very wealthy.
Maybe show her Joyce’s newsletter. Why wouldn’t she want to know what he intends to do?
Marlo, that may be a way to get some people to see what is going on. Pick out a few sections that really spell out the horrors Trump and Kump are planning and if possible underline those parts before you send it on to folks. Ask what they think. Ask how they think they will get through that particular action, like getting rid of immigrants who do so much of the work around this nation. Ask if they will be willing to go pick tomatoes or other crops or to clean hotel rooms or some of the other jobs that will need to be filled if the immigrants are gone. Maybe Baby Donnie and his friends will pick up people off the street and force them into slave labor camps to make them/us do the work. Who would stop them? Our Supreme Court conservatives don't care about our rights and regularly demonstrate that and with Baby Donnie on the throne, with his dementia and inability to complete thoughts, his crazy handlers like the Steves and a few others will make up things to give Baby ?Donnie to sign as "executive orders" and who can challenge them if Trump/the Steves own the military, law enforcement, and anyone who would stand for the rule of law?
Just to witness how fast Russia went from democracy to autocracy should be a warning to us all.
Russia was never a true democracy. High level Party members kept their power and became rich, taking advantage of others. That's how some became the oligarchs https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2022/03/22/1087654279/how-shock-therapy-created-russian-oligarchs-and-paved-the-path-for-putin
I’ve sent her copies of Joyce’s newsletters, and also posts from Robert Reich, Dan Rather, and Thom Hartmann. She ghosted me for a few weeks. I called her, and she replied, again: “I do not discuss politics and religion.”
I do that with the media and my nail guy who is Vietnamese. I was trying to educate him (he is for Trump because he said he used to have more customers & gas was cheaper).
My sister married a man from Mexico. I have a niece and nephew who voted for trump, even after all his rhetoric about the Mexicans being rapists and criminals. My sister died 30 years ago, I have absolutely nothing to do with either of her adult children, and she would NOT be happy with them. Trump has divided my family, and it breaks my heart.
Have asked her “why not?”
I have decided I am more at peace not having friends who would support Trump. There are, however Republicans who will not vote for Trump, but if they don’t vote for Biden, it could hurt Biden and help Trump,
You are absolutely correct, Marlo. However, I am 69 years old, I’ve already lost friends and family because of their ignorant beliefs. I’d like to believe that my friend will vote for Biden. We were both sent home from school in third grade the day that JFK was killed. We lived next door to each other. Our moms were both crying while watching Walter Cronkite on the news. I know for a fact that her family were democrats.
I am so sad for you Songgirl Kim. I am 68 and my best friend since I was 13 is the same, only she supports Trump. We have fallen out, and hardly talk at all.
Also my sister says “I won’t talk about politics, or I don’t want to hear about it”.
It’s devastating on a personal level.
It is so very devastating. This is the girl who I rode bikes with, we played jump rope, we laughed, we watched the Monkees, we swam together, we stood up in each other’s weddings, our parents were best friends. We laughed at silly jokes. It is not easy losing a friend like that.
I am so sorry, and understand.
Hopefully she will watch the debate. Do you know if she is planning on it?
I have no idea. I will ask her on Friday: “what did you think of the debate last night?”
If you were to give her the url for the Project 2025 site and ask her to read any section (or suggest a section), not so you could talk about it, but so she could see for herself what is planned, would she refuse? I’m sorry about your friendship, it’s heartbreaking to lose such important ties, especially as we get older. That’s a lot of history
We need 'influencers' of all kinds, people of faith, celebrities whom your friends might listen to, and more to reach them and all the others who are too busy, or struggling, or hopeless.
She and her husband are not hopeless or suffering. If only I could get Bruce Springsteen to come by and have a chat with her and sing a few songs.
Ok. I was thinking about others who are just getting by, and don't have the bandwidth to think about politics and our future. They are in survival mode.
Bruce is a great idea, I saw his concert in April ❣️
Lucky you! My cat is named Bruce because he’s The Boss 😻
That’s just how I feel. When I discuss Project 2025, often the response I get is, “ Oh, that will never happen. Congress won’t allow it!” It makes me sick!!
Dear gods, are these people living in CAVES? Look at what Congress (AND the Courts!) have "allowed" thus far!?!
I heard that same reply this week from a double hater. Congress is letting it happen and has let it happen. Wake your sorry ass up buddy!
Willful ignorance.
"Not to put too fine of a point on it, but coming this late in the administration, the order could only be read as an effort to make sure Trump, in his next term (which thankfully didn’t materialize), could swiftly dispose of career employees he believed weren’t loyal to him."
We dodged a bullet. Unfortunately, we must do it again.
I fear "they" are hard at work, preparing to replace Trump, who is faltering badly. They will probably help pick a VP on standby to replace the orange menace immediately or after the election.
I am glad it’s not just me. I’ve been arguing that the Crypt Keepers know that the clumsy bombast and questionable intellect of Trump is more of a liability than not.
Most definitely 💯
@Maurice Check this out. https://www.veteransforallvoters.org/
looks rather ominous to me.......
@Concerned Citizen My first website was 1ConcernedCitizen.com. My current one is listed in my profile. There are solutions being persued and gaining momentum.
Our biggest fear, among many serious ones, is how Trump and his minions could irreparably corrupt and diminish the DOJ and the FBI. If our most senior level experts are suddenly made eligible for firing or actually fired, our law enforcement will be taken over by the junior varsity. Their loyalty, by job description, will be to Trump, not the Constitution. If we think it can't happen to us in the US because we have persevered for 250 years, you're naive. One thing to remember - the Trump family is in its DNA, most comfortable in a kleptocracy. Think "Godfather"
Congress is already doing all it can to defund FBI and harass DOJ.
Congress, you say? More accurate to ask "Which members of Congress?" and work to replace those who are trying to dismantle democracy. The grassroots orgs I am involved with are working hard to elect people who will work to preserve democracy and the rights of We the People. We are focusing on supporting those Congress people who are already doing that, and working hard on races where we have a chance to replace those who are only after their own interests. Please join us.
True. I am referring to mainly the House but most Republican Senators as well (honestly, which Senators break rank in there at all these days--not even Romney dares break from the pack). In short, Republicans that continue to walk in lockstep.
I don't see any Republican 'moderates' protesting these extreme bills that Mike Johnson keeps bringing forward.
So the best way to do that is to work on getting voters out in close districts so we can support Dems and replace Republicans who are vulnerable. Let's focus our energies on that rather than wasting breath pointing out the obvious.
I work a bit in every election in my purple state, have done door to door canvassing for years. Got started when my husband suggested driving down to North Carolina to do door to door with our child, to show how Democracy works--that was for Obama, first time we had ever seen ground game organizing (it was very well done and exciting to see so many young people driving the local canvassing outfits). Here, we finally tipped our state legislature after decades of Republican dominance and now we have a wonderful Democratic candidate running for governor, someone I canvassed for in one of the deepest reddest city neighborhoods 6 years ago when she ran for the Congressional seat. I noted back then that her lame and mediocre male opponent was not well appreciated. It amused me as guy after guy opened their door, listened patiently and politely to my pitch, then told me resignedly that their wives/daughters/mothers were all voting for the female Democratic candidate, cancelling out their vote. But every single man was still voting for the guy who they all admitted (without me asking) was a pretty dim bulb. Our candidate had just wiped the floor with him in a debate. Her organization was populated with lots of young smart kids. She won in a squeaker, and that was the very first time I had hope Democrats would finally turn this state. If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere; we just have to run good candidates. And Democrats need to expect to fail a lot, and be ready to try again and again.
Do I call you "Systematic" or Curiosity? Right now I think "Systematic" but what a delightful combination of words for your screen name! This is a wonderful story- thanks so much for sharing it. You tell it well, and it's a perfect story for where we are right now, Yes, we need to be willing to risk failure, and get up and keep going. Your story is a perfect example of why- and that we CAN succeed. This is a jump up and down and wiggle around kind of story. I love it.
The good ones are all retired (ing)
Well….. not all of Congress. Mostly the seditious Freedom Caucus. Just look at the membership. Then look at who squawks the loudest and with the least truth. You’ll soon find Comer, Jordan, MTG, and it doesn’t get better.
That's what made the nazis rise to power so smooth. Local law enforcement became the group that rounded up all the undesirables. They were never prosecuted after WW2 and just returned to their old jobs after being complicit in the murder of millions of people.
Shit rolls downhill.
So many ‘low information’ citizens out there. And they have the right to vote, as uninformed as they might be. Sigh.
Trump meant it when he said he loves the uneducated.
OF COURSE HE WOULD...THEY HAVE SO MUCH IN COMMON!.VOTE BLUE 🤗
Yessss!!!!!
Chilling. This has the stench of the Stasi which was designed to maintain ultimate authority over the people, over the state, over everyday
life. Via the Stasi society works with recordings, files, lists, and people informants. Espionage on one another. Eventually people have no trust in anyone. You report on your neighbors, your family, your most beloved. No one can speak without fear. This is where Trump wants to go.
Yes indeed and Putin was a KGB agent working inside the Stasi to keep his eyes on those not so loyal. After the Wall came down, it was strange how many ranking Stasi fell to death off their apartment balconies. Read Putin's People (2020) by Catherine Belton, it's that and so much more. Assiduously researched and written, it is fascinating and makes one's skin crawl with fear of the possible. Trump is just a hibernating puppet that Putin is working to reactivate.
Have you seen the German film The Lives of Others about the Stasi? Great film, https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-lives-of-others-2007-1
I have seen that film. It is a very good film, but I saw it when it was history for another country. Now I'm not so sure I would like to see it in light of the USA. I pray the voters rebuke Trump in November.
No, I have not seen it. Like Ebert mentions, I seem to be among those who never have heard of it. Looks really good. I've been an Ebert fan for decades so I respect the discernment in his ratings. The **** rating was not handed out too often. Thanks for the tip, I will track it down and watch it.
Yes. One of the most profound films I’ve ever seen.
This has been in the works for a long time. It is mind boggling and scary. Trump wants “his” executive branch to rule everything. Civil servants would have to take an oath of loyalty. Project 2025 wants to eliminate DOJ, FBI, FCC , FTC,DEA,EPA as independent agencies and have them all under presidential control. Trump’s crazy talk about immigration will become the law of the land. This isn’t a passing news story. We need to believe what is being said. The more informed we are the better.
Another is the Department of Education. As a retired teacher who taught almost four decades and who has read parts of this, every educator should be scared out of his/her mind. Everyone should make this piece of c___ a summer read, even if you do a little each day.
Yes. Absolutely . It seems Project 2025 is going to make all independent agencies be under presidential control.
Actually, I think the people at Heritage Foundation have now conceived the time is right for their kakistocratic and christofascist constituents and backers to have their wishes chrystallized in publication, taking advantage of the Maga cult. But, first things first. We defeat the Maga cult. And then we squash the people behind Project 2025.
Actually, this may be our salvation. To break through the public malaise about self-governance. About appreciating what Democracy means. This comment thread has rejuvenated my own enthusiasm. And now back to my "Why I Vote" letters for Vote Forward. If anybody else, here, reads Daily Kos, I feel "Yosefied" to the 9th. Up and at 'em, dear people. We. Can. Do. This.
To your first point, this may be also egged on by Putin himself.
Your enthusiasm is contagious!
I bet Trump never reads it. It'll be way too much for him to read or absorb. So the logical follow-on question is which of his advisors like Stephen Miller and Michael Flynn and Steve Bannon will be his whisperer? Who will be the ones telling what it says and what he ought to do? My bet is that with whisperers like these three plus Gym Jordan and Leonard Leo, we should all be scared, very scared.
I think it has been a long-term project of the Heritage Foundation, just like their take over of SCOTUS.
Yes. Leonard Leo and The Oilogarchs. New Band in town.
I'm hoping if the debate comes off that Biden addresses it. I sure as shooting don't expect the CNN monitors to do so.
Thankfully, Joyce is responding to Project 2025 in much the same way as Churchill reacted to Mein Kampf: "...there was no book which deserved more careful study from the rulers, political and military, of the Allied Powers. All was there—the programme of German resurrection, the technique of party propaganda; the plan for combating Marxism; the concept of a National-Socialist State; the rightful position of Germany at the summit of the world. Here was the new Koran of faith and war: turgid, verbose, shapeless, but pregnant with its message." (From The Gathering Storm by Churchill)
I read through the Table of Contents and started reading the section on the Civil Service (I'm a retired Fed) and the same analogy immediately popped into my mind. Thank you for finding the Churchill quote. If the same twisted doublespeak that I read in just the beginning of that one section pervades the entire document, then the analogy is even more appropriate.
Like you, my wife is a retired Fed (Congress, Pelosi's staff). Unlike you, I got out early. However, I started at the Civil Service Commission HQs in 1970 and once knew many of its rules and regs, the history of them too. Even drafted a couple. My wife started at GSA HQs and saw how it ran.
I don't think I have the heart to read 25 or even that chapter. Maybe I'll still talk on this.
You and we are in this together!!
Indeed we are. Just read the first paragraph in the "Analysis and Comments" section of Chapter 3 and you'll see what I mean (Starts at the bottom of P. 70 and goes over to 71). "Twisted doublespeak" is my being kind.
Thanks, I appreciate your note. Great minds. . .
Worthwhile to watch the movie ‘A Day Without Mexicans.’ People apparently have no idea how important immigrants are to our economy and our lives. Not just food and construction, but also medical care in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, as well as child care. Not to mention how important diversity is in our society. People need to really consider how they will be affected personally. How their family and friends will be affected. If you can’t convince people how morally wrong all this is, appeal to their personal needs/wants and how these changes will change their lives.
All of the skilled nursing facilities, post-surgery rehab facilities and home healthcare agencies in my state are staffed primarily by immigrants, most but not all documented.
And home care (caregiver) agencies.
Wonder what all the rich people will do when they lose all their household workers?
A glance at the table of contents made me quickly realize that the architects of this written insurrection want to completely take over the government. I’m going to do my part to veto it by voting for Joe Biden and Democrats up and down the ballot. I invite you to join me.
I’m glad you are delving into Project 2025. The bottom line - the implementation of Project 2025 will remake our entire government and country into a Christofascist theocracy. Anyone who fights back will end up in a ‘retraining’ camp or disappear.
It was available online farther back than last autumn. I printed it at home several years ago - it wasn’t readily available but could be found with a bit of digging and it was already labeled Project 2025. The background for it began before trump was put in the White House by Russia with McConnell’s help.
Oops - I hit save/send before finishing. Here’s the rest of what I intended to write:
Several groups of far right evangelicals and conservatives wrote a paper (about 45 pages long) on how to “fix” America. I printed that out each year for 3 years, starting around 2014-2015. Each new edition was a few chapters longer. I’ve no doubt Project 2025 came from these beginnings.
I paid attention to this out of personal interest because I was raised in a highly misogynistic, hate and fear based evilangelical cult. Plus, I served in the US Army and while I took my responsibility to defend our rights - even free speech for those I was raised by - quite seriously I could not abide the idea that one group would force my country to live by their disgusting, warped, hateful beliefs. Sadly, I’ve had to watch America get closer and closer to it happening.
Hopefully your work here - and whatever the rest of us can do as well - will help spread awareness of what is in store for all of us if trump is put back in the White House.
Enjoy your vacation while you can.....we'll still be here when you get back. :)
With apologies if this has already been dealt with (late joiner): As a practical matter, given the length of the document and the lateness of the hour re: the election, it might make sense for Joyce to crowdsource this analysis concurrently with leading us through the document. Why? So that individual readers with expertise in a particular area can provide a summary of what the Project Death to America 2025 report says about certain topics quickly and accurately.
For example, I am an atmospheric sciences professor and I've already read pp. 674-677 about the gutting of NOAA, including the very important National Weather Service and the NOAA weather satellites. I could give everyone a 1-2 paragraph summary of what's in those pages in no time... and that would be 0.32% of the document down, 99.68% to go.
This is how college students deal with review sheets for tests these days; it's less effective for cramming for an exam, though, than for creating a kind of Cliff Notes reference summary/critique of this mammoth document, not unlike trying to break down hundreds of pages in a college textbook. Just a thought.
I think this is a great idea. Bringing our subject matter experts in to address discrete portions of this piece of shit document. After all, Hitler’s Mein Kampf was originally 782 pages and almost nobody bothered to read that either. I’m all in favor of an abridged version.
We could form a study group and support each other through this.
Priority 1: Get out the vote for Biden this fall AND support candidates for Congress that will work for democracy. Winning the election and making sure that the Congress is a functioning one. That will give us the time to analyze and combat Project 2025. Right now centering Project 2025 at the grassroots level would simply divert our energies and attention away from what is most important.
It also would not be surprising to me if groups that do investigative deep-dives (The Brennan Center comes to mind) were already doing the kind of thing you're suggesting.
True. Progressives book-study themselves to death. I just thought that Joyce was headed in this direction, but more slowly. The idea was to do a quick condensation and move on.
The biggest thing that is of serious concern with the election is the thought, and a very strong one at that, that trump Maga team, along with their "lawyers" and those we now will "bend" on the S.C. are already laying the groundwork for him to win the election.
Regardless of absolutely anything.
... and don't forget the leaders of R & C.