I am still stunned by the video I saw several times yesterday of Kevin Roberts threats to those who don’t comply to his dictates. I no longer subscribe to any corporate media so I’m only guessing that the biased media did not cover this.
Wake up, America before it’s too late. You are not going to like living in the his Project 2025 aka Christian Nationalist dystopian world. Neither are your children or any other descendants.
Marie, would you please share the Kevin Roberts link. I found one that was inaccessible and others that were old. I found one of Trump greeting and praising him (and he later said he didn't know him).
Thanks, Ann! Your link is definitely a great starting point. The presenter gives a very general overview of Project 2025 and its four policy issues in less than five minutes. The issues that Marie alluded to, that "stunned" her, are in the details, needing many more than a five-minute overview. The Project 2025 document is more than 900 pages long, so there is a lot to absorb. I am glad to see that some of the mainstream media are beginning to cover it and I hope to hear lots more. It's amazing to hear Trump claim that he doesn't know Kevin Roberts and that he distances himself from Project 2025.
I think people like Joyce Vance who can break down legal consequences into understandable language & experts on how fascism works are very helpful. Still a lot for people to absorb.
Eventually it will need to be distilled into a few talking points that constituency groups will recognize and care about. Then repeated and repeated. Maybe a starting point is the “four main aims” with an example of how each are not as lovely as they sound but will hurt Americans.
“…restoring the family as the centerpiece of American life; dismantling the administrative state; defending the nation's sovereignty and borders; and securing God-given individual rights to live freely.”
The threatening quote Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation Project 2025 was proudly saying. I couldn’t find the video yet but he clearly threatens violence.
“We are in the midst of a second American Revolution that will be bloodless if the left allows it to be”.
That was the short version. You probably couldn’t go to the link to the original comment because of a paywall? At any rate, Media Matters has it. Should be accessible & it has a transcript below the video. (My browser won’t allow access to Bannon’s podcast which is probably a good thing)
I understand that since that interview he has put stuff on “X” (maybe elsewhere) talking about what he calls “the violent history of the left” harkening back to the George Floyd protests. Obviously intended to justify his original comment that didn’t go so well & to heighten the fear factor, on “both sides.” These *@XI*&$ would love nothing more than to suppress the vote with fear.
There are lots of us out here, from young women to old crones like me, who are hollering to the world to stop the retrograde direction of this country. We never thought Roe could be overturned. And now Chevron deference. With thoughts of Sinclair Lewis, IT CAN HAPPEN HERE!
Steven I don’t understand? A man of Trumps scruples and dishonest nature disavows project 2025, a threat to our rights designed by members of his inner circle and the media is focused on Bidens poor performance at the debate? They clearly do not care enough to focus their viewers and listeners on to a legitimate threat. So few are sounding out just how dangerous things are getting. It should not only be blogs and late night comedians sounding the alarms. Where are the big networks and why are they refusing to engage?
I believe it has a lot to do with who owns & manages the news & social media today. It's why so many credible excellent journalists and investigative reporters have gone independent on their own podcasts and substack channels. Of the major news networks, all have Trump supporting & donating CEOs including ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, NBC, NYT, WSJ, & WaPo. Similarly distribution networks throughout red states are owned by far right Sinclair's. Then let's not even begin to harp on where Zuckerberg (FB, Instagram,...) & Musk (X) sit on wanting lower taxes while sshowing contempt for their own users. They're all in for Trump. The fools don't realize a dictator has no use for a independent press & social media. Just state servants to his hate and greed.
The fourth column is as corrupt and power grabbing as Trump w the market power to change perceived reality among enough low info voters to destroy our democracy. They've been effective at underreporting Trump's sociopathic cruel personality, failed first term and hate for America as a democracy & most Americans as demonstrated for decades, the dystopian backwards country he envisions & what the MAGA SCOTUS have already done to make Trump unaccountable for trying to overthrow our form of government while helping him implement Project 2025.
We can't submit to Trump and the Republicans. I won't. I agree w Timothy Snyder, never willingly submit. We already are leaving our kids & theirs a screwed up planet & vastly unequal wealth distribution. Would we force them to live under a cruel dictatorship as well? I refuse to submit to their immoral greed and power grab.
These corporations are run by extremely wealthy men who see Biden’s tax increases for them as a threat to their way of life. Their life is extravagance as opposed to ours. They see girls and women as subservients, not their equals.
Maureen Dowd roasted Biden for his campaign reaching out regarding the “goodest” or “good as” thing. He (the campaign person) asked that she note the change interviewing network had made. In her snarky attack she made an interesting comment. The journalists who cover the WH are being criticized for basically not doing their due diligence. Now they will double down.
Comer wants the Biden’s physician to ‘answer questions’ about his ‘independence.’ Maybe they should interview Ronnie (Johnson) Jackson on that topic.
I have some news for them, American women don't scare or submit like they fantasize we do! I'm encouraged by election results in Europe - Le Pen's National (russian) Party defeated in France as well as the Conservative Party defeat in the UK.
Me Too! Wake up and smell the vitriol in the shadows and in the written words of people who interpret the hidden meanings! Being brave isn't new to most women but it will take all of us bucking the norm to succeed in the coming days. VOTE like your life depends on it because it does!
Replace “Biden’s age” with “Hillary’s emails”. Same media messaging to kill the Dem nominee. Is it true most owners of both print and TV media are billionaire Trump supporters? We are being manipulated with a false sense of journalistic values. The owners of media all want Trump. Sinclair owns so many TV and Radio stations as an example. We dont know who is behind the news and it is mainly MAGAs
No adverse coverage of TFG and many of his larger campaign donors are also contributing to RFK Jr for areas where it may hurt Biden most. Not a good combination.
The French and British elections have given me renewed hope. We will certainly NOT capitulate in advance. I am spending time reading Project 2025 and encourage all to do so. Don’t let the 900-pages stop you. Read as much as you can in order to be informed. We have to spread the word to others about what it says. Much of the media has failed us, perhaps because they are afraid to be shut down if Trump ascends. So we have to join forces, link arms and walk into this battle armed with information and resolve. We will NOT let Trump or Trumpism take over this country!
Gandhi also said tyrants may seem invincible for a time but they always fail. He said: think of it always. This brings to mind the Women’s March the day after Trump was inaugurated. Those women and the men who love
them set the stage of the resistance. We are in the resistance like Vichy France in WW2. We are all in it today on this Substack. Trump’s term was marked by every day citizens protesting him every day. His term ended in the worst of covid that was state murder of one million people that he dumped on Joe Biden along with a wrecked economy. Joe had already done for eight bailing out the country of the mortgage lending crisis that W dumped with Iraq and Afghanistan. We responded with the largest protest in American history for George Floyd with our black brothers and sisters and Trump tear gassed peaceful protesters and wanted the national guard to shoot them. We resisted the ripping away of children from 4000 families including nursing infants who were treated like animals we resisted that loudly. Homeland Security was dismantled. Then with masks on 81.2 million of us voted him out and these pathetic white men mistakenly think we will obey in advance.
Great post. Thanks for quoting Douglass. His words are so instructive right now.
One criticism, where you write "Pushing Christianity in our public schools and government."
What you should have said is "Pushing their warped interpretation of Christianity in our public schools and government." As someone who grew up a devout Christian (Catholic), what they define as "Christianity" in no way resembles what I was taught and learned about Christ's teachings. In fact, they reflect the hypocrisy of the religious elites that Christ railed against and who used faith as nothing more than a source of power and control over others. Just this morning, I read a reflection of Pope John Paul II in which he quoted the Second Vatican Council as saying "the Church in no way must be confused with the political community, nor bound to any political system."
Yes, the alert religious leaders who are not willing to corrupt their faith for power & control of others realize the power that makes a religion the favorite of government today can decide otherwise tomorrow. Our forefathers brought the idea of state sponsored religion with them from Europe. Our Founding Fathers were convinced to reject it.
We're not like Germans. Americans don't follow rules; we are an ornery, brave group who won't allow a gang of scoundrels to wreck our country, even if the Supreme Court is already compromised. Remember the young protestors against Trump at the beginning of his time in office? Even during Covid, they kept protesting. Remember the shadow National Park Service employees who publicized the destructive activities of Trump's civil service workers? They kept bad things from happening.
Keep involved in following what your legislator does. All of the actions of Hitler were foreshadowed in the legislation passed in the prior decade, so these German actions were technically legal.
I will resist their threats and lies. I have the power and final say. Join me on November 5th and crush their vial attempt to destroy American Democracy.
I had been feeling overwhelmed by the news of the last few weeks - overwhelmed by the increasing probability that Project 2025 will become a reality. But there is reason to feel hope - I signed up to write postcards to voters in swing states this morning. Thank you, Steven, for another thought-provoking, inspiring column.
Thank you for amplifying those critical voices. Project 2025 is starting to get attention now that people recognize it is a real threat. I'm not bothered by the Biden challenges only because they have an expiration date of the Democratic convention. No expiration on us pushing back on Project 2025, working for the Democratic nominee, and fighting for freedom and the planet.
I have also been feeling down about the news and the pressure to oust President Joe Biden has made me heartsick!! I gave up on CNN a while ago and have recently been saddened by MSNBC and some reporters I valued: Dan Rather’s Substack, Steve Schmidt, Dana Milano, even E. J. Dionne, not to mention the New York Times!!
I have taken a break from media and am reading 📖 Substack essays from historians and lawyers-Heather Cox Richardson, Richard Hubble and Joyce Vance!!
Meidas Touch Network has stood for Joe Biden as have “we the people” the voters!!
“We” need to stand firm “you shall not pass”
We need to stick with the fight and see it through!! Think of the Ukraine 🇺🇦 and the people and how hard they are fighting!!
I am still stunned by the video I saw several times yesterday of Kevin Roberts threats to those who don’t comply to his dictates. I no longer subscribe to any corporate media so I’m only guessing that the biased media did not cover this.
Wake up, America before it’s too late. You are not going to like living in the his Project 2025 aka Christian Nationalist dystopian world. Neither are your children or any other descendants.
Marie, would you please share the Kevin Roberts link. I found one that was inaccessible and others that were old. I found one of Trump greeting and praising him (and he later said he didn't know him).
Maybe this one will work. It’s CNN and they go through the key points of P2025 after the clip of Roberts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FznbfmZ0JZE
Thanks, Ann! Your link is definitely a great starting point. The presenter gives a very general overview of Project 2025 and its four policy issues in less than five minutes. The issues that Marie alluded to, that "stunned" her, are in the details, needing many more than a five-minute overview. The Project 2025 document is more than 900 pages long, so there is a lot to absorb. I am glad to see that some of the mainstream media are beginning to cover it and I hope to hear lots more. It's amazing to hear Trump claim that he doesn't know Kevin Roberts and that he distances himself from Project 2025.
Good deal. And yes, I see it getting more coverage. Ironically after DJT said he didn’t know about it the reporting kicked up a couple notches.
I found this link later. More context in the video clip with a transcript. Not 900 pages worth.
https://www.mediamatters.org/project-2025/heritage-foundation-president-celebrates-supreme-court-immunity-decision-we-are
I think people like Joyce Vance who can break down legal consequences into understandable language & experts on how fascism works are very helpful. Still a lot for people to absorb.
Eventually it will need to be distilled into a few talking points that constituency groups will recognize and care about. Then repeated and repeated. Maybe a starting point is the “four main aims” with an example of how each are not as lovely as they sound but will hurt Americans.
“…restoring the family as the centerpiece of American life; dismantling the administrative state; defending the nation's sovereignty and borders; and securing God-given individual rights to live freely.”
I will try ASAP. Not so techy.
The threatening quote Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation Project 2025 was proudly saying. I couldn’t find the video yet but he clearly threatens violence.
“We are in the midst of a second American Revolution that will be bloodless if the left allows it to be”.
That was the short version. You probably couldn’t go to the link to the original comment because of a paywall? At any rate, Media Matters has it. Should be accessible & it has a transcript below the video. (My browser won’t allow access to Bannon’s podcast which is probably a good thing)
I understand that since that interview he has put stuff on “X” (maybe elsewhere) talking about what he calls “the violent history of the left” harkening back to the George Floyd protests. Obviously intended to justify his original comment that didn’t go so well & to heighten the fear factor, on “both sides.” These *@XI*&$ would love nothing more than to suppress the vote with fear.
https://www.mediamatters.org/project-2025/heritage-foundation-president-celebrates-supreme-court-immunity-decision-we-are
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win“ - Gandhi. They’re now at the fighting part… #vote
There are lots of us out here, from young women to old crones like me, who are hollering to the world to stop the retrograde direction of this country. We never thought Roe could be overturned. And now Chevron deference. With thoughts of Sinclair Lewis, IT CAN HAPPEN HERE!
Steven I don’t understand? A man of Trumps scruples and dishonest nature disavows project 2025, a threat to our rights designed by members of his inner circle and the media is focused on Bidens poor performance at the debate? They clearly do not care enough to focus their viewers and listeners on to a legitimate threat. So few are sounding out just how dangerous things are getting. It should not only be blogs and late night comedians sounding the alarms. Where are the big networks and why are they refusing to engage?
Because the big media outlets are owned by wealthy white men.
I believe it has a lot to do with who owns & manages the news & social media today. It's why so many credible excellent journalists and investigative reporters have gone independent on their own podcasts and substack channels. Of the major news networks, all have Trump supporting & donating CEOs including ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, NBC, NYT, WSJ, & WaPo. Similarly distribution networks throughout red states are owned by far right Sinclair's. Then let's not even begin to harp on where Zuckerberg (FB, Instagram,...) & Musk (X) sit on wanting lower taxes while sshowing contempt for their own users. They're all in for Trump. The fools don't realize a dictator has no use for a independent press & social media. Just state servants to his hate and greed.
The fourth column is as corrupt and power grabbing as Trump w the market power to change perceived reality among enough low info voters to destroy our democracy. They've been effective at underreporting Trump's sociopathic cruel personality, failed first term and hate for America as a democracy & most Americans as demonstrated for decades, the dystopian backwards country he envisions & what the MAGA SCOTUS have already done to make Trump unaccountable for trying to overthrow our form of government while helping him implement Project 2025.
We can't submit to Trump and the Republicans. I won't. I agree w Timothy Snyder, never willingly submit. We already are leaving our kids & theirs a screwed up planet & vastly unequal wealth distribution. Would we force them to live under a cruel dictatorship as well? I refuse to submit to their immoral greed and power grab.
These corporations are run by extremely wealthy men who see Biden’s tax increases for them as a threat to their way of life. Their life is extravagance as opposed to ours. They see girls and women as subservients, not their equals.
Maureen Dowd roasted Biden for his campaign reaching out regarding the “goodest” or “good as” thing. He (the campaign person) asked that she note the change interviewing network had made. In her snarky attack she made an interesting comment. The journalists who cover the WH are being criticized for basically not doing their due diligence. Now they will double down.
Comer wants the Biden’s physician to ‘answer questions’ about his ‘independence.’ Maybe they should interview Ronnie (Johnson) Jackson on that topic.
I have some news for them, American women don't scare or submit like they fantasize we do! I'm encouraged by election results in Europe - Le Pen's National (russian) Party defeated in France as well as the Conservative Party defeat in the UK.
Me Too! Wake up and smell the vitriol in the shadows and in the written words of people who interpret the hidden meanings! Being brave isn't new to most women but it will take all of us bucking the norm to succeed in the coming days. VOTE like your life depends on it because it does!
Replace “Biden’s age” with “Hillary’s emails”. Same media messaging to kill the Dem nominee. Is it true most owners of both print and TV media are billionaire Trump supporters? We are being manipulated with a false sense of journalistic values. The owners of media all want Trump. Sinclair owns so many TV and Radio stations as an example. We dont know who is behind the news and it is mainly MAGAs
Remember “swift boating”?
Support your PUBLIC RADIO and PUBLIC TV stations!
Always!
No adverse coverage of TFG and many of his larger campaign donors are also contributing to RFK Jr for areas where it may hurt Biden most. Not a good combination.
The media's Anti-Biden noise isn't an accident:
⁃ CNN: CEO Trump donor
⁃ ABC: CEO Trump donor
⁃ CBS: CEO Trump donor
⁃ NBC: CEO Trump donor
⁃ MSNBC: CEO Trump donor
⁃ Washington Post: owner Jeff Bezo
⁃ Wall Street Journal: Owner: Rupert Murdoch
⁃ New York Times: CEO Trump donor.
Does this answer your question?
We will NOT comply - BIGLY!!
The French and British elections have given me renewed hope. We will certainly NOT capitulate in advance. I am spending time reading Project 2025 and encourage all to do so. Don’t let the 900-pages stop you. Read as much as you can in order to be informed. We have to spread the word to others about what it says. Much of the media has failed us, perhaps because they are afraid to be shut down if Trump ascends. So we have to join forces, link arms and walk into this battle armed with information and resolve. We will NOT let Trump or Trumpism take over this country!
Gandhi also said tyrants may seem invincible for a time but they always fail. He said: think of it always. This brings to mind the Women’s March the day after Trump was inaugurated. Those women and the men who love
them set the stage of the resistance. We are in the resistance like Vichy France in WW2. We are all in it today on this Substack. Trump’s term was marked by every day citizens protesting him every day. His term ended in the worst of covid that was state murder of one million people that he dumped on Joe Biden along with a wrecked economy. Joe had already done for eight bailing out the country of the mortgage lending crisis that W dumped with Iraq and Afghanistan. We responded with the largest protest in American history for George Floyd with our black brothers and sisters and Trump tear gassed peaceful protesters and wanted the national guard to shoot them. We resisted the ripping away of children from 4000 families including nursing infants who were treated like animals we resisted that loudly. Homeland Security was dismantled. Then with masks on 81.2 million of us voted him out and these pathetic white men mistakenly think we will obey in advance.
Great post. Thanks for quoting Douglass. His words are so instructive right now.
One criticism, where you write "Pushing Christianity in our public schools and government."
What you should have said is "Pushing their warped interpretation of Christianity in our public schools and government." As someone who grew up a devout Christian (Catholic), what they define as "Christianity" in no way resembles what I was taught and learned about Christ's teachings. In fact, they reflect the hypocrisy of the religious elites that Christ railed against and who used faith as nothing more than a source of power and control over others. Just this morning, I read a reflection of Pope John Paul II in which he quoted the Second Vatican Council as saying "the Church in no way must be confused with the political community, nor bound to any political system."
Good catch. Happy to revise it.
Yes, the alert religious leaders who are not willing to corrupt their faith for power & control of others realize the power that makes a religion the favorite of government today can decide otherwise tomorrow. Our forefathers brought the idea of state sponsored religion with them from Europe. Our Founding Fathers were convinced to reject it.
We're not like Germans. Americans don't follow rules; we are an ornery, brave group who won't allow a gang of scoundrels to wreck our country, even if the Supreme Court is already compromised. Remember the young protestors against Trump at the beginning of his time in office? Even during Covid, they kept protesting. Remember the shadow National Park Service employees who publicized the destructive activities of Trump's civil service workers? They kept bad things from happening.
Keep involved in following what your legislator does. All of the actions of Hitler were foreshadowed in the legislation passed in the prior decade, so these German actions were technically legal.
I will resist their threats and lies. I have the power and final say. Join me on November 5th and crush their vial attempt to destroy American Democracy.
I had been feeling overwhelmed by the news of the last few weeks - overwhelmed by the increasing probability that Project 2025 will become a reality. But there is reason to feel hope - I signed up to write postcards to voters in swing states this morning. Thank you, Steven, for another thought-provoking, inspiring column.
Excellent commentary, Steven. Thank you for helping keep the very real extremists threats front and center.
Thank you for amplifying those critical voices. Project 2025 is starting to get attention now that people recognize it is a real threat. I'm not bothered by the Biden challenges only because they have an expiration date of the Democratic convention. No expiration on us pushing back on Project 2025, working for the Democratic nominee, and fighting for freedom and the planet.
From the Lincoln Project. Check it out. “When they tell you who they are, believe them”. We’ve been given plenty of warning.
https://youtu.be/NpLpOtFNFWg?si=komehX16znJL7jNW
I have also been feeling down about the news and the pressure to oust President Joe Biden has made me heartsick!! I gave up on CNN a while ago and have recently been saddened by MSNBC and some reporters I valued: Dan Rather’s Substack, Steve Schmidt, Dana Milano, even E. J. Dionne, not to mention the New York Times!!
I have taken a break from media and am reading 📖 Substack essays from historians and lawyers-Heather Cox Richardson, Richard Hubble and Joyce Vance!!
Meidas Touch Network has stood for Joe Biden as have “we the people” the voters!!
“We” need to stand firm “you shall not pass”
We need to stick with the fight and see it through!! Think of the Ukraine 🇺🇦 and the people and how hard they are fighting!!
Oops-correction should be Dana “Milbank” instead of Milano-it’s either errant spell check or my typos-sorry all !!