project 2025

[commando]

2 hours ago, Archy1221 said:

Well, he put the words MAGA in his post so apparently any thread works. 

was i supposed to say republican?   

[DevoHusker]

 

 

[TGHusker]

On 11/18/2023 at 11:05 AM, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

Well clever readers will note that in the first line I basically told you how old I was, and that I didn't even vote for Carter when I had the chance.

 

But here goes, in no particular order: 

 

Abraham Lincoln

This is kinda like picking Michael Jordan for your all-NBA team. 

 

Frankline Delano Roosevelt

Rich guy who understood the system better than anyone, and bent it to create a better system for everyone. Bonus points: had to navigate a Great Depression and World War II.

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower

KInda surprised about this one myself. Another dude who witnessed power behind the scenes like nobody else, and actually warned us about the military industrial complex he'd been a part of. Undervalued for his intelligence, and relatively unquestioned for his integrity. Today's GOP would have nothing to do with this war hero. 

 

 

JFK? Spent the first two years doing what his dad told him. Might have been a really good second term president. 

Carter? Really interesting and thoughtful man, not cut out for the job.

Clinton? Never really liked the guy, although the Clinton years themselves are a model of how centrism can work fairly decently. 

Obama? Eh. Like Reagan, I'd give him an A for inspirational rhetoric, but behind the scenes he was overly cautious and determined to prove his moderation to conservatives who were never going to credit him for anything. 

I can endorse your 3 picks 100%. I’m reading Ambrose’s book on Ike- great soldier, president and man. Lincoln,FDR & Washington are in a class of their very own. No one has faced what they each had to face as president. All 3 succeeded in their respective burden barring. 

[TGHusker]

On 11/17/2023 at 4:54 PM, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

For the record, I cast my first vote in the 1980 Presidential Election. I didn't vote for either Reagan or Carter. I understand the last 50 years pretty well.

 

I totally get the nostalgic preference for Reagan, and that he would, in fact, be a huge improvement over Trump and a comforting presence in today's White House. Yes, he presided over a more congenial and collaborative Congress, but so did his predecessors and successors, with everyone sharing drinks till roughly the Obama administration. 

When I accuse Reagan of mythologizing it's because that was his great skill. Carter had inherited the massive bill and loss of prestige from the Vietnam War, and was horribly out of step with Washington. People craved Reagan's vision of The City on the Hill and he gave them a terrific performance and sense of optimism. Plenty of good things sprung from that. 

But when it came to actual policy, Reagan and his administration took a top-down supply side approach to almost everything. Yes, “the seven most feared words in America” was a fun takedown of the big government mommy state, but the deregulation and gutting of social services under Reagan set the course for homelessness and mental health issues that we decry today, in addition to hugely favoring the already wealthy and powerful who – it turned out – had no intention of letting anything trickle down, accepting huge government incentives/exemptions while abandoning our labor force for other countries. If you look at the growing division of the haves and have nots in America, it all traces back to the Reagan years. 

https://www.mic.com/articles/104612/7-charts-show-why-trickle-down-economics-has-been-an-enormous-failure

(https://www.mic.com/articles/104612/7-charts-show-why-trickle-down-economics-has-been-an-enormous-failure)

 

So to me, the “clarity” Reagan provided were the real simple things we wanted to hear, and because he appealed to the better nature of Americans, it sounded much better than the partisan rancor being pedaled today. But behind the scenes it was the beginning of a lasting division. 
 
And with all due respect to standing up to Russia (we held all the cards on that one) those Reagan administration foreign policy scandals could hold their own with any recent administration. That Reagan team also set a disastrous foreign policy course that influential conservative think tanks still follow today, despite nothing turning out as they predicted. 
 
Interesting and unanswerable question: if pre-presidential Ronald Reagan was in today’s GOP, would he be a voice of reason in his quest to be President, or would he have migrated like other Republicans to stances and rhetoric similar to party standard bearer Donald Trump?  
 

Thanks Guy for a thoughtful response. A few of my thoughts: 1 I think the unanswerable question can be answered based on what we know about Reagan, the person- from his autobiography, The Reagan Diary , his interactions with ordinary Americans and from biographers who knew him best: Reagan would not be a part of MEGA - but would oppose it-I’m pretty certain on that point.  2. I agree that his worst failure was cutting too many social programs too quickly especially in the mental health sector.

3. Most presidents are judged by maybe one or at most 2 major challenges and how they met those challenges. Reagan’s were dealing with the expansion of communism and its threat worldwide and rebuilding the contracted economy and the spirit of America. Ask any Eastern European regarding the former.  USSR was not a paper tiger but a very oppressive shadow where ever they had a presence.  Saying Reagan held all the cards really misrepresented the reality of the time. Regarding the later there is no denying that the economy and the American spirit were in their deepest funk since the depression. The results speak for themselves- the longest peace time recovery in history. Perfect- no way. No administration is even those of Lincoln and FDR. But the 2 biggest challenges were met head on successfully and it changed the world. 

[Guy Chamberlin]

2 hours ago, TGHusker said:

 Most presidents are judged by maybe one or at most 2 major challenges and how they met those challenges. Reagan’s were dealing with the expansion of communism and its threat worldwide and rebuilding the contracted economy and the spirit of America. Ask any Eastern European regarding the former.  USSR was not a paper tiger but a very oppressive shadow where ever they had a presence.  Saying Reagan held all the cards really misrepresented the reality of the time. 

 

I just don't think Reagan took specific positions much different than his predecessors or First World contemporaries (or his successors.)  Talking tough, not capitulating to the Russians, and advocating for the Eastern European countries under Soviet rule is just what you do, along with whatever nuclear disarmament negotiations are brought to the table. Again, Reagan had the symbolic moments and memorable lines, but it was easier to take a hardline when you knew -- as they did at the time -- that the Soviet economy was crumbling. In some ways that made the USSR more dangerous, but history remembers the hero of this story as Gorbachev, who swallowed a massive amount of national pride to speed up the inevitable. 

 

Reagan's middle east policy was a lot messier and probably should demerit his overall foreign policy portfolio. Reducing the world to a pro-Western, anti-communism narrative has a lot of unintended consequences.   

[Scarlet]

Here's a good detailed analysis of the threat to democracy of second Trump term and the GOP's plan to install an autocracy.  

 

"As Alyssa Farah Griffin, former Trump White House Director of Strategic Communications, noted, “Fundamentally, a second Trump term could mean the end of American democracy as we know it, and I don’t say that lightly.”. 

 

She's only one of many former Trump officials who are sounding the alarm.  Why would that be?  MAGA will tell you it's all because they are "Deep State".  Occam's Razor would suggest that it's because autocracy is exactly Trump's and the GOP's goal.  

 

A long thread expanding on the evidence. 

 

Link to the analysis.  

https://www.justsecurity.org/92714/american-autocracy-threat-tracker/

 

Contents
Introduction

I. Day 1 Dictatorship Promise: Immigration

II. Day 1 Dictatorship Promise: Energy and the Environment

III. Subverting the Rule of Law to Protect Himself from Prosecution

IV. Persecuting his Perceived Political Enemies

V. Draconian Abortion Access Crackdown

VI. Purging Federal Employees

VII. Rigging Elections and Promoting Harmful Election Conspiracy Theories

VIII. Rejecting the Constitution

IX. Demonizing Americans with Whom He Disagrees

X. Trump’s Effusive Praise of Autocrats

XI. Enriching Himself and His Family

XII. Creating an Unconstitutional Criminal Justice System

XIII. Wielding the Military to Suppress Civil Dissent

XIV. Undermining America’s Stature Abroad and Eroding International Alliances

XV. Discriminating Against LGBTQ+ Americans

XVI. Attacking the Free Press

XVII. Spreading Disinformation and Conspiracy Theories on Public Health

XVIII. Embracing Christian Nationalism

XIX. Politicizing Education & Censoring Disfavored Ideas

XX. Condoning Anti-Semitism

XXI. Bipartisan Actions to Counter Autocratic Threats

[Scarlet]

 

 

I. Day One Dictator Promise: Immigration

 

"Next we will implement strong ideological screening of all immigrants to the United States. No longer will we allow dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots, and maniacs to get residency in our country. We’re not gonna let them stay here. We’re…gonna have the largest deportation effort in history.”

 

"You’re disqualified if you’re a Communist, a Marxist, or a Fascist, other than the people that are already here you are, of which many are in the Biden administration, you’re disqualified. We’d like to get them out too. Maybe we’ll work on that.”

 

“We’re going to keep foreign, Christian-hating communists, Marxists and socialists out of America." Trump also said that there was a need for a “new law” to address Americans he characterizes as communists and Marxists but didn’t elaborate any further.

 

Trump wants to refuse asylum claims by reimposing Title 42, a policy he used during Covid-19 by claiming that migrants carry infectious diseases like tuberculosis and other communicable diseases.

 

Trump said that immigration into the United States is “poisoning the blood of our country.” “Nobody has any idea where these people are coming from, and we know they come from prisons. We know they come from mental institutions and insane asylums. We know they’re terrorists. Nobody has ever seen anything like we’re witnessing right now. It is a very sad thing for our country. It’s poisoning the blood of our country. It’s so bad, and people are coming in with disease. People are coming in with every possible thing that you could have.”

[Scarlet]

II. Day 1 Dictatorship Promise: Energy and the Environment

 

"Trump plans to violate statutory requirements by using administrative agencies within the executive branch to promulgate rules that prevent oversight and regulation required by Congress."

"For instance, Congress passed the bipartisan Toxic Substances Control Act in 2016, but Trump’s EPA illegally withheld chemical safety studies where public disclosure was required, violated the law’s requirements to review new chemicals, and refused to ask companies to disclose data required under the law.'''

 

"Trump has called for dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Trump’s 2024 plan includes “systematically dismantling” the EPA, including cutting funding, rolling back regulations, forging closer ties to the fossil-fuel industry, and loosening fuel economy standards."

[Scarlet]

Only a wannabe dictator would think he needs complete immunity from the rule of law.  

 

III. Subverting the Rule of Law to Protect Himself from Prosecution

 

"Trump wrote, “A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES MUST HAVE FULL IMMUNITY, WITHOUT WHICH IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM/HER TO PROPERLY FUNCTION. ANY MISTAKE, EVEN IF WELL INTENDED, WOULD BE MET WITH ALMOST CERTAIN INDICTMENT BY THE OPPOSING PARTY AT TERM END.

 

EVEN EVENTS THAT “CROSS THE LINE” MUST FALL UNDER TOTAL IMMUNITY, OR IT WILL BE YEARS OF TRAUMA TRYING TO DETERMINE GOOD FROM BAD…ALL PRESIDENTS MUST HAVE COMPLETE & TOTAL PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY, OR THE AUTHORITY & DECISIVENESS OF A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WILL BE STRIPPED & GONE FOREVER.”

 

"Trump’s legal team argued before the DC Court of Appeals that a president could direct SEAL Team Six to assassinate his political opponent and be immune from prosecution."

[Scarlet]

IV. Persecuting his Perceived Political Enemies

 

Trump said, “As soon as I am reelected, I will appoint a real special counsel, or maybe you’ll call him a special prosecutor, whatever you want to call it … to look at all of these bribes, kickbacks, and other crimes, as well as the shameless attempt at a coverup. Justice will be done. The Biden crime family will be looked at. We have to get there first, we have to win the election. They’re trying to step in my way at every path because the one person they don’t want to run is Donald Trump. But when we get there, the Biden crime family will pay a price like other people are being forced to pay. And that price will be very, very substantial.”

 

Trump said: “If I happen to be president, and I see somebody who’s doing well and beating me very badly, I say, ‘Go down and indict them.’ Mostly that would be, you know, they’d be out of business. They’d be out of the election.”

 

Trump said, “This is third-world-country stuff, ‘arrest your opponent.’ And that means I can do that, too.”

 

As President, Trump repeatedly told his Chief of Staff John Kelly that he wanted the IRS to investigate several of his perceived political enemies, including former FBI director James Comey and deputy director Andrew McCabe. Both Comey and McCabe were subsequently subjected to a rare, intensive IRS audit that affects only one out of every 30,600 tax filers.

 

Trump has expressed support for executing high-ranking American government officials, and while in office he used the levers of government to harass and intimidate his political opponents.

 

Trump’s words and actions suggest he would interfere with or stop prosecutions of his political allies.
On Jan. 6, 2021

 

Trump expressed support for the January 6 rioters who were chanting, “hang Mike Pence,” including commenting that Pence “deserve[d]” it.

 

Trump claimed in an interview with the New York Times in December 2017 to have “an absolute right to do what I want with the Justice Department.”

 

 

[Scarlet]

V. Draconian Abortion Access Crackdown

 

'Trump recently signaled his support for a national abortion ban.
Feb. 16, 2024: Trump reportedly said in a private conversation that such a ban would prohibit abortions starting at 16 weeks, “Know what I like about 16? It’s even. It’s four months.”

 

The Project 2025 agenda would roll back abortion access expansions under the Biden administration and go even further by restricting abortion medication. (Meds like the morning after pill do not terminate a fertilized egg, they stop or delay ovulation. Don't believe MAGA will distinguish between meds and mode of action including birth control)

Project 2025 also proposes using the Comstock Act of 1873 to ban mail delivery of abortion pills.

Project 2025 proposes holding doctors criminally liable for sending abortion pills and patients criminally liable for using the pills.

Project 2025 proposes rolling back the expansion of HIPAA privacy rules to cover abortions.

 

So much for the "it's a states rights" narrative but we knew that was just disinformation to cover for what's coming next.  

 

[Scarlet]

"I have the right to do whatever I want as president"

 

If that's not an authoritarian's fever dream I don't know what is.  Soon we'll get to see if the Supreme Court agrees.  If they do, that literally will be the end of democracy and the rule of law.

 

VI. Purging Federal Employees

 

"As Democracy Forward explains, “Our nation’s career civil servants — federal employees who serve the public regardless of the political affiliation of the President or partisan divides in Congress — are foundational to American democracy… Anti-democratic, far-right organizations and activists have voiced increasingly alarming threats against the civil service — ultimately threatening democracy itself.”

 

"The Agenda47 plan includes:
Gutting the federal bureaucracy and consolidating federal power under his direct control, Trump and his advisors plan to centralize the distributed powers of government agencies by installing loyalists in leadership positions using ideological pre-screening, reclassifying tens of thousands of civil service employees as political appointees, purging civil servants within the national security and intelligence apparatus, and subjecting independent agency actions to presidential review."

 

Trump allies are already employing ideological purity and loyalty pre-screening, including these vetting questions, in preparation for the 2025 administration.   In 2020, the Presidential Personnel Office, under the leadership of Trump aide John McEntee, began conducting “loyalty tests,” including one-on-one interviews with “hundreds of … political appointees across federal agencies” in order to “root out threats of leaks and other potentially subversive acts.”

 

Installing temporary “acting” officials in senior government roles to avoid Senate confirmation. During Trump’s presidency, he made unprecedented use of the “acting” designation, and has signaled that he may do so again.

 

Trump has wrongly claimed that the Constitution gives the president the power to do whatever he wants. .
June 19, 2019, Trump said: “I had absolutely Article II powers. I could’ve done anything I wanted. I don’t even bring it up because we don’t even get there. Absolutely, I have Article II. We could have used that instead. I wouldn’t even have to bother talking to you about all the other things. I wouldn’t have to talk to you about conflicts. I could have fired [Special Counsel Robert] Mueller for conflicts. I could have fired anybody.”

 

“Then I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as President. But I don’t even talk about that.”

[Scarlet]

This one is so patently obvious that it hardly needs to be highlighted. We've heard it endless time.  So much so we're almost numb to it.  It's still an overt assault on democracy all the same.  Straight out of the authoritarians playbook.  Crazy he's been able to normalize those attacks for a large segment of the country with absolutely zero proof.

 

VII. Rigging Elections and Promoting Harmful Election Conspiracy Theories

 

Trump has spent much of the past three years falsely claiming that the 2020 election was stolen and perpetrating baseless and harmful conspiracy theories about election fraud. If he returns to the White House, he is likely to continue his assault on American elections.  If he were reelected as president, he has said that he would “go down and indict” a rival presidential contender to keep them “out of the election.”

 

"Trump has endorsed the baseless theory that the vice president can block certification of the electoral votes."

 

 

[Scarlet]

VIII. Rejecting the Constitution

 

"Trump called for the “termination” of provisions of the Constitution, provisions that he did not identify, as part of his claim to overturn the 2020 election."

 

“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution. Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!”

 

"Trump has promised to issue an executive order giving him “impoundment authority” to withhold funds appropriated by Congress–power that he could use to override Congress’s budget authority and subvert the Constitutional separation of powers."

[TGHusker]

To the above, Trump thinks Liz should be thrown in jail for her participation in the J6 committee.