186 Comments
User's avatar
Ellen Brown's avatar

Russell Vought is all over the Sunday news shows with his democracy killing plan. He has succeeded in everything he laid out in Project 2025. It’s terrifying. Since we have already experienced it, we should focus on his Project 2026. Americans of every political party need to make sure their representatives address Project 2026. It will be another frightening PROJECT!

John/ Bring It On 🤠🌵🪖's avatar

It's all very bad and probably going to get worst. BUT most of our focus needs to be on "Free And Fair Elections". Most of the dominoes have fallen. It's the only thing that can save us from this nightmare. Marc Elias is a nationally recognized authority in voting rights, redistricting and law. https://www.democracydocket.com/author/marc_elias/?p_type=opinion He's very passionate about what he does. If anybody can afford to donate to this organization who is suing these tyrants every day, it would be very helpful to the cause.

Diane1's avatar

thank you John- you are always on point with the specifics of what we can do and hope by showing that people out there like Elias are fighting!

Randy River's avatar

The truth can sometimes be extremely painful and scary to face... but we must. That is the only way we will get past this. Thank you for providing all these details and facts. Your last paragraph gives me hope. We must not stop.

CE's avatar

This is no shadow presidency, this is a coup d’etat in broad daylight. A fascist attack on our democracy.

Robot Bender's avatar

Slow motion coup and low intensity warfare. For now. If Trump puts troops on most city streets, it will mean civil war unless we want to give up our republic. This will be especially true if they fire on protesters.

John/ Bring It On 🤠🌵🪖's avatar

If your looking for a igniter it is two words "Martial Law". That would do it for me!

Pamela Mendenhall-Howard's avatar

Robot.......IF there is a civil war (very likely) I believe a majority of the military would uphold their oath to the constitution and not to the orange clown in the WH. And yes there will be some traitors. In the meantime keep protesting peacefully, sign petitions, write to Congress, etc. Keep fighting don't give up!!!

Tai's avatar

Trump was running against Project 2025 last year and people ignored all warning signs that it was but a head fake. Now we are suffering the consequences in years to come by the irresponsible and if not outright immoral actions by Vought and Heritage.

Charles's avatar

Tai, I believe Stephen Miller has to be added Vought and Heritage Society. In my opinion, Vought and Miller are the real brains of the regime. Trump is simply the figurehead to keep the MAGAs in line. The cabinet and the rest of Trump's advisors aren't worth a bucket of warm spit (or some other liquid) to quote John Nance Garner.

Diane1's avatar

and trump approves of everyone of them.

Paul Schlotthauer's avatar

Absolutely agree about Stephen Miller; he might be the most malignant of all Trump's minions. His dead eyes and robotic cruelty are chilling. He's young, energetic, and intelligent, and I can't even fathom what this country would be like if he ever gained direct power on his own.

Pamela Mendenhall-Howard's avatar

Very scary statement Paul and I agree with you 💯%. Miller is a Nazi Jew which makes no sense to me!!!

crazy cat lady's avatar

speaking of advisors, unfortunately we must add loomer to that list.

Pamela Mendenhall-Howard's avatar

Cat lady........personal question. Do you read Robert Reich on sub stack also? He awesome and very smart, I think you would like his posts too.

crazy cat lady's avatar

thanks so much for the recommendation, pamela. i appreciate it. i will read robert reich today!

Pamela Mendenhall-Howard's avatar

Crazy cat lady..... You won't be disappointed!

Jeff Hall's avatar

When Trump claims he knows NOTHING about any subject, he knows a LOT about the subject.

Tai's avatar

He may not know much of anything but his goons certainly do.

Jeff Hall's avatar

I was speaking to when Trump says something like, “I don’t really know about Jeffrey Epstein.” or similar. He knows all about Jeffrey Epstein.

crazy cat lady's avatar

to hear trump repeatedly say he knows nothing about any given subject is becoming comical, although it's horribly serious. does any MAGA person hear those denials and begin to add them up?

Jeff Hall's avatar

That is the whole problem. They have no interest in connecting the dots to understand that they’re being fed a bunch of bull shit.

Prime example. Tara Palmeri has been pointing out the issues with his Virginia Roberts, Mar-A-Lago Spa comments and how the timeline doesn’t work. MAGA might give a shit about that if they could hear that from someone on Fox, Newsmax or other source they listen to.

crazy cat lady's avatar

oh, how i wish i could disagree with you, but i can't.

Diane1's avatar

trump is a conman and liar who gaslights .

Pat Tom's avatar

They truly enjoy molesting only young, innocent victims, and that's the truth, but nothing but the truth, I do.

Pat Tom's avatar

Trump is a lying piece of shit in my bible.

Paul Schlotthauer's avatar

And the reverse is also true: when he claims to know a lot about a subject, he knows nothing.

Doreen Dalesandro's avatar

Well, as a stable genius, agent orange knows a lot more than anyone else about many, many things 🤣🤣 For example, he knows more about the military than the generals do. He knows more about the economy that the Nobel laureates do. He knows so much about viral infections that the CDC scientists are in awe. Ad infinitum. Ad nauseam.

But he knows nothing about those things that could paint him in a negative light😡 In that respect, methinks he has spent too much time watching 'Hogan's Heroes'🤓

Charles's avatar

I would add, "doubtful" to that thought!

Teri Gelini's avatar

Everything he says is just the opposite of what he believes or is doing. He knew all about project 2025 and as always lied as belies every time he opens his pie hole

Diane1's avatar

trump NEVER ran against Project2025. He just said he didn't know anything about it while they worked on his campaign.

Jeff Hall's avatar

The part of Project 2025 I loved was the killing of overtime, something a lot of MAGA folks live off of. Under Project 2025, they basically want to change the law so that overtime is paid only when a worker works over 160 hours over four weeks, not 40 hours a week. It's all framed as offering workers flexibility in their work schedule. When in fact, it is really all about not paying overtime at all.

crazy cat lady's avatar

they basically want to get in their wayback machine on everything. limiting workers' rights to overtime is taking the road back to the time when many workers were worked to death. i believe he is now eliminating the federal civil service workers' union.

Jeff Hall's avatar

He can try to eliminate the union, but the law will get in the way of that effort. I know, since when has he obeyed the law, but the courts will stand in the way until the Supremes rule.

crazy cat lady's avatar

and when the supremes rule, will they do the right thing or simply say whatever trump wants is okay with them.

Diane1's avatar

right- lots of smoke and mirrors for many things.

Chris Wistert's avatar

The real kick in the teeth about all of this? One of Vought's daughters has cystic fibrosis, and has taken advantage of a medicine that was developed with the assistance of the NIH. I knew how bad things were going to be when he joined the first Trump administration. It was closer to the end and there were more guardrails on Trump, so many of the things he tried to do were shot down. This time, he has full control and is using it. He's nothing but a snake.

Robin Eaton's avatar

That is appalling. My husband has CF and is fortunate in that he has always had excellent health insurance (employer and now employer-retiree provided). The medical expenses are enormous and lifelong. He had a double lung transplant at age 50 and is now 66, thanks to research and modern medicine. Others who don’t have sufficient coverage or live in an area without top medical resources, are not so lucky.

crazy cat lady's avatar

and now we can count on research being limited because of that joker, RFK jr. and just to make things even more absurd, the cleveland clinic was ordered to stop conducting medical research with diverse populations. that would obviously mean no medical research to improve the lives of people with chronic, and often terminal, illnesses. i have eight chronic illnesses and i firmly believe there may not be any breakthroughs in treatment while these incompetent fools are in charge.

Robin Eaton's avatar

Yes, it’s absolutely maddening.

(Signed, another crazy cat lady. Childless too!)

Doreen Dalesandro's avatar

I'm a childless cat AND dog lady😱 What does that say about me😟

crazy cat lady's avatar

it says you must be a wonderful person!

Doreen Dalesandro's avatar

Thank you, crazy cat lady🤓 My cats and dogs have the final say❣️

Pamela Mendenhall-Howard's avatar

Doreen.......I'm also childless, a crazy cat lady, I have 5 inside and 4 outside cats. Two of the outside cats just had kittens, haven't seen them yet. I also have a large dog who loves cats also, ok all animals that show up in the yard.......she wants to play with them.

crazy cat lady's avatar

oh, and i'm childless, too. i guess that makes us subhuman.

MaryMcC's avatar

I'm so happy for your husband!! I had a friend years ago whose sister had CF. At that time treatment was scarce and at 32 I was told she was one of oldest survivors with that awful disease. I'm glad progress in treatments has increased, but sorry that many don't have the insurance benefits to get the treatments. I'm very glad your husband is doing well at 66!

Emkaykay's avatar

Suffering for thee, but not for me is his motto

Gordon Hoffman's avatar

Thank you for bringing up the Heritage Foundation, and putting the face on the cult. I am in the process of writing about DEI, equality, and John F Kennedy - a hero from my youth. I can visualize US history to be written excluding JFK (and taking his image off of the 50¢ piece). He's responsible for advancing civil rights in the early 1960s, and honoring the creed in the Declaration of Independence. Americans are letting them invent our history, away from what really happened. When you said evil, that's what I too believe.

John David's avatar

"He who controls the past, controls the future. He who controls the present, controls the past." - George Orwell

Christine Quirk's avatar

Yes , in the works for years Project 2025, and they are checking all the boxes . Also , the rights of women , our healthcare and putting the women back under the thumbs of men. Dont take your husband’s name? Living together without a marriage license? Wait till we try to get a passport or a driver license, or worse register to vote. Project 2025 wants women as incubators, giving birth to eventually fill the workforce. Retirement pushed back to the age of 70.? Lowering the age of working children to 14? (That’s already happening in some states ). Heritage was waiting for the perfect opportunity and Trump filled their bill. He tapped into the racist, bigot population of America fueled the hate divided the country. I was laughed at when campaigning against Trump when I brought up project 2025. Wonder if they are laughing now.

Gordon Hoffman's avatar

That's really true. Love for your mother might become meaningless. A woman is the means for reproduction - I'm so sorry!

crazy cat lady's avatar

i had my husband's name for several years, but i legally changed it a few years ago. i also changed my middle name at that time for very personal reasons. now i am in the process of petitioning to have my birth certificate amended. i do not want to take the chance that i will be denied the right to drive, vote, or travel.

Christine Quirk's avatar

You are very wise to be proactive in getting the documents we will need with current name. I know someone in Pennsylvania she’s 77 and went into the DMV to get the new identity card to travel and they refused her because her birth certificate didn’t match her married name. ?????She had to supply her birth certificate and her marriage license . It’s just going to get harder .

crazy cat lady's avatar

absolutely, and it's a form of voter suppression ... especially the suppression of women.

Robot Bender's avatar

You might want to get a passport or make sure yours is current. These are dangerous times.

Robot Bender's avatar

Not just to fill the workforce. Gotta get all those troops to take over Canada, Panama, and Greenland. Who knows where else? We're going to be in a more intense version of permanent warfare.

Gordon Hoffman's avatar

I now believe that can happen in the US.

Doreen Dalesandro's avatar

How about taking over Grenada, too.

Gordon Hoffman's avatar

I think it should blow up in their face, but I still hear from ignorant people in complete support of the degenerated Trump and Heritage Foundation. Their laughter is evil.

Debbie Rakestraw's avatar

Thank you for this post! I've been saying Trump is a puppet since the first term (Think back to the Feb 2017 CPAC conference when Bannon bragged that the plan was the deconstructoon if the administrative state and Trump was simpky a tool they were using.). And when Vought came on board toward the end of term 1, I was very concerned. He and his fellow Project 2025 authors are definitely wielding the strings in this term. To give them credit (evil though it is), they planned and executed a takeover of our government with speed and efficiency, and continue to operate from the background allowing them to duck the backlash. Trump and his family/friends are too egotistical to see that they are being used, and wouldn't care anyway since they are corruptly building personal wealth that will allow them to walk away unscathed if necessary. And the worst of it is - for me - that the 6 justices on SCOTUS are allowing it to happen.

Joan Bailey's avatar

Well said Debbie. Totally agree. I cannot fathom how the orange man-baby and his family are getting away with illegally lining their collective pockets out in the open and in some cases bragging about it. WTF?

Doreen Dalesandro's avatar

IMHO, agent orange wanted to get elected so he wouldn't go to prison. He's more than happy to have the Project 2025 folks rule the country so he can cheat at more golf😡

Chris Wistert's avatar

I was screaming my brains out through the entire 2024 cycle. I felt like Don Quixote, constantly tilting at windmills. It didn't do any good, either.

MARGARET KENDALL's avatar

Me too. i did a lot of arguing with fools, as it turned out. A waste of my time in 2024 trying to prevent them from voting Trump into office. Kamala made some fine speeches and I thought improved her image as a failed VP. They ignored the improved "present" and focused on the failed past. She had evolved. Many of us do. I did. The unwise don't know that, though they could if they'd pay attention. Bottom line of the blue versus the red voters: the red care about only themselves and what is current, while the rest of us see the whole panorama, past, present, and especially future -- for everyone.

Sue Dalling's avatar

Did republicans believe there was a project 2025. I did but I know of republicans who were lied to and said it did not exist.

Diane1's avatar

all they had to do was look it up- it was all there on their website

Patricia Carone's avatar

I think there will have to be nation wide strikes. They are scheming to do everything they can to steal the midterm elections including using a weaponized justice department against election officials. Somehow their lawless, immoral behavior must be stopped. They are asserting numerous powers that they do not have.

Richard Breining's avatar

The only thing that will stop this "lawless, immoral" and, I will add CRUEL, "behavior ", Is US! There is currently no branch of the Federal Government that is capable of protecting US, including the Supreme Court. The 6 "Conservative" Justices on the Court believe deeply in the philosophy of "Executive Unitary Theory" which vests absolute power in the President (thereby, in effect, neutering Congress and, if those Justices don't 'wake up', themselves).

The American People are the last great hope for saving our democracy. The first step is to win the majorities in both chambers of the US Congress in 2026!

In the meantime we must be protesting in the streets in numbers so huge that we cannot be ignored!

I was thrilled to discover that 50,000 or so people loudly booed trump at last Friday's WWE event!

Robot Bender's avatar

Multiple days long, too. One day or weekend just won't be enough.

Roy Shults's avatar

For too many younger Americans, there have been no “best days”. The ones the MAGAts pine for were terrible for women, minorities, the poor. The Democratic Party became an unfocused victim of two conflicting pulls—splintered identity politics and corporate money. The latter has infected all politicians, especially since Citizens United declaring money was speech and reaffirming the evil and frankly wrong doctrine that corporations are “persons” (apparently with all their rights but none of their responsibilities).

Our sclerotic institutions may be immune from reform. That is what Project 2025 wants. Fascism wrapped in an American flag. That is what we have, and with the attacks on the coming electoral process, I think that is our future absent what I will gently call extra-electoral change. I don’t see that happening anytime soon either, until enough Americans feel enough pain from the machinations of the morbidly rich. By then it may well be too late as the American brown shirts will be too numerous, whatever they are called.

We older folks DO remember better times. We lacked the power or the will to protect and advance then for future generations, and deserve condemnation for that. Because correcting that may now be impossible, and any real change may require a cataclysm of uncertain outcome.

Joan Bailey's avatar

I do agree that we older folks (I’m 74) have been too complacent and “lazy” regarding who we elected and placed in power. That’s on us. We didn’t pay attention to , nor we were alerted to, the decaying of character in some of our leaders. We were too busy leading our lives and raising or families. I am by no means saying the awful circumstances we find ourselves in is totally laid at the feet of my generation. We just blindly trusted our officials do do the right thing for their constituents. They didn’t.

crazy cat lady's avatar

the thing is also that there are a great many republicans put party over country when they vote. i believe they can be more narrow-minded in their ultra-conservatism.

Richard Breining's avatar

Agreed. And right now, the majority of Supreme Court Justices are focused on doing whatever a President wants (Unitary Executive Theory) and NOT what is in the best interest of ALL Americans.

mike mcaleese's avatar

Thank you Adam. This all started with the start of the moral majority aka Jerry Falwell not liking being told their all white collages needed to desegregate. They didn’t like ERA , nor MLK Jr.

this movement had over 45 years to build in the white Christian community aka white Christian nationalist.

willsx2's avatar

What I find so frustrating is that the playbook was out there before the last election. Democrats were talking about it but no one seemed to have any plans for what would happen if trump was elected because it was clear that the regime would quickly begin implementing what was in there. After campaigning against project 2025, when the regime started the implementation Democrats were standing round flat-footed looking at each other wondering what to do. We need to do better. We need to anticipate and get ahead of the disasters that maga are trying to ram down our throats

Diane1's avatar

Democrats were talking and warning about it. People told them to stop being alarming and they voted for trump. That's not the democrat's fault. What are democrats supposed to do AFTER trump gets elected and they lose both chambers of Congress? They are trying to use the tools they have but it is not easy. The only thing Democrats did wrong was Biden should have gotten out way sooner or not run at all like he said he was going to be a transition president. AND they should have had a primary.

MaryMcC's avatar

I agree with you Diane, and would add who in their wildest dreams would have thought that all the Republicans in Congress would abdicate their power and responsibility to fighht the takeover by voting to protect our freedoms. It's still unbelievable that not even 4 Republican senators will vote with the Democrats to protect our rights!

And who would have realized that the Supreme Court has 6 members who apparently support the destruction of our Country that is happening.

I don't think any responsibility for this horror can be blamed on the Democrats; at most we had too much Faith that the system of checks and balances in our government would hold; instead they have crumbled.

Diane1's avatar

well we had a warning about SCOTUS from their ruling on Roe AND Presidential immunity. and our system of checks and balances showed cracks at the end of the first trump term during both impeachments but especially after Jan 6th and then they bring him back into the fold to run again! But I guess we still thought our system would hold and at least our institutions like media, corporate, education, would not capitulate so quickly/

Richard Breining's avatar

Agreed. trump publicly LIED to everyone when he denied having anything to to do with Project 2025 and hadn't read it. Those of us who have "half a brain" knew he was lying, but his cult followers believed every word of it (as they have done for any of the 1,000s of lies he has told before).

Now that the TRUTH can be plainly seen by everyone, (think Big BASTARD Bill, tariffs, tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, the Epstein Files, etc) even most of his cult followers are enraged, as evidenced by recent videos from town halls with their own elected officials.

Yet, the lies keep coming. How many times have we heard some Congressional Republican claiming that "the Democrats are busing their own people to these town halls"? ABSURD.

The Republican Party has been corrupted by the King of Corruption, donald trump! They do not deserve anyone's vote until, or when, they rid themselves of their insatiable desire for wealh and power and return to the truth and service to the American People.

willsx2's avatar

The Democrats should have been ready with unified messaging. It took them a couple months to get their act together with that. They stumbled over confirmations and didn't present a united front even though it would not have necessarily stopped them going through. The house and the Senate were not on the same page with the budget versus shutting down the government. Some Democrats were speaking out, attending protests and town halls in red areas but a lot of them were not. Those are things that should have been worked out as contingencies ahead of time so they could come out swinging from the start instead of waiting to get organized.

Sally D.'s avatar

Adam, when you were a Representative in Congress, what did you think of the Heritage Foundation?