I’ve seen what I needed to see AND I need this to be continued. Lord knows I’ll need all the info I can get to help people understand why project 2025 is actually the threat to democracy.
I’ve seen enough. We have enough wasted time and inefficiency each time a new presidential administration comes in, just with the political appointees getting things up and running. Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if we got rid of career civil servants with their vast institutional knowledge and experience of how their agencies run and replaced them with political appointees, whose only qualifications might be loyalty to the President or party? No thanks.
I just keep thinking “man, imagine if these guys went to therapy rather than holding us all hostage working through their issues.”
I think continuing this series is actually a great way to prep people for what’s to come with your book release. “Yes- this is all scary and we should be worried, but look. Look what ordinary people CAN STILL DO.”
The seeming unwillingness of Dans et al to interrogate their own intellectual inconsistencies is concerning. Of even greater concern are the policies that they put forward (whether or not they are able to successfully pull them off). As an employee whose job is funded by the federal government, I am concerned by a potential politicization of government agencies. The organization I work for is filled with folks of ALL different political stripes, and we are able to function well despite our difference (maybe even because of our differences) to provide services for the public. I wonder about the trickle down effect to small agencies like my own.
As for me, I would like to hear more about Project 2025 (with occasional asides like the one you did yesterday). I think this is an important topic, especially given Project 2025's potential effects in the coming year.
I definitely need more information about Project 2025 - please keep us informed! As a long-time classroom teacher, now retired, I agree with your assessment of how Project 2025 views educators. There are not leagues of educators waiting in the wings to fill jobs left by those who leave the classroom exhausted and overwhelmed. Public education uses public money to educate all the children of all the people. Public money should not be used to fund private schools with the exception of private schools who educate children with disabilities for whom public schools cannot meet their needs.
When a leader starts with "The Left thinks/does this or that..." I know he/she isn't a serious player. Using terminology like that reveals a partisan mindset that lumps the nation into two diametrically opposed sides, a mindset unwilling to deal in nuance and the very real spectrum of beliefs. The phrase "drank the Koolaid" keeps coming to mind. )And it applies to those who lump conservatives into categories like "right-wing.")
On another note: unitary executive theory sounds a whole lot like a move back toward centralizing power in a monarch. I thought conservatives liked George Washington, and George was anti-monarchical! Urgh.... this is so frustrating.
Sharon, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the branding that Project 2025 has. To me, it looks like an utterly unhinged power grab, but it's got a catchy name and an air of legitimacy to it that is helping it catch on.
I would like to learn more about this, but maybe weekly? I want to learn more about their anti-LGBTQ+ anti-abortion proposals.
Lastly, I feel like re: Project 2025, nobody talks about the elephant in the room of the far right creating moral panics (like the absolutely cruel impacts of the trans panic and book bans that are happening across the U.S.) and suppressing individual freedoms (reproductive rights) in order to secure power and to enrich themselves, all while saying they're doing the opposite.
While reading these makes my BP go up, please continue. I need to be able to share this with friends who have never heard of Project 2025. I live in Texas where the attack on teachers is unrelenting, where our governor is holding school funding hostage until he gets vouchers, and where parents have been misinformed to the point that they no longer seem to trust any teacher.
TX and TN are basically ‘twins’…. And most people I speak with are NOT paying any attn . It is quite frightening, especially since TN has one of the lowest voter turnouts in the entire country.
The cognitive dissonance is astounding. Give the power back to the people, put only ideologically same minded people in every position of the government. A move that likely doesn’t represent the majority. Republicans haven’t won the popular vote in 20 years. Their policies are not the policies of the people. At least not the majority.
100% agree… what rock are these people under? I believe if EVERYONE read and understood what this document says the GOP would be eliminated … maybe not that drastic… but you know!
I wonder if this is actually cognitive dissonance or something more sinister. Like they know exactly what they are doing to get people riled up so they can push through their agenda with the ultimate goal of enriching themselves. Maybe sounds a little conspiratorial but I just can’t help but wonder who really benefits. As you pointed out, it’s not “the people.”
My mother was a teacher in a poorer school district for 20 years. The administration treated them horribly and kept trying to effectively steal from the teachers wages. My mother loved her students but she got sick of having to fight just for basics!! The union fought for the teachers but it was exhausting. My youngest son’s school has been so incredibly helpful with the extra support he needs. They are overworked and underpaid and I’m so over this nonsense.
My father used to say that democracy depends on an educated population. That sticks with me. Every child should have access to quality education and public tax money should go to public institutions (and I have my oldest in a private school so I’m not just saying that!).
Like their views on the power of the military and local police forces to control their own citizens. Their views on first amendment rights and peaceful protest, LBGTQ, interracial marriage, voting rights. We need to know it all!
The gaslighting in the interview is astounding! They seem to talk to you like a little housewife that needs to understand what they envision is actually democracy. Like you are not a super informed and highly educated person.
Yes the tone of arrogance is astounding. But we should absolutely believe them - because if this is the tone and what they say to her face, imagine what they say privately. They are showing they do not respect women. Otherwise there would be no need for that tone and word choice. As well the rest of the things they want to implement get worse and worse.
I was thinking that too Jill but wondered if it was just the way I was interpreting their responses to her questions?! Ummmm, maybe they don’t know that Sharon is one of the most intelligent and educated people on the planet ???!!! 🤔
The fact that Dans, the director of this project, frames every one of his answers with, "BuT BiDeN ...," tells me all I need to know about Project 2025.
I know I’ll hear family members talk about it in a positive light in the next few months, so part of me wants to know more about it in case I get that one nugget that will get through to them how anti-democratic it is. Healthy motivation? I dunno. They haven’t listened to any of my concerns yet…
One other thought (though maybe it’s a lot of work for you!) Maybe it could be helpful to break up Project 25 reporting with snapshots of other times in history where similar movements/crossroads/sunrises existed and what happened after, similar to your Franklin story yesterday? We have a tendency (obviously, as you yourself have said) to think our times are the worst of times, but men like Dans and his cronies are not new in history. And hearing those histories can be both an encouragement and warning…
Please continue. This is a valuable resource. As someone who tries to understand both sides of the isle to avoid the dreaded “bubble” of one sidedness, this distills the nuggets of belief in a way that listening to maddening pundits or reading insufferable articles cannot. Thank you for your work.
I’ve seen what I needed to see AND I need this to be continued. Lord knows I’ll need all the info I can get to help people understand why project 2025 is actually the threat to democracy.
I was just coming in to say the same. It is vital that we understand what Project 2025 intends so we fully understand the stakes.
I echo this!
My thoughts exactly.
Absolutely! I completely agree!
Agreed
Yes!
I’ve seen enough. We have enough wasted time and inefficiency each time a new presidential administration comes in, just with the political appointees getting things up and running. Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if we got rid of career civil servants with their vast institutional knowledge and experience of how their agencies run and replaced them with political appointees, whose only qualifications might be loyalty to the President or party? No thanks.
Great point!
Precisely what I was thinking
I just keep thinking “man, imagine if these guys went to therapy rather than holding us all hostage working through their issues.”
I think continuing this series is actually a great way to prep people for what’s to come with your book release. “Yes- this is all scary and we should be worried, but look. Look what ordinary people CAN STILL DO.”
Such a valid point about therapy
The seeming unwillingness of Dans et al to interrogate their own intellectual inconsistencies is concerning. Of even greater concern are the policies that they put forward (whether or not they are able to successfully pull them off). As an employee whose job is funded by the federal government, I am concerned by a potential politicization of government agencies. The organization I work for is filled with folks of ALL different political stripes, and we are able to function well despite our difference (maybe even because of our differences) to provide services for the public. I wonder about the trickle down effect to small agencies like my own.
As for me, I would like to hear more about Project 2025 (with occasional asides like the one you did yesterday). I think this is an important topic, especially given Project 2025's potential effects in the coming year.
I definitely need more information about Project 2025 - please keep us informed! As a long-time classroom teacher, now retired, I agree with your assessment of how Project 2025 views educators. There are not leagues of educators waiting in the wings to fill jobs left by those who leave the classroom exhausted and overwhelmed. Public education uses public money to educate all the children of all the people. Public money should not be used to fund private schools with the exception of private schools who educate children with disabilities for whom public schools cannot meet their needs.
When a leader starts with "The Left thinks/does this or that..." I know he/she isn't a serious player. Using terminology like that reveals a partisan mindset that lumps the nation into two diametrically opposed sides, a mindset unwilling to deal in nuance and the very real spectrum of beliefs. The phrase "drank the Koolaid" keeps coming to mind. )And it applies to those who lump conservatives into categories like "right-wing.")
On another note: unitary executive theory sounds a whole lot like a move back toward centralizing power in a monarch. I thought conservatives liked George Washington, and George was anti-monarchical! Urgh.... this is so frustrating.
I agree with you. When something starts off by saying “the left” my mind just knows what he’s trying to do. I hate that.
I agree. I actually try not to listen to anyone who makes broad, sweeping accusations of an entire group. We need less us vs. them!
Sharon, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the branding that Project 2025 has. To me, it looks like an utterly unhinged power grab, but it's got a catchy name and an air of legitimacy to it that is helping it catch on.
I would like to learn more about this, but maybe weekly? I want to learn more about their anti-LGBTQ+ anti-abortion proposals.
Lastly, I feel like re: Project 2025, nobody talks about the elephant in the room of the far right creating moral panics (like the absolutely cruel impacts of the trans panic and book bans that are happening across the U.S.) and suppressing individual freedoms (reproductive rights) in order to secure power and to enrich themselves, all while saying they're doing the opposite.
I would also be interested in hearing more about Project 2025's anti-LGBTQ+ proposals.
While reading these makes my BP go up, please continue. I need to be able to share this with friends who have never heard of Project 2025. I live in Texas where the attack on teachers is unrelenting, where our governor is holding school funding hostage until he gets vouchers, and where parents have been misinformed to the point that they no longer seem to trust any teacher.
TX and TN are basically ‘twins’…. And most people I speak with are NOT paying any attn . It is quite frightening, especially since TN has one of the lowest voter turnouts in the entire country.
The cognitive dissonance is astounding. Give the power back to the people, put only ideologically same minded people in every position of the government. A move that likely doesn’t represent the majority. Republicans haven’t won the popular vote in 20 years. Their policies are not the policies of the people. At least not the majority.
100% agree… what rock are these people under? I believe if EVERYONE read and understood what this document says the GOP would be eliminated … maybe not that drastic… but you know!
I wonder if this is actually cognitive dissonance or something more sinister. Like they know exactly what they are doing to get people riled up so they can push through their agenda with the ultimate goal of enriching themselves. Maybe sounds a little conspiratorial but I just can’t help but wonder who really benefits. As you pointed out, it’s not “the people.”
I totally understand why you would think that. I just haven’t seen anything from Sharon that she thinks that it’s something intentionally devious.
My mother was a teacher in a poorer school district for 20 years. The administration treated them horribly and kept trying to effectively steal from the teachers wages. My mother loved her students but she got sick of having to fight just for basics!! The union fought for the teachers but it was exhausting. My youngest son’s school has been so incredibly helpful with the extra support he needs. They are overworked and underpaid and I’m so over this nonsense.
My father used to say that democracy depends on an educated population. That sticks with me. Every child should have access to quality education and public tax money should go to public institutions (and I have my oldest in a private school so I’m not just saying that!).
The comparison to Musk's Twitter seems accurate but because they've come to the wrong conclusion about what has happened to twitter since then
Yeah, that stood out to me too...
I want to know so much more.
Like their views on the power of the military and local police forces to control their own citizens. Their views on first amendment rights and peaceful protest, LBGTQ, interracial marriage, voting rights. We need to know it all!
The gaslighting in the interview is astounding! They seem to talk to you like a little housewife that needs to understand what they envision is actually democracy. Like you are not a super informed and highly educated person.
Just eye popping!
Yes the tone of arrogance is astounding. But we should absolutely believe them - because if this is the tone and what they say to her face, imagine what they say privately. They are showing they do not respect women. Otherwise there would be no need for that tone and word choice. As well the rest of the things they want to implement get worse and worse.
I was thinking that too Jill but wondered if it was just the way I was interpreting their responses to her questions?! Ummmm, maybe they don’t know that Sharon is one of the most intelligent and educated people on the planet ???!!! 🤔
The fact that Dans, the director of this project, frames every one of his answers with, "BuT BiDeN ...," tells me all I need to know about Project 2025.
I’ve seen what I needed to see for myself, but
I know I’ll hear family members talk about it in a positive light in the next few months, so part of me wants to know more about it in case I get that one nugget that will get through to them how anti-democratic it is. Healthy motivation? I dunno. They haven’t listened to any of my concerns yet…
One other thought (though maybe it’s a lot of work for you!) Maybe it could be helpful to break up Project 25 reporting with snapshots of other times in history where similar movements/crossroads/sunrises existed and what happened after, similar to your Franklin story yesterday? We have a tendency (obviously, as you yourself have said) to think our times are the worst of times, but men like Dans and his cronies are not new in history. And hearing those histories can be both an encouragement and warning…
Please continue. This is a valuable resource. As someone who tries to understand both sides of the isle to avoid the dreaded “bubble” of one sidedness, this distills the nuggets of belief in a way that listening to maddening pundits or reading insufferable articles cannot. Thank you for your work.