Project 2025 maps authoritarian takeover
Paper maps are passe. Or are they? The Heritage Foundation, under head Kevin Roberts, produced a 920-page road map outlining a radical agenda for Christian nationalism.
Far from “conservative,” it calls for the dismantling of our institutions by the mass firing of civil servants, replaced by MAGA loyalists; placing the Justice Department under the president's direct control; and finalizing the hard-right dream of an aggressive expansion in presidential power.
This map would lead us to the imposition of anti-women's healthcare policies. It specifies a crackdown on reproductive rights, including rescinding approval of mifepristone, criminalizing the mailing of abortion drugs, and allowing employers to decline contraception coverage, a la “The Handmaid's Tale.”
Anti-immigrant policies written up in Project 2025's manifesto include massive cutbacks in legal immigration, sweeping immigration raids, the loss of a legal shield for 500,000 Dreamers, the repeal of birthright citizenship, and vast military-built detention camps. Remember kids in cages, separated from their parents?
Other draconian proposals include axing some “green” environmental policies, such as the IRA, which supports clean energy transition; shuttering offices working on climate science and renewable energy; slashing more corporate taxes; privatizing Social Security; relaxing the Endangered Species Act; and enlarging oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, a la “drill, baby drill.”
Most of these initiatives are deeply unpopular. The majority of Americans disagree with Heritage's Roberts, who sees Hungary (Viktor Orban) as “THE model for conservative statecraft.”
Is it a “Christian value” to undermine democratic institutions and norms? To control the election system and the courts? To oppose LGBTQ rights and legal immigration? To prevent Europe from becoming a “mixed race”?
Harvard political scientist Theda Skocpol said Project 2025 is “full prep for an authoritarian takeover.” Please inform yourself. And vote.
– Nancy Teggeman
Polson