Some Thoughts on the Foreward

I finished reading the Foreward of Project 2025 this evening. I count it as one of the strangest things I have ever read. I've highlighted some passages that I might share as I dig deeper, but for now I just need to get some thoughts down.

Thought #1: It feels like a very odd thing to say that a group of people is being oppressed, all while sharing a plan on how to oppress others in order to overcome... oppression?

Thought #2: If the "elite" are the true danger to our nation, why is the ideal candidate for "The Next Conservative President" a member of that same elite? Also, consult the author list in the first few pages of the Mandate for Leadership to find others who seem to match the definition of "elite". It's difficult for one to claim that an elite group is out of touch and unwilling to help hardworking members of a nation while one is also simultaneously a member of an elite group. 

Thought #3: It is clearly stated that the problems of this nation can be solved "not be trimming and reshaping the leaves but by ripping out the trees - root and branch." (Page 12) So I continued with this metaphor to view our nation as a forest. How much ground will be disturbed in this clearing effort? How many holes left in the ground, and will it be safe to walk through this area? It will definitely change the landscape, and likely not for the better. How will it affect the environment, the ecosystem it's a part of? What will happen to the animals that live there and thrive?

As a final thought, the paragraph below struck me as ironically interesting, so I'll just leave it with you to ponder:

"Ultimately, the Left does not believe that all men are created equal - they think they are special. They certainly don't think all people have an unalienable right to pursue the good life. They think only they themselves have such a right along with a moral responsibility to make decisions for everyone else. They don't think any citizen, business, church, or charity should be allowed any freedom until they first bend the knee." (Page 16)

Deleting Terminology Used to "Deprive Americans"

"The next conservative President must make the institutions of American civil society hard targets for woke culture warriors. This starts with deleting the terms sexual orientation and gender identity (“SOGI”), diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”), gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term used to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists." (Source: “Foreward”, Project 2025, pg 4-5)

"First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
(Source: https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-1)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Based on my understanding on the first amendment as pulled from the source above, the terms listed on pages 4 and 5 of Project 2025 do not deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights. Moreover, I believe that deleting these terms could also be seen as a violation of the freedom of speech. 

You are not deleting terminology. You are deleting people.

A Quote, A History, A Finding - Linking the Republican Party to the Heritage Foundation

A Quote

"I have nothing to do with Project 2025." Donald Trump, ABC Presidential Debate, September 10, 2024

A History - the Relationship between Conservative administrations and the Heritage Foundation

Reagan was elected in January 1981. By the end of that year, the administration had enacted over 60% of the policy recommendations from the Heritage Foundations "Mandate for Leadership" project

(Source: Project 2025, pg 2)

"One year after taking office, President Donald Trump and his administration have embraced nearly two-thirds of the policy recommendations from The Heritage Foundation’s 'Mandate for Leadership.'" (Source: https://www.heritage.org/impact/trump-administration-embraces-heritage-foundation-policy-recommendations)

A Finding

Reagan enacted over 60% of the policy recommendations from the Heritage Foundation. Trump enacted almost 66% of the policy recommendations from the Heritage Foundation. It's logical to assume based on these histories that approximately 60% of the policy recommendations found within Project 2025 will be enacted by the next conservative president. 

How it Started: A Journey Through Project 2025

It started as a post about the document itself on social media. Not a post about the policies. Not a post about the party. 

That post was started by a person who never got into politics much. A person who considered it messy. A person who thought she couldn't affect anything, so why try.

Me. It was started by me. My post. My comments. My thoughts. 

I have heard the stories, read the memes, sorted through the myriad of information and misinformation, and questioned my sources until I was blue in the face. Eventually, however, I've grown tired of wading through memes and accepting my information from others. I figured that I had a background in reading and analyzing documents to glean information and understanding (thank you especially to one amazing high school history teacher). So why not cut out the middle-man and read this document for myself?

The Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise (2025) is readily available on the internet, and I downloaded my version directly from The Heritage Foundation website to ensure I had the most-accurate document on-hand. At the time that I downloaded the document, I was able to access the PDF without providing any personal information. However, now it appears that you must provide your first name, last name, and email address to access the document. I find that change rather interesting, but at least the information is still there and accessible here: https://www.project2025.org/playbook/

I had grown increasingly tired of Donald Trump's purposefully misleading narrative in an effort to distance himself from Project 2025. The authors of 2025 even deny the Donald Trump/Heritage Foundation by hiding behind the idea that oh, we've done this for years - ever since Reagan - so this is nothing new (source: https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/commentary/the-stories-democrats-tell-about-project-2025) 

But I felt convinced that there was a connection, so when I downloaded the Mandate for Leadership, I completed a simple word search. I searched for 3 last names in an effort to see if all conservative administrations were mentioned equally, giving no preference one over the other. Because maybe then I could believe that an alliance between Trump and the Heritage Foundation is just a matter of a link between a conservative president and an advisory organization.

Reagan: 71 mentions

Bush: 29 mentions 

Trump: 312 mentions

These numbers aren't from a meme. They aren't pulled from a website. These were numbers I tallied on my own, by downloading a document from its source and doing a quick search within that document.

Trump has a history with this organization. He has been praised by them in the past for following and enacting their policies. To think he will not and has not partnered with them on this feels foolish to me. 

If you agree with the policies, that's your choice. However, based on the evidence I have before me, I cannot believe Donald Trump knows "nothing" about Project 2025.

This word search led me to dive deeper into everything, so I'm taking on some light reading and working through Project 2025 piece by piece.  I'll be sharing some points I personally find interesting or concerning or contradictory. My plan is to share no political memes. All content will be curated and created by me.