Perhaps one of the most remarkable documents in world history is the Constitution of the United States of America. It might be right up there with the Magna Carta, which said the English king and his government were not above the law. That was back in 1215.
Hmm.
The Constitution sets the guidelines for the creation of our democratic republic. It is invigorating in its scope, even in its opening paragraph: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
You would think that the Constitution, all 4,400 words of it, should be enough for us. That's especially true when you add in the Bill of Rights – the original first 10 amendments – which were designed to protect the citizenry from an overbearing government.
But no. In a country whose demographics are inexorably changing from white to non-white, a band of right-wing hair brains known as the Heritage Foundation have presented their own 900-page document on how to conduct (or deconstruct) the American government. It might as well be America's Mein Kampf.
It's called Project 2025. It was actually published several years ago in 2023, but with the approach of the 2024 election in November, the so-called Presidential Transition Project has drawn deeper scrutiny. This is especially so because if former president Donald Trump should regain the presidency, he'll put into effect many of the proposals found in P2025. The plan is to implement much of P2025 in the first 180 days of a new Trump administration. It basically serves as the de facto Republican Party platform.
One quick glance at the bullet-point proposals reveals an unlikely vision of an America we would no longer recognize. Some of these proposals are already in effect, one way or another, thanks in part to a partisan Trump-loving Supreme Court:
• A complete ban on abortions without exceptions (pages 449-503). Already in effect in some red states.
• Ban contraceptives (page 449). What? Let me get this straight. We're going to have more unwanted children because there are no contraceptives, forcing many women – most likely those who are poor – to seek abortions that are illegal. Sounds like an overbearing government to me.
• Elimination of unions and worker protections (page 581). Well, that's a century of progress down the tubes. Say farewell to overtime and while we're at it, let's have 10-year-olds operate heavy machinery 12 hours a day. You don't think so? Who's got control of the Supreme Court these days?
• Cut Social Security (page 691). Yeah, right. A workforce filled with 75-year-olds working for minimum wage. They'll have to because...
• ... End the Affordable Care Act (page 449). Not only will we be dumber as a nation, but sicker, too. Republicans have no plan to replace the increasingly popular Obamacare.
• Eliminate the Department of Education (page 319). That ought to make us dumber (read more controllable. Anyone seen a civics class lately?). Their reasoning is that students are being indoctrinated to become liberal by all those liberal teachers and professors.
• Teach Christian religious beliefs in public schools (page 319). For P2025, this is really their own brand of indoctrination. And in a government designed for We the People, how do you think the Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and other religious communities might feel about this? Christian nationalism is knocking at the door and thinking only of itself.
• Ban African American and gender studies in all levels of education (page 319). See, we told you that slavery wasn't the cause of the Civil War.
• End climate protections (page 417). Notice how hot it's been this summer? Notice how we haven't gotten any snow here the past two winters?
• End marriage equality (page 545-581). I'm not sure what this means exactly. We love who we love. Does it mean ending gay marriage? Does it mean a woman is not the equal of a man in a marriage? Why is this even a thing? Oh, right. Christian nationalism.
• Defund the FBI and Homeland Security (page 133). Well, that ought to make us weaker in addition to being dumber and sicker. Remember when Republicans were the Law and Order party? Now we have a Republican candidate for president who is a convicted felon 34 times over. How did this happen?
• Mass deportations of immigrants and incarceration in "camps" (page 133). We tried this once during World War II by putting Japanese-Americans in internment camps and ended up eventually paying those affected Japanese families $1.6 billion in reparations. Nazi Germany, where they read Mein Kampf, took their camps a little further. Additionally, there are about 10 million undocumented immigrants in this country working at jobs for a nation that is starving for laborers because the unemployment rate is so low (4.1 percent). Imagine what might happen to the economy if you take those people out of the work force. Can you say recession?
• Eliminate Federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (pages 363-417). So you like botulism in your food? Polluted lakes and rivers? Notice the intensity of tornadoes and hurricanes lately?
The Heritage Foundation is an ultra conservative think tank that has Trump's ear (in case you wondered where his ear went), but after perusing some of the bullet-points of this document, I have to wonder what they're actually thinking about. Power, mostly. Control. Money, no doubt. Making women second-class citizens. I don't see much in this manifesto that promotes the general welfare or secures the blessings of liberty for our posterity.
In fact, this might be the most un-American document I've ever seen.
November is approaching. You know what to do.
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