Peanuts In My Pocket

I read the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 over the past two weeks. I’ve seen it referenced in the news and on social media, so I thought it would be a good idea to read it for myself. It was time well spent, although getting through all 900+ pages was a slog. By the end, I was horrified. I felt like I had been caught sleeping. I was reminded once again that rust never sleeps.

Back in 1979, Neil Young and Crazy Horse produced an album called Rust Never Sleeps. On it were two songs, “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” and its acoustic counterpart “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue).” Both are collectively associated with the album’s title. It’s music that has inspired me my whole adult life.

The phrase “rust never sleeps” is used metaphorically and suggests that complacency and stagnation are destructive forces. Constant change and adaptation are necessary to stay vital and relevant. I am a firm believer in this concept, although I must admit, reading Project 2025 has reminded me that I slept through a serious attempt at the corruption of our democracy. While I focused on other things, the rust did not. It pisses me off.

Project 2025 breaks down into four major parts. In keeping with the conservative religious theme of the document, the authors refer to them as Pillars, as in the Four Pillars of their movement:

• A detailed policy guide called “Mandate for Leadership,” which outlines conservative policy proposals for every major issue facing the country.
• A “Conservative LinkedIn,” which is a database to identify and recruit conservatives from across the country to serve in the next administration.
• The creation of a Presidential Administration Academy, which will provide guidance and training to potential political appointees.
• A 180-day playbook focusing on immediate actions to implement the conservative agenda and roll back what they see as the negative impacts of the previous administration’s policies.

The authors were kind enough to list everyone who wrote, edited, and contributed to the document. It reads like a who’s who of the previous Trump administration, plus a collection of conservative evangelical zealots. It also represents a blueprint for the end of our country as we know it—a horrifying plan that creates a god-king out of our president and a compliant administrative state to turn the U.S.A into a theocracy. They are so close to power, so close that all it will take is a few people failing to show up and vote.

I urge you to read it yourself, but if a summary is more to your liking, try this one: Project 2025 summary: What’s in the blueprint for a second Trump term?. It was produced by Slate and is sufficient as a starting point. There are dozens of more in-depth articles available, but be mindful of bias.

What do you think of Project 2025? Post your thoughts below. Thanks.