Gov. Tim Walz signing a bill into law in 2023 requiring Minnesota utilities to get 100 percent of their electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040.Credit…Steve Karnowski/Associated Press
The more I learn about soon to be Vice President Tim Walz, the more I love. There are several big issues that Americans should be most concerned about. The threat of Project 2025 fascism. The threat to women’s freedom to choose and their healthcare. The insane proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of too many civilians.
And the real big one. The screamingly monstrous one. The equivalent of a large asteroid headed right for the US of A. The Climate Catastrophe is not getting enough attention. We are not focused on it because nonsense distracts us.
Today I read this “Climate and Environment” piece which I have linked in gift form (no paywall). Kamala Harris has hit it out of the park with her selection of Governor Walz. His resume is a stunner. And he can blow anyone out of the water with his verbal skills and wit. But after reading about his “climate credentials” I shouted with joy. Who knew this guy had done SO much?
Vice President Harris has made a brilliant decision. A benevolent one, if you are as worried as we should be about our planet. I wonder if she might anoint him as the “Climate Czar”…
No doubt, our moods have been highly elevated over the last two weeks. Mine is! The entire political landscape has shifted dramatically. VP Harris and Democrats are experiencing a serious enthusiasm bounce. Wow, what a difference.
Polling has shifted quickly. Trump and “Team Fascism” are squirming and scrambling. Trump has actually attacked the mixed race identity of his opponent. The more Vance speaks about childless cat ladies, the worse it gets for the party of Project 2025. As the momentum for Harris grows exponentially, the party of hate will continue to implode. Good.
But now that it appears that the country could return to some form of national sanity, by default, I return to the only subject that really matters – the Climate Catastrophe.
My wise sister asked in a recent phone chat: “Why aren’t we spending most of our time on the dangers of a warming planet? Every subject that politicians are arguing about now will hold little importance if we don’t have a habitable planet to live on. What’s wrong with with these people?”
Vermont is drowning. The West is burning up. The ocean is our greatest single source of protein. We still dump trash and garbage into it. Micro plastics are in our food chain. Coral reefs are dying from the effects of higher temperatures and acidification. Mangroves are being ripped away from shorelines by “100 year storms” that happen every year. These are the nurseries where our fish are born and shelter.
The climate crisis is the most urgent story of our time, and yet it rarely tops the day’s news agenda. So, in case you missed it, I wanted to draw your attention to a groundbreaking investigation by our environment team, which revealed last week that the US and other wealthy countries are leading a global surge in new oil and gas exploration in 2024 – in spite of commitments to lead the transition away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources.
Our rapid ascension to the world’s top fossil fuel producer has flown largely under the radar. “I bet if you asked 10 people in the US which country was the world’s biggest oil producer, most would say Saudi Arabia,” David Dismukes, an energy expert at Louisiana State University told our reporters. “That narrative is so imprinted now. I’m not sure many would even mention the US.”
Despite the Democratic party’s championing of its measures to curb climate disaster, especially the Inflation Reduction Act, domestic oil and gas production has soared under the Biden administration. As Guardian senior climate justice reporter Nina Lakhani told me: “When you look at the past four years, oil and gas production is higher than under any other president in the past 30. Joe Biden has been the fossil fuel producer-in-chief.”
The day after we published our investigation, secretary general of the UN António Guterres cited our work in a speech in New York. “I must call out the flood of fossil fuel expansion we are seeing in some of the world’s wealthiest countries,” Guterres said. “The leadership of those with the greatest capabilities and capacities is essential. Countries must phase out fossil fuels – fast and fairly.”
To be fair, the momentum of this race for global fossil fuel extraction began long before President Biden took office. And there are huge geopolitical advantages to being energy independent.
And none of this diminishes the fact that under President Joe Biden, more efforts and more resources have been thrown at shifting to sustainable sources of energy than during any previous administration. We should be proud of this direction. But it is just a small beginning.
It feels to me as if our mental TVs are permanently tuned into a terrible soap opera. How petty all this election horse race nonsense seems to me when we ought to be talking about sea levels rising four feet in Florida in the next 50 years. Shouldn’t we be planning how to conduct a strategic withdrawal from cities and regions that are already flooding? Nope. Let’s just hand this one off to our grandchildren.
Instead…let’s worry about whether that bullet really grazed his ear or whether childless cat ladies have a stake in their future.
There is a classic dark comedy film called “Idiocracy”. It’s a film about a future world full of self indulgent idiots. The “smart educated people” are not having kids – “why bring them into a world like this?” Upon reflection, not only was it prescient…it was perhaps an understatement compared to 2024.
One week ago today I awakened (woke!) to that familiar feeling of deep malaise – fed by the fear that Democrats would hand the presidential election to a psychopathic rapist, conman, thief and traitor – again.
Best president in my lifetime
But just after 1:00 PM, one week ago today, I saw “breaking news” that would end the cycle of despair. A wise old soldier for democracy handed his battle sword to the next generation – to a highly trained, well spoken warrior woman.
Country first!
The momentum of support for the warrior built rapidly with hourly endorsements from all manner of Democratic leaders. Thoughtful and grateful members of the only remaining legitimate political party in America lavished praise on President Biden for his accomplishments (so many) and for his selfless decision to step back from the election.
All of Vice President Kamala Harris’s potential competitors for the job declared their support for her candidacy. The momentum was building. Big time building.
“Gen-Z voters spread the ‘Kamalove’ as Harris’s popularity earns youth support”
Read this from the Guardian. Young people across the nation are energized. Interviews and informal polls reveal that many who had planned to sit out the election – were now interested. They are excited to support someone younger who is eloquent and powerful in presentation. Someone who is diverse in heritage – like so many Americans.
The week concluded with the endorsement of Barack and Michelle Obama. I believe they waited a few days to honor the process of convention delegates making their decisions. Once it was clear that VP Harris had no roadblocks to the nomination, they capped the week with a ringing congratulations. Some former US presidents have grace and “class”.
This Sunday, I’ll just briefly reference the “Convicted Felon Putin Puppet” who proclaimed at a recent rally: “Christians won’t need to vote again in four years because I will have fixed everything!” And as if to compete in the weirdo contest, a video revealed his Yale educated sidekick attacking “childless cat ladies” as having no stake in the future of the country???
The face I want you to see is that of Jon Stewart when he describes this boatload of feces on his next show. Can you imagine better material for a comedian?
No more voting needed. Stay home “childless cat ladies”.
In the meantime, join us in donating to the Harris campaign. While fund raising efforts this week have broken all past records – every little bit helps. Here is the easy way: https://secure.actblue.com/
And while you are at ActBlue, please consider a donation to www.turnup.us. I wrote about Zev Shapiro some time ago. While still a student at Harvard he developed an app that makes it easy for young people to register to vote. His efforts made a difference in 2022 – remember the red wave that never showed up?
Just for fun, consider reading this substack I wrote in advance of the 2022 mid-term election. Let’s just say I have been a fan of Kamala Harris for a long time.
Or this one about Harvard student Zev Shapiro – a hero of his generation:
President Joe Biden made the most difficult decision of his life. Perhaps someday he will explain when and how he came to it. I would guess he carefully evaluated more than the advice of his closest advisors – he listened to the public. My wise wife suggests that he strategically held off his announcement until the embarrassing circus called the Republican Convention had run it’s awful course. Talk about pulling the campaign rug out from underneath the MAGANAZIs !
And who wouldn’t want Joe Biden, the finest and most successful president in recent history, in her corner as she launches the most important campaign since that of Abe Lincoln?
Join the club of nervous people. But we need to get used to it for the next 100 plus days. You could actually say the fate of the planet hangs in the balance…
But for now I have a couple of things to share that could lift your spirits.
Here is Jess Craven’s latest list of good stuff. I think it will give you a Monday boost that could help you through the week. (tap on “read more”)
And here’s a bonus. Another favorite substack author is Simon Rosenberg. Here is his latest “Hopium”. Scroll down for the Harris campaign ad for the 2020 race and try to tell me she won’t be a devastating force if she secures the nomination this time.
President Biden announced just a few minutes ago that he was stepping away from the campaign for re-election. Do not fall victim to panic. We will be fine. We will win in November.
Biden declared his support for Kamala Harris as the nominee. But that can only be a recommendation. Over 3900 delegates must vote their desires. There might be a messy fight over the nomination. But soon, there will be a new leader ready to subdue the MAGA movement. We will all join in support.
This is not chaos. This is democracy. For most of American history, our presidential candidates were chosen at the convention and the real campaign began on Labor Day. We have time, we will be fine. Our newer primary system is better, for sure. More democratic, more directly from the people. But the delegates that will meet in August are our representatives. They are in those roles because they are well informed party leaders. They could be your neighbors.
Be proud that Democrats have a deep bench to choose from if Harris doesn’t become the candidate. Be proud that we have a party that is not enslaved to a power hungry self aggrandizing bigoted idiot.
With Biden’s age issue out of the way, the focus will now be on the unfitness of Trump, the fascism of Project 2025, the shape shifting teenager aching to be VP.
Trump will now be “THE OLD MAN WHO SPEAKS WORD SALAD NONSENSE!”
This is a powerful moment in history. In my letter to President Biden today, I suggested that he could make additional history by pardoning millions of prisoners convicted of minor victimless crimes – like drug addiction. He could issue hundreds of executive orders relative to the environment. Let the lawsuits begin! Tie up the Federalist Fascist Courts with endless good ideas…
Margaret Sullivan of The Guardian asks for balance
Sometimes I just want to copy and paste something. So here it is. Maybe we could all pledge to talk about Trump’s obvious unfitness for office two or three times as often as we discuss Joe Biden. Good idea?
Jul 9, 2024
The media has been breathlessly attacking Biden. What about Trump?
The bigger story is Donald Trump’s appalling unfitness for office. He tried to overturn a legitimate election and is a felon
Margaret Sullivan
It’s possible for two conflicting ideas to be true at once.
And so it is with the mainstream media’s unrelenting focus on Joe Biden’s mental acuity, following his terrible debate performance earlier this month.
First truth: the president’s stumble and the political fallout that followed is a huge, consequential news story that deserves a lot of coverage.
Second truth: the media coverage is overkill – not only too much in quantity and too breathless in tone, but also taking up so much oxygen that a story even more important is shoved to the back burner.
That bigger story, of course, is the former president’s appalling unfitness for office, not only because he tried to overturn a legitimate election and is a felon, out on bail and awaiting sentencing, but because of things he has said and done in very recent weeks. As just one example, he claimed that he doesn’t know anything about Project 2025, the radical rightwing plan hatched by some of his closest allies to begin dismantling our democracy if he wins another term.
Trump’s disavowal is a ridiculous lie, but I doubt most members of the public know anything about it, nor do they likely know much – if anything – about Project 2025.
But anyone following mainstream media coverage could not miss knowing about the latest polls on whether Biden should step aside, how Kamala Harris would fare in a head-to-head competition with Trump, and which members of Congress have called for a new Democratic nominee.
And those are just the news stories – not to mention the nonstop punditry on cable news and the near takeover of the opinion sections of major publications.
Meanwhile, what of Trump’s obvious cognitive decline, his endless lies, his shocking plans to imprison his political enemies and to deport millions of people he calls “animals”, his relationship with the late accused sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein?
“Sure, you can say, we’ve covered those things,” commented Norman Ornstein, emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a longtime observer of media and politics. But, Ornstein pushed back: “Where? On the front page above the fold? As one-offs before moving on? In a fashion comparable to the Defcon 1 coverage of Biden’s age and acuity?”
There really is no comparison in the amount or intensity of coverage. One journalist, Jennifer Schulze, counted New York Times stories related to Biden’s age in the week following the debate; she counted a staggering 192 news and opinion pieces, compared to 92 stories on Trump – and that was in a week when the US supreme court had ruled he has immunity for official acts.
Nor is there much self-scrutiny or effort to course-correct. Only self-satisfaction and an apparent commitment to more of the same.
Erik Wemple of the Washington Post queried the Times about any pushback, specifically from the White House. “Have you gotten any complaints about age coverage since the debate?” Wemple asked top Times editor Joe Kahn, who recently praised the paper’s coverage in a note to staff. Kahn said no.
He also dismissed as “factually wrong” the criticism from former Times editor Jill Abramson that the Times “failed in the first duty of journalism: to hold power accountable” because reporters didn’t break through what she described as an enormous White House cover-up of Biden’s mental and physical decline. Kahn also brushed off criticism on social media from the left and the right.
On Monday, the Times sent out as “breaking news” a story whose headline announced that an expert in Parkinson’s disease had visited the White House eight times in a recent eight-month period; much further down in the story we learn that the same doctor also had made 10 visits to the White House in 2012, and that he has supported the White House medical team for more than a dozen years. But many people never get past the headline.
“I’m starting to think the Times will see it as a ‘win’ if Biden drops out,” one media observer told me this week.
Of course, the problem certainly is not just the New York Times, despite its agenda-setting influence. It’s also TV news, both network and cable. And, to a lesser extent, it’s other major US publications.
Where does that leave us?
All of these disturbing elements – the Democrats’ dilemma, the media’s failures, and the cult-like, unquestioning support of Trump – could add up to one likelihood in November.
A win for Trump, and a terrible loss for democracy.
Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture.
I am about halfway through Erik Larson’s latest book. I needed something to take me away from the hand wringing about Biden’s candidacy and the lunacy of Trump’s popularity. Going back into the mid 19th Century seemed like a safe place. Yes and No.
Yes, because I have always been fascinated with our brief history. Reading about the Civil War era is an escapism. It holds lessons for us. And in the grand scheme of humanity, it really wasn’t that long ago. We are just a puppy of a nation compared to the rest of the world.
No, not a “safe place” because as I experience the times in this book, I meet characters that sound an awful lot like today’s political pontificators. This book offers a portrait of the “Planters” in the South. Their view of life was quite similar to the nobles of Europe they descended from. A few lucky souls inherit their positions from which they control everything and everyone else. Sound familiar?
Larson has a strong reputation as an author. My wife relished his “Devil in the White City”. I got a recap of her reading every morning over coffee. And after this latest effort I will be diving into others he has written in the future.
But back to the “Demons”. History had repeated itself and Larson offered this in his Notes to the Reader introduction:
”I was well into my research on the saga of Fort Sumter and the advent of the American Civil War when the events of January 6, 2021, took place. As I watched the Capitol assault unfold on camera, I had the eerie feeling that present and past had merged. It is unsettling that in 1861 two of the greatest moments of national dread centered on the certification of the Electoral College vote and the presidential inauguration.
I was appalled by the attack, but also riveted. I realized that the anxiety, anger, and astonishment that I felt would certainly have been experienced in 1860–1861 by vast numbers of Americans. With this in mind, I set out to try to capture the real suspense of those long-ago months when the country lurched toward catastrophe…”
“President” Jefferson Davis with family and slaves
Is the past prologue? Are the descendants of the “Planters” attempting to reassert their dominance again? Are the children of the KKK lynchers sliding into power using Donald Trump as their Trojan Horse? If you read about Project 2025, you could be forgiven if you think so.
There is an area of scientific/medical research called epigenetics. Is it possible that teaching generation after generation to hate people of color, consider women as second class humans and to condemn those who defend them as equals – that this bigotry could become part of one’s DNA?
“Epigenetics” is an emerging area of scientific research that shows how environmental influences—children’s experiences—actually affect the expression of their genes. This means the old idea that genes are “set in stone” has been disproven.
Regardless of how or why the Heritage Foundation and the Extreme Right Radicals have been born or cultivated, they now serve as the greatest threat to our nation, our democracy and the Earth itself – since 1861.
I just ordered two bumper stickers:
My other technique for staying sane in this whacky and volatile political environment is, of course, growing food. Here is today’s harvest of garlic. It’s a “porcelain” variety called Georgian Crystal. I like it for it’s relative mild flavor and its large size. Each bulb holds only four to six huge cloves.
For those new to the subject, garlic is harvested in July when the leaves start turning brown. After curing in a cool dark place, we take the very largest cloves for planting in October. Eat the rest. It’s fun to say we are “garlic independent”. For more info and planting guides, visit Johnny’s Seeds – an employee owned company I have used for 40+ years. Even if you are not a farmer type, you might enjoy the catalog. Terrific photography – especially if you like staring at beautiful food.
I believe you have been the best president of my lifetime (I am 77). But it is time for you to take a step back.
Please listen to America. Your advisors and your family will tell you what they think you want to hear. They won’t challenge you because they love you. Open your ears and hear us.
I believe that in a second term, you would govern very well. I believe in you. If you are the nominee you will have my vote and my donations.
But it is time to recognize the reality that you could easily lose this election. A convicted felon would enable Project 2025. That would bring fascism to America.
Donald Trump is a weak candidate. He is a crook. His reputation is a monstrous joke. Ask yourself why you are not leading him in every poll by double digits? I think the polls are often wrong. But still, in a matchup with such a ludicrous candidate, the polls should be indicating you would garner at least 60% of the vote.
I am not worried about your stutter or inability to engage with a bellicose combative liar. But millions of other voters are VERY worried. Too many may stay home on election day.
I think you have performed extremely well on the international stage. You have signed legislation that is the most important since the time of FDR. You guided us wisely out of the Pandemic. You signed bills that are rebuilding our infrastructure and bringing important jobs to Americans. Our economy is vibrant – the best in the world. Well done!
But many younger people do not feel that way. Time for the next generation to take the reins. Withdraw from the contest now and allow another candidate to rise to the top.
You could spend your remaining months working on executive orders to improve the lives of Americans. Advance climate crisis policies, negotiate peace in the Middle East, support Ukraine in any way you can. You could pardon thousands of prisoners who committed nonviolent drug possession or small money crimes. This would relieve the overburdened prison system and offer some long overdue justice.
You could guide your successor with your decades of experience and wise counsel.
When you ran for president in 2020, you said you wished to be a transitional president. It is time to assist the next leaders with your wisdom, experience and support. It’s time to transition. Our generation needs to pass the baton. Do the right thing. Let Democrats choose a new president.
Release your delegates before the convention. Recommend that the Democratic National Committee draw up a list of potential presidential candidates. Our bench is deep. There are Governors, Senators and House Representatives who are experienced and could hit the ground running as a candidate. And there is VP Harris who could be an excellent ground breaking president. After all, look at who has been her teacher.
The convention delegates could vote using a ranked choice voting system. In a matter of days, the campaign would have powerful new energy. Funding would flow and we would be victorious in casting aside the greatest threat to our nation since Andrew Johnson.
The “conventional wisdom” is that a new candidate would not have the necessary name recognition and there wouldn’t be enough time to drum up support. That is nonsense in a world where the internet and social media can bring a person to higher prominence in a matter of days. For most of our history, the political parties have selected their nominee at a convention. Not ideal. It will be messy. But can’t we be nimble?
This would be democracy in action. Your legacy would be that you put your country ahead of your ego and ambitions. That’s the stuff of heroes. Please, for the nation, for the Planet Earth – do the right thing.
With respect and admiration, Bill Alstrom Massachusetts Democrat
Project 2025 is the playbook. It is what Republicans will actually do if they regain the White House this November or any November. They realized that in 2017, they were disorganized. The new president did not have a platform to execute upon. Now they do. The Heritage Foundation has written this guide. Which means a far right ultra extreme “think tank” funded by morbidly rich people will pull the strings of government. Forget Lincoln’s GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE.
The first four sections of this series about Project 2025 focused on:
In the interests of brevity and my own mental health, I am concluding this series by laying out below the other five sections of Project 2025 right here. You can read all the details in the original document. You can read a complete review of it at Media Matters from where I have clipped the assessments below. And for a woman’s perspective consider reading this article.
But if your time is limited, here is a nutshell version of parts five through nine:
Attack LGBTQ rights
Attack immigrants and plan for massive deportation
Attack teachers unions and eliminate the Department of Education
Attack DEI. Crush efforts to provide training in diversity, equity and inclusion
Attack efforts to recognize the impact of human activity on the Climate Crisis calling it “environmental extremism”.
In conclusion, Republicans who support Donald Trump and the “MAGA” movement would eliminate all the guardrails of democracy and establish a totalitarian government not unlike that of Russia – where diversity and the Climate Crisis are dirty words and dissent is punished.
Talking about politics with everyone we know all the time can be tedious and counterproductive. Life has to hold more. But now, we have a moral and patriotic duty to ask all of our friends and family if they know what Project 2025 is and what it promises to deliver.
Please share Project 2025 with anyone who doubts Trump’s fascism
Open some eyes. Open some hearts. Get some disinterested person to be aware. Ask them to vote.Tell them it might be their last chance to do so.
You can stop reading right there if you are willing to spread the word and/or just can’t deal with the gory details below. But another option is to scroll right down to Number Nine, Number Nine…
Here is an elaboration on the five more ways the next Republican administration will take a wrecking ball to the United States and the Earth itself.
Even the Pope calls anti LGBTQ laws “sinful”
Project 2025 takes extreme positions against LGBTQ rights, seeking to eliminate federal protections for queer people and pursue research into conversion therapies in order to encourage gender and sexuality conformity. The policy book also lays out plans to criminalize being transgender and prohibit federal programs from supporting queer people through various policies. The project partnered with anti-LGBTQ groups the Family Policy Alliance, the Center for Family and Human Rights, and the Family Research Council.
– calls for HHS to stop all research related to gender identity unless the purpose is conformity to one’s sex assigned at birth.
– states that “allowing parents or physicians to ‘reassign’ the sex of a minor is child abuse and must end.
– demands that the next GOP administration “reverse policies that allow transgender individuals to serve in the military.”
“We don’t need no fuhrners in this country”
Project 2025 proposes to severely roll back both legal and unauthorized immigration through a number of untested, novel approaches that extend far beyond the policies of Trump’s first term. The plan would potentially make hundreds of thousands of people vulnerable to deportation through the loss of temporary protected status, and could ensnare their families, those they live with, and other members of their communities. Extreme anti-immigration organization the Center for Immigration Studies has partnered with Project 2025 in supporting these radical immigration policy ideas.
– Project 2025 aims to severely restrict legal immigration to the United States by dismantling the DREAM Act and restricting the DACA program.
– The policy book also suggests restricting T visas, which are temporary visas for certain victims of human trafficking, and U visas, which are given to victims of crimes that occur in the U.S. [Niskanen Center, 2/20/24]
– Project 2025 calls for a massive increase in the authority of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. ICE deportation officers should prioritize “the civil arrest, detention, and removal of immigration violators anywhere in the United States, without warrant where appropriate.
– Even people who are simply adjacent to unauthorized immigrants could be punished.
– Under Project 2025, “The next Republican administration … would also strip hundreds of thousands of individuals, many of whom have been in the U.S. for decades, of their legal protections by repealing all Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations.”
Project 2025 would let the states define education for Americans
Project 2025’s proposal for America’s education system would be one of the most extreme plans yet, calling for eliminating the Department of Education, getting rid of all teachers unions, and tearing down regulations on education spending. Far-right “parental rights” organization Moms for Liberty and the anti-union Institute for Education Reform have partnered with Project 2025 to create these proposals.
– The first sentence of Project 2025’s chapter on the Department of Education simply states: “Federal education policy should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated.” [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023]
– Project 2025 seeks to eliminate the National Education Association’s congressional charter, which allows for the existence of teachers unions, calling it “a demonstrably radical special interest group.
– The plan also wants to remove federal oversight for funds under Title 1, “which provides support for low-income districts,” instead handling them as “no-strings-attached” state grants “with no regulation or oversight.” Federal education funding for students with special needs would “also be converted to unregulated block grants.”
– The proposal also aims at eliminating any policies implemented under the Obama administration that support diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives – the values that hold communities together such as equality under the law and colorblindness.
Diversity, equity, inclusion are now bad things?
Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership advises the next administration to rid federal rules and legislation of the term “diversity, equity, and inclusion” or “DEI.” The mandate also outlines the ways in which DEI efforts supposedly undermine the purpose of several federal agencies, ignoring the tangible benefits of a diverse workforce in the government. Project 2025 has collaborated with other groups leading the anti-DEI crusade including right-wing nonprofit the Claremont Institute and anti-critical race theory group Moms for Liberty.
– In the foreword to the Mandate for Leadership, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts calls for the deletion of DEI “out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists.” He states, “The next conservative President must make the institutions of American civil society hard targets for woke culture warriors. This starts with deleting the terms … 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.” [Project 2025, Mandate for Leadership, 2023]
I saved the most horrifying policy of Project 2025 for last. It affects every living cell on the planet.
Project 2025 would eliminate environmental protections and further delay climate action. In the foreword, Heritage President Kevin Roberts calls environmentalism a “pseudo-religion,” claiming “environmental extremism is decidedly anti-human” because it promotes “population control and economic regression” by “regarding human activity itself as fundamentally a threat to be sacrificed to the god of nature.” Project 2025 is supported by climate change-denying organizations The Heartland Institute and the Institute for Energy Research.
– The Department of Energy chapter in the policy book, written by former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission head Bernard McNamee, calls for “eliminating three agency offices that are crucial for the energy transition” and reducing funding to different agencies related to renewable energy. McNamee also calls for cutting the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, and the Loan Programs Office. [The Guardian, 7/27/23; Politico, 7/28/23]
– An entire chapter dedicated to the Environmental Protection Agency, written by former Trump EPA chief of staff Mandy Gunasekara, calls for shrinking the agency by firing new hires and eliminating the environmental justice department.
– In a chapter on the U.S. Agency for International Development, Heritage research fellow and Trump’s former chief operating officer of USAID Max Primorac suggests the next administration “rescind all climate policies from its foreign aid programs” and shut down any offices or departments connected to the Paris Climate Agreement.
– The policy book recommends reopening the Arctic for oil drilling, expanding other drilling projects, and leasing land in western states for coal mining.
Me learning to mow. Mowing neighborhood lawns would be my first cash job.
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are nice if you are lucky enough to have had good parents. I am. My Mom and Dad are long gone. I do miss them both. Mom died at 66 – I was about 36. Dad remarried and lived far away. I regret how little adult to adult time I had with them.
I had the best parents I could have ever hoped for. They were positive examples of how we should treat each other. Both had survived World War II. They rarely spoke of the war. Dad might relate an entertaining story about a kid he served with who hailed from the Bronx. But he never shared in detail what it felt like ordering that same kid to his death in an attempt to take a village in Italy. I know it haunted him.
Dad was wounded in Italy after surviving battles with Rommel in North Africa. I think the hospital where they met was near Naples. Two lieutenants meet. Mom, the nurse, provided healing care for Dad. And then Dad cared for her as she suffered the pains of extreme arthritis for the rest of her life. Her disability became apparent to me when I was a very little kid. What I most remember about them was a mutual dedication to each other. He nursed the nurse to the end.
After serving about five years in the Army, they were finally home.
My father did two things for me that I will always treasure. First, he was an example of how we should live. He was well liked because he never spoke ill of anyone. He was a WASP “I like Ike” Republican and their best friends were Irish Catholic Democrats. One of his closest friends at work was an Indian (like India). Dad delighted in fondly describing the guy’s adjustment to life in America. He mentored him. Dad was the antithesis of a bigot.
The second thing he did was that he left me alone. He built me up with positive reinforcement and then he let his little bird fly. I didn’t want a “Disney dad” to play with me. I was a self entertainer. I wanted to be left alone to explore the world and dig deep into my interests. Don’t bother me when I am building a shortwave radio from a kit. Thanks for the gardening tools, but let me plant alone.
You wouldn’t want me on your team!
One event in particular always lingers in my head. I’m not sure of my age. It was time for me to play baseball. Dad had taken on a Little League team. I joined the team to please him. However, my only talent in baseball was to catch the ball with my forehead. I asked to quit the team. I felt terrible about disappointing him. But he simply said “OK, I understand.”
Another dad might have said something like, “C’mon Billy, everyone loves baseball! Get back in there and try again…” But he didn’t. He let me have my own head.
My next big act of rebellion – at age 13 – made me very nervous. What are they going to say or do?
We attended church services on a somewhat regular basis. No guilt trips if we missed a Sunday. But we got all dressed up and went. It felt more like tradition than commitment. My sister and I would attend “Sunday school” when little. I guess I graduated because suddenly I was sitting in a hard wooden pew listening to a guy in funny clothes rattle on about stories from a book that sounded fantastical. And we were supposed to sing! I do not sing. I am not designed to sing, dance or play an instrument. It is something I admire in others. But you do not want to hear me sing, nor do I.
I took my parents aside and announced that I would no longer be attending church. I just didn’t “believe”. And I especially didn’t want to sit next to adults who acted all humble and nice on Sundays but were complete asshats all the other days. I could not swallow the hypocrisy.
Mom and Dad were quiet. They looked at each other and then turned to me. I was ready for the rejoinder, the parental backlash. But then they said, “Oh, OK”. It was within two years, that both of them stopped sitting in those pews themselves. I suspect it was actually my mom’s physical discomfort from the rapidly progressing arthritis. For a while I was hoping I had become their role model in matters spiritual. Come to think of it, I never heard them refer to “God”.
So thanks to you Dad (and Mom) for being examples of the morality that churches used to embody. You know, the Golden Rule, Welcome the stranger, Help the poor kind of morality that has vanished from too many pulpits.
Thanks Dad, for being just the right kind of Dad for me. You let me be who I wanted to be – but your example as a human shined a light on a path for me. Miss ya.
Bill's Focus 