In the Year 2025

Review by Bill Doughty

President Ronald Reagan is quoted in the foreword to the Heritage Foundation’s Mandate for Leadership The Conservative Promise, also known as Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project.

The Reagans aboard USS Iowa (BB-61), 1986

Reagan said, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.”

Project 2025, published earlier this year, is posted online by the Heritage Foundation, and it is enlightening.

For example, “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… 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.” (p4-5)

Notwithstanding Constitutional protections under the First Amendment (as well as the definition of “pornography”) Project 2025 proclaims, “Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered.” (p5)

The project says abortion restrictions should be “celebrated.”“But the Dobbs decision is just the beginning.” (p6).

Like Trump, Vance, and other MAGA leaders, the project rails against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Project 2025 calls for a campaign against DEI in the military at the same time as it targets the People’s Republic of China: “The next conservative President must end the Left’s social experimentation with the military, restore warfighting as its sole mission, and set defeating the threat of the Chinese Communist Party as its highest priority.” (p9)

Many self-described conservatives, including in the Heritage Foundation, are against conserving nonrenewable resources and preventing climate change, calling the green movement “environmental extremism.” And, “It is not a political cause, but a pseudo-religion meant to baptize liberals’ ruthless pursuit of absolute power in the holy water of environmental virtue.” (p11)

At the heart of the project, considering its stated origins, contributors, and beliefs, is Christian nationalism.

The words “Christian" and "God" do not appear in the United States Constitution. The authors of Project 2025 claim: “The Declaration of Independence famously asserted the belief of America’s Founders that ‘all men are created equal’ and endowed with God-given rights to ‘Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’” And, “When the Founders spoke of ‘pursuit of Happiness,’ what they meant might be understood today as in essence ‘pursuit of Blessedness.’ That is, an individual must be free to live as his Creator ordained—to flourish.” And, the project asserts, “Religious devotion and spirituality are the greatest sources of happiness around the world.” (p13-14)

Among “promises” put forth in the project are “dismantle the administrative state” and “secure our God-given individual rights…” (p3)

 

Nearly all of the quotes in this post come from the project’s foreword, written by Kevin D. Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation. His thoughts are reiterated throughout the nearly 900-page work.

Echoing Reagan’s applause lines about “government” being a problem, Roberts takes it a step further: “There is no such thing as ‘the government.’ There are just people who work for the government and wield its power and who—at almost every opportunity—wield it to serve themselves first and everyone else a distant second.” (p14)  [There is no mention of Donald Trump or his family in that particular accusation.]

Notably, the following observation also does not mention Trump or his former administration: “Just as important as expanding opportunities for workers and small businesses, the next president should crack down on the crony capitalist corruption that enables America’s largest corporations to profit through political influence rather than competitive enterprise and customer satisfaction.” And, “Analogous pro-growth reforms for America’s voluntary civil society are also in order. America is not an economy; it is a country. Economic freedom is not the only important freedom. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the freedom to assemble also represent key components of the American promise.” (p15-16)

As Americans learn more about the Heritage Foundation’s roadmap for the next would-be Republican commander in chief, many who actually read Project 2025 are rejecting its implied promise of autocracy and personal restrictions in the sheep’s clothing of “freedom.”

So it’s no wonder that Trump and his inner circle now try to distance themselves from Project 2025. The trouble is, people like Trump’s speechwriter Stephen Miller and Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign national press secretary, are featured in a related online leadership video called Project 2025 Presidential Administration Academy. Miller poses next to copies of Project 2025 which are under a model of the White House.

Stephen Miller, Senior Advisor to ex-President Trump

“Authors” of Project 2025 include former Trump administration officials Russ Vought (Trump’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget), Dr. Benjamin Carson, Paul Winfree, Ken Cuccinelli, Peter Navarro, William L. Walton, Brooks D. Tucker, Hans A. von Spakovsky, William Perry Pendley, Kiron K. Skinner, Rick Dearborn (Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff), and Christopher Miller (acting SECDEF among other National Security positions under Trump). “Editors” include Paul Dans (Chief of Staff at Trump’s U.S. Office of Personnel) and Steven Groves (White House as Assistant Special Counsel).

In the “afterword,” renamed “Onward,” Heritage Foundation’s founder Edwin J. Feulner says the concept for a Mandate for Leadership for a conservative presidency was first conceived in 1979 by administrative officials who saw a need for a conservative policy roadmap. Feulner writes, “Former Navy Secretary and Ambassador Bill Middendorf added that there must be a better way to prepare for real change in a more conservative direction in the political environment in Washington.”

This review of Project 2025 (Mandate for Leadership The Conservative Promise, also known as Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project) just skims the surface of a comprehensive plan of action. We will continue to digest this fundamentalist call to action and the impact it would have on the military, civil service, and society at large if enacted.

The must-read for the summer of 2024 is the Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project.

As Reagan noted, it is each generation’s responsibility to fight for and defend freedom.

Generations have continually fought for rights and freedom in the name of democracy and progress: 1776 Independence, 1863 Emancipation, 1920 Women’s Suffrage, and 1964-5 Civil Rights/Voting Rights. Perhaps 2024-5 will be remembered as a watershed year in an ongoing fight for democracy over fascism, critical thinking over Christian Nationalism, hope over fear, and love over hate. More to follow.

Interesting Situation…

Review by Bill Doughty––

George Stephanopoulos pulls back the curtains of secrecy surrounding one of the most important rooms in the world: The White House Situation Room is his momentous and relevant book for the “interesting times” in which we live.

Through vignettes, descriptions, and photos, we get to look into the room where key decisions are made and history is forged.

In “The Situation Room” (Hachette Books, 2024), author and pundit Stephanopoulos shows its creation by JFK during the Cold War, its role in the infamous Iran-Contra affair under Reagan and Bush Sr., and its iconic place in history during killing of Osama bin Laden under leadership of Obama, Biden, Gates and McRaven.

The book weaves together the importance of an integrated military-civilian team as part of the federal government, especially in intelligence. Stephanopoulos describes the importance of open and honest discussion in which every voice is heard, and no one is afraid to speak truth to power.

“This is the Situation Room at its best: a place of sober discussion, informed thinking, apolitical attitudes and an absence of grandstanding,” he writes. There is no place for loyalty tests or fear of retribution. The room was critical in the wake of 9/11 and dozens of other crises. In recent years the Situation Room was used by Vice President Pence and Drs. Fauci and Birx during the Covid pandemic under President Trump.

Repeatedly, we see the important tenet of good leadership: surround yourself with good people who can help shape good decision-making, especially in a crisis situation. We also see the opposite.

“This book examines crisis management in the modern presidency. During the Trump administration, the president was the crisis to be managed.

It took a toll on those who had to do it. Trump tore through and wore out his national security team: Four secretaries of defense. Four directors of national intelligence. Four White House chiefs of staff and five secretaries of homeland security. The most damning judgments of his competence and character come from those he appointed to these most sensitive positions. His first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, famously told colleagues that Trump was a ‘moron.’ James Mattis, the former Marine Corps general who served as Trump’s first secretary of defense, described him as a threat to the Constitution ‘who does not try to unite the American people –– does not even pretend to try.’ Fellow Marine general and White House chief of staff John Kelly called Trump ‘the most flawed person I have ever met in my life.’”

Tillerson, Mattis and Kelly

Now, in the wake of the tragic attempted assassination of the former president, the situation may have changed, according to some pundits who hope for more understanding, unity, and comity. Yet, this week’s Republican National Convention showcases the rise of Christian Nationalism as many of Trump’s loyal associates and January 6 insurrectionists are in prison or under a cloud of indictments and accountability. That includes Trump himself. It’s a strong contrast to Biden, most of his associates, and particularly his national security team.

Stephanopoulos and Lester Holt recently interviewed President Biden in the wake of Biden’s abysmal debate performance. The interviews have apparently not allayed concerns about Biden’s ability to communicate effectively, fight threats to the Constitution, or defend his record of achievements on behalf of the middle class, women’s rights, bipartisan infrastructure, environmental issues, CHIPS and Science Act, reduced unemployment, and gun safety. This reality magnifies the importance of Biden's ability to surround himself with good people of honor, compassion, integrity, and dedication.

That is the current situation and the curse we are under: living in “interesting times.”